Why cavemen were better parents than us

London, Sept 23 (ANI): The early man and woman were a lot more skilled at parenting than some of today's couples, a psychologist claims.

Professor Darcia Narvaez at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana said that modern practices of leaving babies to cry, keeping them in buggies and car seats for long periods and not allowing them the freedom to roam outdoors is raising a dysfunctional generation, the Daily Mail reports.

Earlier parents cuddled and carried about their children, allowed them to spend lots of time outdoors and breastfed them for years rather than months.

She found that unlike parents nowadays, ancient communities relied on extended families to look after their children or, as she said, "people beyond mum and dad who also love the child."

"Warm, responsive care-giving like this keeps the infant's brain calm in the years it is forming its personality and response to the world," Narvaez said.

"At the same time, our distant ancestors spent much of their time being held and caressed by their mother, forming a close bond. They were not spanked," Narvaez added.

Narvaez also stated that mothers would breastfeed children until the age of around five, an important factor in the child's health.

The findings run counter to current advice from parenting gurus to allow 'controlled crying' and to isolate misbehaving children on a 'naughty step' or in their rooms.

"There's an epidemic of anxiety among the young," she said.

"Kids who don't get the emotional nurturing they need in early life tend to be more self-centred. They don't have the same compassion- related emotions as kids who were raised by warm, responsive families." (ANI)