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The Informed Parent: A Science-Based Resource for Your Child's First Four Years
Finally, a book that presents the latest scientific research on home birth, breastfeeding, sleep training, vaccines, and other key topics--so that parents and parents-to-be can make their own best-informed decisions.
Most parenting books present a philosophy--what the author believes readers should do to raise happy, healthy kids. But more and more parents and parents-to-be prefer to make up their own minds, based on the latest findings as well as their own preferences. Science writers and parents themselves, Tara Haelle and Emily Willingham have sifted through research studies on dozens of essential topics, and distill them in this essential and engaging book.
In the era of questionable Internet "facts" and parental oversharing on social media sites, it's more important than ever to find credible sources of information in order to make the most informed decisions. This book fills that gap.
Most parenting books present a philosophy--what the author believes readers should do to raise happy, healthy kids. But more and more parents and parents-to-be prefer to make up their own minds, based on the latest findings as well as their own preferences. Science writers and parents themselves, Tara Haelle and Emily Willingham have sifted through research studies on dozens of essential topics, and distill them in this essential and engaging book.
In the era of questionable Internet "facts" and parental oversharing on social media sites, it's more important than ever to find credible sources of information in order to make the most informed decisions. This book fills that gap.
336 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 2016
164 people are currently reading
930 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
April 26, 2016
I think the major weakness of this book is that it doesn't have in-text citations or even a reference list at the end.
It seems like a reasonable summary of the lit, commenting on strength of evidence, etc. But without in-text citations, I can't choose to follow up, to see if I agree that the controls are weak or whatever... and mostly, I really miss those for the perception: While I probably woudn't follow up on hundreds of studies, I'd liked to have felt they were transparent enough that I could have...
It seems like a reasonable summary of the lit, commenting on strength of evidence, etc. But without in-text citations, I can't choose to follow up, to see if I agree that the controls are weak or whatever... and mostly, I really miss those for the perception: While I probably woudn't follow up on hundreds of studies, I'd liked to have felt they were transparent enough that I could have...
April 20, 2019
I stumbled upon this author's work after reading an article that cheaply attacks Dr. Sears. Note that she is not a doctor or a scientist in any way, shape, or form. In the article she claims the Sears book has "misleading and inaccurate information" yet she never tells us what those are. This seems to be her writing and argument style: tell, but never show; a D+ at best in first year composition class. I'm not sure how someone with just a a degree in photojournalism even has the credentials to have anything "science" in the title of a book.
Like the poorly written article, this book is an opinion piece with no support for her points and no citations. Her uninformed recommendation to not bother with prenatal vitamins is reckless. Her militaristic faith in the establishment (& big drug companies) is alarming. I'm no exemption defender, and my family is fully vaccinated, but celebrating what should be common sense and at the same time demeaning reasonable alternative ways to fulfill the schedule isn't fair or credible. She commits the same old "research shows..." fallacy that so many other pseudo-science writers use.
I really have no idea why this author has secured so many publications and keeps getting book deals. But the unscientific approach in this "science-based" book does a real disservice for "journalism," publishing, real research, and science. This book is actually an all out assault on reason and credible writing.
Like the poorly written article, this book is an opinion piece with no support for her points and no citations. Her uninformed recommendation to not bother with prenatal vitamins is reckless. Her militaristic faith in the establishment (& big drug companies) is alarming. I'm no exemption defender, and my family is fully vaccinated, but celebrating what should be common sense and at the same time demeaning reasonable alternative ways to fulfill the schedule isn't fair or credible. She commits the same old "research shows..." fallacy that so many other pseudo-science writers use.
I really have no idea why this author has secured so many publications and keeps getting book deals. But the unscientific approach in this "science-based" book does a real disservice for "journalism," publishing, real research, and science. This book is actually an all out assault on reason and credible writing.
August 30, 2016
I would skip this book. If you want to read a book looking at science-based parenting information, The Science of Mom: A Research-Based Guide to Your Baby's First Year is a much better book.
The main problem with this book is that the discussions are too brief. They tried to cram a lot of subjects in, and many of the subjects receive very little time and attention. For instance, the potty training section speaks only about studies of the average time that potty training occurs in different kids. I suppose that's useful information, but it's not going to be nearly enough if you're looking for practical advice about how to potty train.
The other problem is the authors' confirmation bias. They talk about biases in the book, but they don't seem to follow their own advice. In the first half of the book they have a section where they discuss what they did. You can almost always predict what will be in that section based on the tone of the previous "objective" section. For example, in the bed sharing section, they state, "The majority of published research investigating bed sharing and SIDS (and SUID) risk shows an increased risk of death with bed sharing, but none of the studies finding that association controlled for every other possible risk factor, including prenatal smoking, mother's use of alcohol or drugs (legal or prescription), prenatal smoke exposure, premature or low birth weight, breastfeeding, and others." Well... okay. Guess what the authors did? They both bed shared. Which is fine, but there are other parts of the book where the studies also don't always control for all other possible risk factors for something (because controlling every other variable is generally impossible), and the authors seem happy to accept those studies.
There are some sections that may have some useful info here, but overall I think you'd be better off selecting books that focus on the specific topics you're interested in rather than this compendium.
The main problem with this book is that the discussions are too brief. They tried to cram a lot of subjects in, and many of the subjects receive very little time and attention. For instance, the potty training section speaks only about studies of the average time that potty training occurs in different kids. I suppose that's useful information, but it's not going to be nearly enough if you're looking for practical advice about how to potty train.
The other problem is the authors' confirmation bias. They talk about biases in the book, but they don't seem to follow their own advice. In the first half of the book they have a section where they discuss what they did. You can almost always predict what will be in that section based on the tone of the previous "objective" section. For example, in the bed sharing section, they state, "The majority of published research investigating bed sharing and SIDS (and SUID) risk shows an increased risk of death with bed sharing, but none of the studies finding that association controlled for every other possible risk factor, including prenatal smoking, mother's use of alcohol or drugs (legal or prescription), prenatal smoke exposure, premature or low birth weight, breastfeeding, and others." Well... okay. Guess what the authors did? They both bed shared. Which is fine, but there are other parts of the book where the studies also don't always control for all other possible risk factors for something (because controlling every other variable is generally impossible), and the authors seem happy to accept those studies.
There are some sections that may have some useful info here, but overall I think you'd be better off selecting books that focus on the specific topics you're interested in rather than this compendium.
January 5, 2021
Rating is probably more a reflection of what I got out of it rather than the content itself. I skimmed this. I didn't learn much new information but it might be helpful for a first time parent. Instead, I would commend Emily Oster's book Cribsheet (and similarly, Expecting Better) for better writing.
April 5, 2018
This was very disappointing. I was hoping for something more like Expecting Better, which was a fairly reasonable look at the evidence that does and doesn't exist, but tempered with some general skepticism and at its heart an understanding about the trade-offs that exist. This book is more like a mostly naive summary of the current literature, but it completely ignores the replication crisis. Reading Rigor Mortis will, I hope, give you a lot more skepticism about just believing whatever the extant studies say, since a huge fraction of them are effectively worthless, unfortunately. Not once is it mentioned whether any of the trials mentioned here were pre-registered or that that might be an issue.
The other problem with this book (which really has a lot of "co-morbidity" with ignoring the statistical problems with most of these kinds of studies) is that it looks at many aspects of parenting in minute detail without taking a step back at the big picture. Sure, there are a bunch of studies that show that X behavior is correlated with Y, but a lot of one's enthusiasm to take parenting advice from these kinds of studies should be tempered by the "big picture" findings detailed in The Nurture Assumption and Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids . If the "big picture" from an overall look at the literature says that parenting techniques don't tend to matter, that should mean that your prior plausibility for "will taking the advice indicated by this study of a specific aspect of childhood do what I want" starts out quite low. Either the studies themselves aren't very accurate (likely, given the replication crisis) or to the extent that they are accurate, their findings aren't likely to be apply in real world contexts for whatever reason. Most of the studies looked at by the authors are not approached from this perspective, and they come off as credulous as your average science journalist on deadline, breathlessly parroting whatever bizarre results are touted by university press departments.
I also was kinda thinking that this was going to go through the development of the first four years sequentially so I'd get an idea of the timeline for my child and what to expect, but it wasn't really organized like that. I was hoping that, even if the advice given is worthless, I'd at least learn about what parenting choices I was expecting to encounter, or signs to look out for, but I think the only things they covered were things I already knew about because they were obvious.
The other problem with this book (which really has a lot of "co-morbidity" with ignoring the statistical problems with most of these kinds of studies) is that it looks at many aspects of parenting in minute detail without taking a step back at the big picture. Sure, there are a bunch of studies that show that X behavior is correlated with Y, but a lot of one's enthusiasm to take parenting advice from these kinds of studies should be tempered by the "big picture" findings detailed in The Nurture Assumption and Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids . If the "big picture" from an overall look at the literature says that parenting techniques don't tend to matter, that should mean that your prior plausibility for "will taking the advice indicated by this study of a specific aspect of childhood do what I want" starts out quite low. Either the studies themselves aren't very accurate (likely, given the replication crisis) or to the extent that they are accurate, their findings aren't likely to be apply in real world contexts for whatever reason. Most of the studies looked at by the authors are not approached from this perspective, and they come off as credulous as your average science journalist on deadline, breathlessly parroting whatever bizarre results are touted by university press departments.
I also was kinda thinking that this was going to go through the development of the first four years sequentially so I'd get an idea of the timeline for my child and what to expect, but it wasn't really organized like that. I was hoping that, even if the advice given is worthless, I'd at least learn about what parenting choices I was expecting to encounter, or signs to look out for, but I think the only things they covered were things I already knew about because they were obvious.
October 19, 2016
Super science-y. Which of course is frustrating if you're looking for someone to tell you what to do- because correlation is not causation, and, as they quote in the introduction, "the plural of anecdotes is not data." I loved the huge range of topics covered. The only problem is it means each section is quite short- especially as the book goes on. I feel like other books have covered the newborn stuff, the technology and behavioral sections were most interesting to me- and I wanted more for sure. I also think the authors did a great job admitting their bias and trying to stay neutral. It really helped me form my own opinions. (Basically: love your kid, attach and bond with them, and vaccinate them.)
June 3, 2024
Contains important information related to overcoming critical obstacles. We could have benefited from the mention of lip ties and buccal ties before struggling through a failure to latch for several weeks. One of the most stressful moments endured completely unnecessarily.
June 13, 2016
Science-based parenting. This is the third book I've read in this vein (and I think the third that has been published as I follow this sub-sub-sub-sub-genre with professional and personal interest): Expecting Better, Science of Mom, and now this. Of these, Science of Mom is far and away my recommendation. Even though it only covers the first year, it's written extremely sensitively, beautifully cited, and the author is consistently self-aware and thoughtful about tone. This one was okay, although definitely got better towards the end. Kind of a robotic tone. Weird emphasis (pages and pages) on certain subjects, and paragraphs on others, without explaining whether it was because the authors thought the former topics were more studied, better studied, more important, or something else. Very odd interjections of what the authors themselves chose regarding some but not all topics, which was even more out of left field because it wasn't clear whether they chose because they actually weighed the evidence (doubtful given their childrens' ages versus research publication dates) or just a glimpse into them (why should we care?). At the very end, they say that there are a few things which we know for sure (e.g vaccinations good, guns in houses bad, spanking bad) from the research. Made me think that it would have been great to see some kind of summary on each topic that gave the state of the research on the topic - unanimous, ambivalent, inconsistent, pending, whatever. Still good to see more publications in this genre!
October 18, 2016
This book is (unsurprisingly) tedious and took me a while to trudge through. I will say there were some good bits of information and it's easy to skim through sections you're not as interested in. My biggest beef is their occasional lack of objectivity and data - the two things this book claims to be about. Expecting Better does what this book claims to do and is actually enjoyable to read.
June 11, 2020
It was a good collection of scientific and evidence based facts on main parenting decisions. Although each chapter was right to the point and full of facts, authors failed to use a solid flow in each chapters. Sometimes it sounded like a bullet point list of paper abstracts with no clear question to answer.
April 17, 2020
This was a nice reminder to me of the limitations of science. Studies have to be designed in such a way that they can either prove or disprove the hypothesis. Which, more often than not, means they have been simplified and focused to the point where the results are no longer relevant in the real world. And the only studies that get done are the ones that are being paid for by someone with big pockets whose main objective is bigger pockets. Not to mention any results that make it through are always filtered through the bias of the researchers and reporters. So I, personally, didn't find this book particularly helpful. But it might be for you if you're still on the fence about smoking, junk food, air pollution or hitting your kids.
June 10, 2017
Great read for all new parents!
This book really helped me get a primer on study-based information. What do studies not speak on? What can studies tell us? Guns, education, breastfeeding, you name it, it's in here: from womb to preschool and up to age 15 in some studies.
One small issue: a couple of the places the authors' biases came through pretty obviously but since we're all human, I let it slide. Open your mind and you will be rewarded with this read.
This book really helped me get a primer on study-based information. What do studies not speak on? What can studies tell us? Guns, education, breastfeeding, you name it, it's in here: from womb to preschool and up to age 15 in some studies.
One small issue: a couple of the places the authors' biases came through pretty obviously but since we're all human, I let it slide. Open your mind and you will be rewarded with this read.
April 29, 2021
Extremely informative and useful.
December 22, 2021
A helpful overview of research on various topics however needs an update as many of the studies are now almost a decade old. Dropped to 3 stars for not citing any of the research.
August 21, 2021
Liked:
- section on violence and screens
- info on childhood obesity.
Issues:
-Citations should be easily traceable from claim to location.
- overly focused on SIDS. Don't read this if you want to avoid being traumatized about SIDS.
- Focused largely (like 3/4 of the book) on preconception to 6 months. What about the other 4 years? Read another book for pregnancy info.
- Doesn't think for itself, with the exception of the co- sleeping chapter. Most of that information is readily found on the WHO, CDC, or APA websites.
See other reviews ranging from 1-3 stars for an accurate portrayal.
Edit: I really love that on Goodreads you can see what other books they have written(though there are plenty of glitches). Taking a brief glance at that gives you a better idea of specialties and pet topics.
- section on violence and screens
- info on childhood obesity.
Issues:
-Citations should be easily traceable from claim to location.
- overly focused on SIDS. Don't read this if you want to avoid being traumatized about SIDS.
- Focused largely (like 3/4 of the book) on preconception to 6 months. What about the other 4 years? Read another book for pregnancy info.
- Doesn't think for itself, with the exception of the co- sleeping chapter. Most of that information is readily found on the WHO, CDC, or APA websites.
See other reviews ranging from 1-3 stars for an accurate portrayal.
Edit: I really love that on Goodreads you can see what other books they have written(though there are plenty of glitches). Taking a brief glance at that gives you a better idea of specialties and pet topics.
April 12, 2018
3.5 stars. A science based book on many topics from conception to 4 years, but in only a few hundred pages it doesn't go into the depth that Expecting Better by Emily Oster did. However, a quick guide to the science that is and isn't out there was very useful for a newbie, and some topics were covered quite thoroughly. There was an excellent amount of information on mental health throughout which I loved, and it does give you a lot to think about and a springboard for your own research if you wanted to go on and do more. I did skip a couple of chapters, including the one about reducing the risk of your child finding your gun.... It's based on American points of interest but uses studies from around the world.
October 5, 2017
Suggestion: read "Expecting Better" instead, for everything conception/pregnancy related.
Re: "Informed Parent:" If the question is "have the authors of this book read a lot of studies?" then the answer is yes. If the question is "what's the data so I can make an informed decision," this book is worse than useless. It's jargon-filled and alarming, with an overly cold tone and not enough synthesizing of what everything means in practical terms. Information overload, and the conclusion is often basically "we don't know." (Which is fine, but don't make me read through the minutia of 5 different contradictory studies to get to that point.) And no citations!
Re: "Informed Parent:" If the question is "have the authors of this book read a lot of studies?" then the answer is yes. If the question is "what's the data so I can make an informed decision," this book is worse than useless. It's jargon-filled and alarming, with an overly cold tone and not enough synthesizing of what everything means in practical terms. Information overload, and the conclusion is often basically "we don't know." (Which is fine, but don't make me read through the minutia of 5 different contradictory studies to get to that point.) And no citations!
January 6, 2020
Similar to Cribsheets, with different sections better/worse than that book.
I wish they would have dived more into the actual studies (instead of lit reviews and meta analyses) but they do state their reasoning in the appendix - and I get it (time constraints and that’s a hella lot to read).
As with other books like this, I find the pregnancy and right when born stuff to be definitive and then the early years to be more iffy, so the advice becomes a bit more spotty.
All in all, a fine book that I started when I was pregnant and finished while pumping. Now onto Harvey Karp’s advice to help me get some sleep.
I wish they would have dived more into the actual studies (instead of lit reviews and meta analyses) but they do state their reasoning in the appendix - and I get it (time constraints and that’s a hella lot to read).
As with other books like this, I find the pregnancy and right when born stuff to be definitive and then the early years to be more iffy, so the advice becomes a bit more spotty.
All in all, a fine book that I started when I was pregnant and finished while pumping. Now onto Harvey Karp’s advice to help me get some sleep.
July 24, 2019
Generally a disappointing read. The authors take you through a dizzying review of inadequate studies only to say "we don't know" in each chapter.
The only real conclusions I noticed were:
* vaccination is good
* spanking is bad
* feeding your children is good
* kind and empathetic parenting is... good.
The only real conclusions I noticed were:
* vaccination is good
* spanking is bad
* feeding your children is good
* kind and empathetic parenting is... good.
January 30, 2021
The sources cited in this thing are pretty lackluster, this book claims to be all about the science and then makes huge statements and only cites one source per point they make. The author also seems a bit dishonest, insisting that since terms that are widely recognized have bad connotation, she'll change them into more vague-sounding terms. I find it ironic that someone stating that the facts are important is also making sure not to hurt their own feelings as much as possible. Apparently she uses the term "anomaly" instead of challenged or disabled. This is so dumb, as she doesn't explain who she's trying not to offend here, so she's just defending her own thin skin. Odd. Also the term "genetic anomaly" seems to de-humanize both abled and disabled people, making us sound like lines of code or numbers spun on a roulette table, some of us more highly probable than others without meaning or worth. Also she presents the book as being a tool to help inform decisions and how she's such an open minded person whos fine with whatever, but it's soon apparent that that's not true. She goes on to cite one flimsy source per statement she makes and deems if you don't define gender like this, studies say you're a bad person, if you circumcize your child, you're immoral/moral etc. It makes no sense.
February 4, 2017
This was a fantastic book filled with explanations for the majority of new parent's most prominent questions. What I liked was the way the research was concisely explained, often with answers that ranged in such a way that parents with different philosophies can weigh the risks and benefits of their choices. Unfortunately, and this is of no fault of the author's, many of these topics can (and have) been covered in (a) whole book(s), and therefor are not as thoroughly covered as one might like. This could be a good starting point for parents to inspire them to research an area of interest (or concern) more thoroughly.
March 2, 2019
This book could otherwise be titled "100 things you don't need to worry about when raising your child". It lays out the evidence on a broad array of subjects in an easily digested, but not dumbed down, way. Whatever your tired brain is choosing to worry about today the chances are there is a chapter in this book to reassure you that it's fine. Vaccinations are overwhelmingly safe, so is vitamin K. Kids in day care do fine, so do kids who stay at home. Breastfeeding is good for them (which you knew), but bottle-fed kids still grow up to be just fine. This book will save you a lot of unnecessary worrying.
October 24, 2022
Trang bị kiến thức để không bị "hù dọa" hay bị các thông tin đầy rẫy chưa được kiểm chứng trên mạng dẫn dắt, bạn hãy là cha mẹ thông thái! Một cuốn sách đầy đủ hết các thông tin từ việc sinh nở, tiêm vaccine, uống vitamin gì, cho con bú, cho con ngủ, cho con xem các thiết bị điện tử,... cùng rất nhiều thông tin hữu ích khác cho bố mẹ nuôi con từ 0-4 tuổi!
Một cuốn sách trang bị kiến thức chứ không phải chỉ lời khuyên giúp bố mẹ có thể đưa ra quyết định tốt hơn về các chủ đề:
Mình mua sách gốc cuốn này tại Bookee, bạn cần mua thì có thể tham khảo ở đây: https://bookee.store/the-informed-par...
Một cuốn sách trang bị kiến thức chứ không phải chỉ lời khuyên giúp bố mẹ có thể đưa ra quyết định tốt hơn về các chủ đề:
Mình mua sách gốc cuốn này tại Bookee, bạn cần mua thì có thể tham khảo ở đây: https://bookee.store/the-informed-par...
June 12, 2018
Another good, evidence-based book for new parents. The authors do a good job of conveying the current state of scientific research on an extensive set of topics and then, without being prescriptive, relay what they did with each of their children. I especially appreciated that personal touch as it made real how even the most informed of parents might make different decisions based on practical necessity - and based on the temperament of each child.
There is also a good overview at the end of how to assess the scientific validity of different recommendations. Highly recommended.
There is also a good overview at the end of how to assess the scientific validity of different recommendations. Highly recommended.
November 5, 2018
Since I'm past my "first time mom" anxieties, I was primarily skimming for this book for scientific evidence to make sure I'm not harming my kids. Not surprisingly, a lot of stuff is inconclusive and/or little studied. However, I thought it was overall helpful because the book debunks a lot of myths, which is great for first-time parents. This book is numbers heavy, and I like that the authors have inserted just enough tidbits about what they did with their own kids to give their narrative some levity.
January 6, 2020
Almost too much information
I loved reading "The Science of Mom" because of its fact/study based info however "The Informed Parent" takes it to a whole other level going into information overload. The author spent every chapter discussing every angle & didn't conclude with any opinion or as to what was a sound method for helping your child develop. The only think that was clear was what I already knew which is that an enriching home environment is key to your child's development.
I loved reading "The Science of Mom" because of its fact/study based info however "The Informed Parent" takes it to a whole other level going into information overload. The author spent every chapter discussing every angle & didn't conclude with any opinion or as to what was a sound method for helping your child develop. The only think that was clear was what I already knew which is that an enriching home environment is key to your child's development.
August 10, 2017
Though it's designed to cut through all of the (often baseless) information, it still felt like everything was getting glossed over. Nothing was quite in depth enough, despite loads of science references. Maybe it was trying to tackle a little too much by going through the 4th year. For whatever reason, I didn't find it particularly clear on most topics. Overall it was helpful, but I preferred reference other books.
July 22, 2020
Loved it. Goes through the actual available evidence, and the quality of the evidence, for things like breastfeeding, fluoride, screen time etc. Having some knowledge about research and statistics is helpful with understanding this book. Believing in science helps too. Would have liked actual references though, and in some cases more detail. Plus they definitely put their own interpretations in there but that’s to be expected.
March 7, 2021
It’s hard to give any baby book five stars. They all kind of suck to read, but I will say I wish I had read this one first. Pre-baby, it’s the only book you need and it’s not a tome. Facts and some anecdotes, but not enough anecdote to feel mind-numbingly preachy/bloggy. You have your own personality, so do what you will with that, but facts are facts. At minimum, this book ties a nice bow on that aspect of gestational decision making.
April 27, 2019
This was actually super good. It was not as compellingly written as Expecting Better, but the basic premise (what does the science actually say about these controversial topics?) is the same. There was a lot of reassuring information really, that most of what we're stressing out about make only small differences.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews