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The Nurture Revolution: Grow Your Baby's Brain and Transform Their Mental Health through the Art of Nurtured Parenting
The latest research in neuroscience and parenting come together in this groundbreaking book, which brings to light new realizations about the power of nurture for our children's mental and physical health outcomes.
Greer Kirshenbaum, PhD. is a neuroscientist, doula, and parent. Her work began with the goal of developing new treatments for poor mental health; she dreamed of creating a new medication to address conditions like anxiety, depression, addiction, and chronic stress. Over time, she realized that science had already uncovered a powerful medicine for alleviating mental health struggles, but the answer wasn’t a pill. It was a preventative when babies' receive nurturing care in the first three years of life, it builds strong, resilient brains -- brains that are less susceptible to poor mental health.
How can parents best set their children up for success? In this revelatory book, Dr. Kirshenbaum makes plain that nurture is a preventative medicine against mental health issues. She challenges the idea that the way to cultivate independence is through letting babies cry it out or sleep alone; instead, the way to raise a confident, securely attached child is to lean in to nurture, to hold your infant as much as you want, support their emotions, engage in back-and-forth conversations, be present and compassionate when your baby is stressed, and share sleep. Research has proven that nurturing experiences transform lives. Nurturing is a gift of resilience and health parents can give the next generation simply by following their instincts to care for their young.
Greer Kirshenbaum, PhD. is a neuroscientist, doula, and parent. Her work began with the goal of developing new treatments for poor mental health; she dreamed of creating a new medication to address conditions like anxiety, depression, addiction, and chronic stress. Over time, she realized that science had already uncovered a powerful medicine for alleviating mental health struggles, but the answer wasn’t a pill. It was a preventative when babies' receive nurturing care in the first three years of life, it builds strong, resilient brains -- brains that are less susceptible to poor mental health.
How can parents best set their children up for success? In this revelatory book, Dr. Kirshenbaum makes plain that nurture is a preventative medicine against mental health issues. She challenges the idea that the way to cultivate independence is through letting babies cry it out or sleep alone; instead, the way to raise a confident, securely attached child is to lean in to nurture, to hold your infant as much as you want, support their emotions, engage in back-and-forth conversations, be present and compassionate when your baby is stressed, and share sleep. Research has proven that nurturing experiences transform lives. Nurturing is a gift of resilience and health parents can give the next generation simply by following their instincts to care for their young.
276 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 20, 2023
705 people are currently reading
4140 people want to read
About the author
Greer Kirshenbaum
2 books21 followersGreer Kirshenbaum PhD is an Author, Neuroscientist, Doula, Infant and Family Sleep Specialist and Mother. She trained at the University of Toronto, Columbia University, New York University and Yale University. Greer has combined her academic training with her experience as a doula and mother to lead The Nurture Revolution. A movement to nurture our babies’ brains to revolutionize mental health and impact larger systems in our world. Greer wants families and perinatal practitioners to understand how early caregiving experience can boost mental wellness and diminish depression, anxiety, and addiction in adulthood by shaping babies’ brains through simple intuitive enriching experiences in pregnancy, birth and infancy. Her book is called The Nurture Revolution: Grow Your Baby’s Brain and Transform Their Mental Health Through the Art of Nurtured Parenting. She offers resources, workshops, and sessions on her website www.nurture-neuroscience.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 166 reviews
September 27, 2023
I can’t help but be a little disappointed by the book, although that is most likely due to me not being the right target audience.
As a neuroscientist expecting her first child, I was very excited about the prospect of a book looking at how nurture influences baby brain development. I love reading popular science books by fellow neuroscientists - it’s a great way to learn about other people’s ideas and work, and finding references for work outside my own field of study. But for me, this book fell short because of a lack of details and too much repetition of the same conceptual points. The section on epigenetics was decent, but otherwise I’m not sure what people are supposed to get out of the same cartoon of brain areas that are involved in stress regulation/respond to nurture practices that have wiggles and hearts around them to indicate oxytocin and nurture. Nothing about that says anything about what is happening in the brain, and how nurture has an impact.
I know writing science for a non-science audience can be hard cause it’s easy for us specialists to get lost in jargon, and I have certainly read some books that have failed in that regard, but other than naming some brain areas and molecules, there is very little “neuroscience meat” in this book. At least there is a substantial list of references that can be consulted by people like me who might like some more details, but I do feel that it would have been possible to add just a bit more neuroscience. Instead the same message that “nurture is good for the brain” gets repeated on almost every page of the book for 200 pages which… without much of a why and how, left me a bit bored.
I absolutely agree that this message is important - but I would’ve found it more persuasive with a bit more why and how. Hopefully that’s just me though, and others will find this book as revolutionary and revelatory as the author wants it to be. I do agree that society would benefit from more kindness, mindfulness, nurture, and overall support for parents and the development of our children.
As a neuroscientist expecting her first child, I was very excited about the prospect of a book looking at how nurture influences baby brain development. I love reading popular science books by fellow neuroscientists - it’s a great way to learn about other people’s ideas and work, and finding references for work outside my own field of study. But for me, this book fell short because of a lack of details and too much repetition of the same conceptual points. The section on epigenetics was decent, but otherwise I’m not sure what people are supposed to get out of the same cartoon of brain areas that are involved in stress regulation/respond to nurture practices that have wiggles and hearts around them to indicate oxytocin and nurture. Nothing about that says anything about what is happening in the brain, and how nurture has an impact.
I know writing science for a non-science audience can be hard cause it’s easy for us specialists to get lost in jargon, and I have certainly read some books that have failed in that regard, but other than naming some brain areas and molecules, there is very little “neuroscience meat” in this book. At least there is a substantial list of references that can be consulted by people like me who might like some more details, but I do feel that it would have been possible to add just a bit more neuroscience. Instead the same message that “nurture is good for the brain” gets repeated on almost every page of the book for 200 pages which… without much of a why and how, left me a bit bored.
I absolutely agree that this message is important - but I would’ve found it more persuasive with a bit more why and how. Hopefully that’s just me though, and others will find this book as revolutionary and revelatory as the author wants it to be. I do agree that society would benefit from more kindness, mindfulness, nurture, and overall support for parents and the development of our children.
dnf
January 16, 2024I really wanted to love this book. As a third time attachment parenting mama, I'm passionate about advocacy for a more nurtured infancy. However, the irony of catering to the LGBTQ+ community in a book like this is just too much. A mother is a mother. Not a birthing person. Breastfeeding is not chestfeeding. To be so focused on DNA and the facts, but then to deny basic science regarding the undeniable boundaries and limitations of the two sexes is as silly as it gets.
April 12, 2024
The good:
I appreciated a lot of things in this book. It advocates for an attachment parenting style. It appropriately endorses physical contact and presence as a caregiver over productivity. It discourages using baby "containers" and baby training.
The bad:
While I appreciated the natural approach to nurturing an infant, I felt somewhat patronized while reading. Phrases such as, "I see you" or "you can feel lots of big emotions at the same time" or "emotions are sacred" fell a bit flat, especially coming from an adult to another adult in a non-therapy setting. The author spends a lot of time attempting to get the reader to acknowledge his "inner baby" and reprogram his emotional responses, at one time even recomending the use of a printed "emotion wheel." Maybe someone else felt validated by these overtures, but they made me cringe a little.
The ugly:
I'm glad I finished this book, and I think parents are better off reading this one than leaving it on the shelf. But what just about ruined it for me was the ease with which the author dismisses mothers. Linguisticly it was atrocious to skim the inclusion of every identity in the woke lexicon when "mother" or "father" would have worked just fine. Many terms, not present in parenting books fifteen years ago, will likely make this guide obsolete in the next fifteen. It was clunky and bad writing. What made this language misuse worse was when mothers were completely left out, replaced by the "birthing person." I was bothered to read things such as "if you choose to body feed." It felt like such an erasure of one of the most important relationships someone will experience: the mother-child bond.
Just about every idea in this book had to do with what can go wrong when a mother/infant relationship is corrupted by circumstance and society. And yet, the author advocates at times for babies to be raised without mothers instead of stating what every argument she makes supports: children need their mothers.
I appreciated a lot of things in this book. It advocates for an attachment parenting style. It appropriately endorses physical contact and presence as a caregiver over productivity. It discourages using baby "containers" and baby training.
The bad:
While I appreciated the natural approach to nurturing an infant, I felt somewhat patronized while reading. Phrases such as, "I see you" or "you can feel lots of big emotions at the same time" or "emotions are sacred" fell a bit flat, especially coming from an adult to another adult in a non-therapy setting. The author spends a lot of time attempting to get the reader to acknowledge his "inner baby" and reprogram his emotional responses, at one time even recomending the use of a printed "emotion wheel." Maybe someone else felt validated by these overtures, but they made me cringe a little.
The ugly:
I'm glad I finished this book, and I think parents are better off reading this one than leaving it on the shelf. But what just about ruined it for me was the ease with which the author dismisses mothers. Linguisticly it was atrocious to skim the inclusion of every identity in the woke lexicon when "mother" or "father" would have worked just fine. Many terms, not present in parenting books fifteen years ago, will likely make this guide obsolete in the next fifteen. It was clunky and bad writing. What made this language misuse worse was when mothers were completely left out, replaced by the "birthing person." I was bothered to read things such as "if you choose to body feed." It felt like such an erasure of one of the most important relationships someone will experience: the mother-child bond.
Just about every idea in this book had to do with what can go wrong when a mother/infant relationship is corrupted by circumstance and society. And yet, the author advocates at times for babies to be raised without mothers instead of stating what every argument she makes supports: children need their mothers.
February 19, 2024
I found this book very validating! Ever since becoming a mom I am surprised at all the advice floating around that seems to have the goal of returning parents to their pre-baby existence as soon as possible, as if it is possible to “optimize” a baby and as if totally ordinary infant behavior (eg. night wakes) are a “problem” to be solved.
This book cuts through the noise. Babies are going to need you! And - that’s by design. It is normal, and it is okay to want to slow down for this season of life.
This book cuts through the noise. Babies are going to need you! And - that’s by design. It is normal, and it is okay to want to slow down for this season of life.
July 15, 2023
This book is incredible. It’s full of knowledge, explanations, examples, walk throughs. I would recommend this all expecting new moms and moms with babies. I wish when I was pregnant this book was in my hands.
I feel like I’m back in college with my drink and highlighter reading this book. So much to highlight and make mental notes of.
Read this book .
I feel like I’m back in college with my drink and highlighter reading this book. So much to highlight and make mental notes of.
Read this book .
August 19, 2023
This book and the work of Dr. Kirshenbaum has been life changing for me as a new mom. I spent the first 4 months of the twins’ lives feeling stressed over sleep and had huge feelings of failure and worry. I don’t remember how I came across her Instagram account but it has freed me from so much guilt and has guided me towards nurturing approaches that are backed by science.
I have filled pages in my journal with wisdom from this book but some standouts include recognizing that babies are always asking: “do you see me?” “Do you care that I’m here?” “Am I enough for you?” and “Can I tell that I’m special to you by the way you look at me?”
I’ve also started to implement her strategies for growing emotional intelligence and empathy through naming the behavior - feeling - need (e.g. “you’re crying, I wonder if you feel overwhelmed right now and need a quiet space.”)
This book is important and I hope to share it with all my parent friends who are in the birth-three stage, present and future!
I have filled pages in my journal with wisdom from this book but some standouts include recognizing that babies are always asking: “do you see me?” “Do you care that I’m here?” “Am I enough for you?” and “Can I tell that I’m special to you by the way you look at me?”
I’ve also started to implement her strategies for growing emotional intelligence and empathy through naming the behavior - feeling - need (e.g. “you’re crying, I wonder if you feel overwhelmed right now and need a quiet space.”)
This book is important and I hope to share it with all my parent friends who are in the birth-three stage, present and future!
June 25, 2023
Probably the most powerful and important work for any parent or caregiver. We’ll written and unlike many other parenting books, actually based on real science.
June 5, 2024
The book can be summarized as “nurture is good for the brain”. An important message, but it seemed like there wasn’t much more detail given.
December 20, 2024
Very repetitive and clunky writing
June 24, 2024
Saving our country’s mental health crisis
I honestly don’t know where to start. I’ve never written a book review that I can recall, but honestly this book is powerful. It truly has the potential to heal past generations, as well as create a new mold for future generations to come. This book is for those who are being told by mothers, MIL, spouses, etc. that they are “spoiling” their babies by responding to their cries and being there for them when they feel they’re needed. This is to anyone who feels the pressure to force tiny babies to sleep by themselves and teach them to “self-soothe”, else they’ll grow up dependent and never able to sleep separate of you. There’s nothing further from the truth. We need to start normalizing how truly difficult and exhausting the infancy period is. We need to support new mothers and even experienced mothers because chances are they’re still depleted from this low culture society we live in. We need to give our babies back their voices and treat them like they’re the tiny, moldable, dependent, perfect beings they were made to be in infancy. We need to prioritize the “inner baby” within ourselves so our babies can have a safe space to borrow our emotional brains for co-regulation. Then someday they’re adults who have been taught, through nurture, to work through the big emotions they will feel. This book can change so many lives and the lives of the babies we have been called on to raise, if only we silence the voice of society and promote and support our own voices that tell us to respond to our babies. They need us. This is not light stuff we are carrying on our shoulders mamas, daddies, caregivers. I know it is so hard, but you were made for this and with practice you can give your baby the gift of mental health to help guide them for the rest of their lives, as well as the lives that will come after them. Please just get the book. Let’s normalize the need for a nurture revolution!!
I honestly don’t know where to start. I’ve never written a book review that I can recall, but honestly this book is powerful. It truly has the potential to heal past generations, as well as create a new mold for future generations to come. This book is for those who are being told by mothers, MIL, spouses, etc. that they are “spoiling” their babies by responding to their cries and being there for them when they feel they’re needed. This is to anyone who feels the pressure to force tiny babies to sleep by themselves and teach them to “self-soothe”, else they’ll grow up dependent and never able to sleep separate of you. There’s nothing further from the truth. We need to start normalizing how truly difficult and exhausting the infancy period is. We need to support new mothers and even experienced mothers because chances are they’re still depleted from this low culture society we live in. We need to give our babies back their voices and treat them like they’re the tiny, moldable, dependent, perfect beings they were made to be in infancy. We need to prioritize the “inner baby” within ourselves so our babies can have a safe space to borrow our emotional brains for co-regulation. Then someday they’re adults who have been taught, through nurture, to work through the big emotions they will feel. This book can change so many lives and the lives of the babies we have been called on to raise, if only we silence the voice of society and promote and support our own voices that tell us to respond to our babies. They need us. This is not light stuff we are carrying on our shoulders mamas, daddies, caregivers. I know it is so hard, but you were made for this and with practice you can give your baby the gift of mental health to help guide them for the rest of their lives, as well as the lives that will come after them. Please just get the book. Let’s normalize the need for a nurture revolution!!
November 4, 2025
This book was both helpful and informative, but also lacking in multiple ways.
The number one reason why I loved reading this book is because it gave me practical ways to regulate my own body while nurturing another. Those practices I will come back to again and again, and I’m so thankful I learned them. The book gave many practical examples in what nurture looks like in infancy in a variety of situation- that also was incredibly helpful.
However- with the author being a neuroscientist and working in multiple spheres of infancy and childhood, I expect more on learning about the developing brain. While there was some good information on epigenetics and the development of the parent brain, I wanted to know more about the research and studies about the developing infant brain. She gave very general outlines of how nurture cares for a developing brain, but I was expecting more in this area. Not only that, but her points on an “oxytocin bath” and the damage of stress felt redundant and clunky. The book is very repetitive in the “research” it gives about nurture and the infant brain.
All that to say- I would still recommend this book to a new parent. It was still incredibly helpful. While I may not practice everything she recommends, I can still adopt the nurture concept in raising my daughter.
The number one reason why I loved reading this book is because it gave me practical ways to regulate my own body while nurturing another. Those practices I will come back to again and again, and I’m so thankful I learned them. The book gave many practical examples in what nurture looks like in infancy in a variety of situation- that also was incredibly helpful.
However- with the author being a neuroscientist and working in multiple spheres of infancy and childhood, I expect more on learning about the developing brain. While there was some good information on epigenetics and the development of the parent brain, I wanted to know more about the research and studies about the developing infant brain. She gave very general outlines of how nurture cares for a developing brain, but I was expecting more in this area. Not only that, but her points on an “oxytocin bath” and the damage of stress felt redundant and clunky. The book is very repetitive in the “research” it gives about nurture and the infant brain.
All that to say- I would still recommend this book to a new parent. It was still incredibly helpful. While I may not practice everything she recommends, I can still adopt the nurture concept in raising my daughter.
September 26, 2025
I thought that this was a wonderfully insightful book. I liked all the science and the resources. There was a really big focus on stress being passed down through the generations, and I'd love to know how significant that is.
The book is laid out in: Why nurture works (1st half) then How to nurture (2nd half). Personally I would have found it more intuitive if she presented a nurturing tool, then explained why it worked and repeated that process 30 times.
A curt exchange could sum up this book: "🌎 : Don't go to your baby in the night; they'll learn to rely on you. Logic: I want my baby to rely on me when they're stressed"
The book is laid out in: Why nurture works (1st half) then How to nurture (2nd half). Personally I would have found it more intuitive if she presented a nurturing tool, then explained why it worked and repeated that process 30 times.
A curt exchange could sum up this book: "🌎 : Don't go to your baby in the night; they'll learn to rely on you. Logic: I want my baby to rely on me when they're stressed"
June 6, 2025
A good listen for a currently pregnant woman with no idea what the heck I’m about to get myself into… helpful reminder that you don’t have to have it all sorted to raise a good baby. Learning together is acceptable. Some great takeaways and also some big question marks.
March 23, 2024
Super important read for anyone with littles!
January 18, 2025
Straight to the point: nurturing ie being present with your baby is everyhing. To read for the 1-3yo. She is a phd in neuroscience, she knows what she talks about
October 12, 2025
This should be required reading for new parents! Super helpful information on how & why to nurture our babies in a western society that hyper-focuses on independence at a much-too-early age.
February 1, 2024
Life-changing.
January 4, 2024
This book is so amazing! As a therapist I’ve recommended it to many expectant or new parents. I loved that it is inclusive of adoptive parents as well as LGBTQ+ parents! Every parent should read this!
August 15, 2023
A must read for all humans. Everyone, including the child free, benefit from a nurturing society and improved mental resilience/health for the next generation.
It’s a must read for parents who are confused by the popular parenting “advice” that contradicts their innate intuition to keep their baby close and respond to them with no strings attached.
Heal yourself, heal your nurturing relationship with your baby, heal the world.
It’s a must read for parents who are confused by the popular parenting “advice” that contradicts their innate intuition to keep their baby close and respond to them with no strings attached.
Heal yourself, heal your nurturing relationship with your baby, heal the world.
July 27, 2024
This book was simply fantastic and one I definitely plan to add to my kindle to refer back to as needed. Filled with up to date research and enough repetition throughout to be enforcing, yet not too redundant, it strikes the perfect balance. I love how the author assumes the reader has done the best with the knowledge they had, while encouraging them to do better and giving the tools to know how to make those steps. None of us are perfect parents, and she makes that clear. I especially loved the emphasis on helping to decrease and eventually eliminate generational trauma and epigenetic changes that haven't served us. This book is so great for any who experienced childhood trauma and/or have a strong genetic component for mental health conditions. It was interesting to learn how low nurture environments can trigger these genes too. While we can't change our DNA, we can increase (or decrease) our baseline emotional regulation and sensitivity to mental health issues. Equally fascinating is how the newborn stage is the most flexible time for our brains as adults because of the chemical changes that occur, so not only does our nurture during this period impact our baby for their entire lives, but it can also affect our brain development and rewire different circuitry and heal old wounds for us too. I couldn't possibly cover all of the interesting and fascinating things shared in this book (nor would I), so I would really just recommend every parent take the time to read it. It is well worth it and will likely also teach you much about yourself. I didn't want to put the book down and plan to come back to it frequently!
June 1, 2024
Didn't love the writing. Especially the beginning was very repetitive and sounded preachy rather than factual. I agree with the author but still struggled to get through the book. I can't imagine recommending this book to someone who doesn't already agree with the premise, which kind of defeats the purpose. The second half was a bit better, but still mostly more of the same.
August 7, 2025
dnf. Greer lost me a few pages in at “chest feeding”, saying low nurture beliefs are upheld in our society and “…are capitalistic and patriarchal”. ??? Pathetic and didn’t want to waste my time any further.
June 16, 2024
Very repetitive, long-winded, and boring.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2025
I LOVED this book. I wish I would’ve read this while I was pregnant!
I love that it is science backed and gets into the details of brain science for everything. Every thing she suggests is backed by research.
It also gave me so much freedom to follow my intuition when caring for my baby. I kept going back and forth, feeling guilty and unsure as I was trying to figure out how to care for my baby in his sleep, emotions, and wake time. This book confirmed my intuition and gave clarity as to why I felt so much turmoil about certain “caring for baby norms.” I don’t feel like I’m waffling anymore (especially with sleep) and I feel confident in my decision to spoil, nurture, and soothe my baby at all times and quickly.
I also enjoyed the chapter on growing the parent brain. I love that Greer repeats over and over that the goal isn’t perfection but doing our best to grow our brain and repairing when we fall short. It gave me peace knowing not only can I impact my family’s future mental health in the generations to come through nurture, but I can also continue to work on my brain health as well and see change even as an adult.
This book isn’t Christian, but it reminds me a lot of the work Marcus Warner and Thrive are teaching. I am excited to take what I’ve learned from Nurture Revolution and incorporate it with what I’ve learned from them.
Only downside was it can be a little repetitive at times. And it is written from a very secular perspective. But I felt was able to overlook this and still glean helpful information.
Would highly recommend this book to anyone with a baby 0-3 years!
I love that it is science backed and gets into the details of brain science for everything. Every thing she suggests is backed by research.
It also gave me so much freedom to follow my intuition when caring for my baby. I kept going back and forth, feeling guilty and unsure as I was trying to figure out how to care for my baby in his sleep, emotions, and wake time. This book confirmed my intuition and gave clarity as to why I felt so much turmoil about certain “caring for baby norms.” I don’t feel like I’m waffling anymore (especially with sleep) and I feel confident in my decision to spoil, nurture, and soothe my baby at all times and quickly.
I also enjoyed the chapter on growing the parent brain. I love that Greer repeats over and over that the goal isn’t perfection but doing our best to grow our brain and repairing when we fall short. It gave me peace knowing not only can I impact my family’s future mental health in the generations to come through nurture, but I can also continue to work on my brain health as well and see change even as an adult.
This book isn’t Christian, but it reminds me a lot of the work Marcus Warner and Thrive are teaching. I am excited to take what I’ve learned from Nurture Revolution and incorporate it with what I’ve learned from them.
Only downside was it can be a little repetitive at times. And it is written from a very secular perspective. But I felt was able to overlook this and still glean helpful information.
Would highly recommend this book to anyone with a baby 0-3 years!
October 22, 2025
I'm all for responding to your children when they are asking (or screaming) for your attention. I wish I'd read it before I had kids so I could have started better. Repair and healing can happen at any time which gives me hope for my future. I liked that they acknowledged that to be a better parent you need to heal yourself too. The more inclusive language was thoughtful and acknowledged the wide range of parental experiences.
December 16, 2024
This book confirmed many of my natural instincts that that society made me question (especially regarding sleep- not a sleep training person & never will be). I recommend it to any parent. I’m so glad to have read it.
May 10, 2024
This book should be mandatory for pregnant women and new moms. Beautifully written with scientific evidence of how important nurture is for our children from before birth
February 26, 2025
Holy smokes! I wish I had read this before being a mum! Truly debunked a ton of information that was thrown at me while pregnant. Should be a necessary read for all parents!
April 21, 2025
One of the most interesting and educational books I’ve ever read! 100% recommend to anyone who has an infant or is expecting 🫶🏼
June 8, 2025
A must read for any parent or parent-to-be
Displaying 1 - 30 of 166 reviews