Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool

Highly recommended. It's no "in my opinion" or "my grandma told me" nonsense you read elsewhere. This is evidence-based talk deeply grounded in science. Cheery on the cake, it's very well written, easy to digest, and very hard to put down once you start chewing through the pages.

I haven't read Expecting Better, Emily Oster's previous book, but had high hopes for Cribsheet. Each chapter addresses a different area of parenting "dilemmas", relating to a topic that parents often worry about - like, how to feed baby (breast/bottle), is baby's sleep normal and what to do about it, are vaccines safe, etc etc. Oster's writing is snappy and digestible, but she takes a very cool-headed, neutral approach, trying to look at what the scientific evidence says about each topic rather than present a particular "way of doing things", as many parenting books do. She steers clear from giving recommendations, unless there is overwhelming evidence for benefit and very little risk, like in the vaccines chapter. There are occasional personal anecdotes which liven things up, although sometimes I think she goes overboard a bit on this. The breast/bottle feeding chapter will probably raise quite a few hackles, because Oster's summary of the scientific evidence is very different from what the "orthodoxy" says - she basically notes that there is solid evidence that breastfeeding helps prevent infections, and may have some other benefits too, but many of the longer-term proposed benefits of breastfeeding aren't proven (in her opinion). Therefore, in her view, if you choose to not breastfeed, or switch from breast to formula milk, you aren't choosing a course of action that is depriving your baby of important developmental benefits.I felt some of the chapters, like on development, language, and use of TV/ipad were a bit thin, and not as fleshed out as they could be, but maybe that is because the evidence in these areas really is inconclusive. But it would have been nice to have more to say, or to delve into the data a bit deeper to address additional questions (eg, the often claimed suggestion that kids who grow up with more than one language in the home, have other advantages in their development or learning process).The final chapters, on the relationships between parents, and how the adults adjust to becoming parents, was really interesting because so few books on parenting, ironically, actually address this. I felt this was really useful and prescient, and actually validating in a lot of ways. Being a parent can be very stressful at times, and it's nice to have someone (an academic "someone") recognise there is real objective data that marital relationships do, on average, suffer when two people have kids. But there are ways to help things, and it does get better (mainly).All in all, I feel this is *not* a how-to manual at all, nor some kind of treatise on parenting philosophy (as so many of these books are), but rather a book that really takes the heat out of parenting - it tells you that there are many different ways to be a great and loving parent. Headlines abound in the media telling us how new scientific studies have "proven" that those of us who didn't choose X, or Y, or Z, have ended up failing our kids, but this book tells us that this really isn't so (or isn't proven to be so): it's about understanding your options, and what is right for your family in your circumstances.

This book attempts to do what so few parenting books do, convey parenting advice for new born babies based on medical evidence. The result is an interesting and very useful book, which takes on many parenting myths and shines a light on the data (or not) behind them.The main disadvantage of this book for the UK audience is that child-birth in the USA has very different practises to the good old NHS, and the very first chapter in the book - on circumcision! - seems weird and alien, as do the commentaries on practises in US maternity hospitals. Once past that first chapter, though, the focus moves to universal questions which are handled with a direct reference to the evidence and academic lifetime. A useful book and a breath of fresh air. Someone should write a British version!

Here's the jist: if you have a higher socio-economic status you have more options. More options = more ability to make decisions. People that make certain decisions typically have the privilege to make those decisions. The kids of privilege to probably have better but outcomes not necessarily BBC their parents make better decisions, but bc those parents' decisions are shaped by their privilege. Most decisions are equally fine or maybe fine or probably fine. There. I saved you $16.

Ever since reading Expecting Better when pregnant (and weeping with gratitude to find a book that was evidence-based and non-judgmental), I have been waiting eagerly for Cribsheet. It didn’t disappoint. Emily Oster covers all the big issues, from feeding to sleeping to childcare. I feel far more confident about making decisions that are right for me and my four month old. I would recommend this book, unreservedly, to any new parent.

I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend and they loved it and found this book very interesting. However, for me, I found this book incredibly boring to read. It is not exactly well written and it is just a plethora of study results which I didn't find all that helpful. However, this might be due to my parenting style which is fairly relaxed.