Discovering that processed rice powder is not the best food to start baby on - we learned that starting with oily protein is best and went with that. Had a happy, healthy baby with no sleep, digestion or development issues. Kept up with the whole foods/oily protein diet and DS has grown into a happy healthy confident well adjusted teen with great skin and good BMI with no diet, personality or social issues. I see so many of his friends who can hardly make it through the day and I see their diets and there is little wonder what's going on there... people feed their kids processed foods for breakfast and then give them prescription drugs to medicate them.

Best book by far: Anything by Dr Sears and "Wise traditions" journal

I read some research on food allergies and decided not to follow the food introductions that were recommended at the time (hold off on peanuts, eggs, etc. until after 1 year). I only say this because I still hear the advice to wait on those foods from mothers with older children.

Anonymous wrote:What is RIE?

Resources for Infant Educarers, a group started by Magda Gerber. It's a philosophy / approach to being with young children that considers them capable and deserving of respect. Janet Lansbury is the modern-day guru.

What is RIE?

Age resolves most issues.

Everything--I'm in early childhood, so my work and parenting have a lot of overlap.

What I use most everyday:

--RIE
--Erikson's stages of psycho-social development

"The Explosive Child" and collaborative problem solving versus the way I was brought up (more similar to 1-2-3 Magic or My Way or the Highway)

The way I was brought up worked just fine for one child, but with the other it was absolutely the wrong approach, and it I hadn't changed my approach, I am positive my child would have been diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder or medicated or sent to a special school for kids with behavior problems. As it is he has developed into an AMAZING young man, but it took a long time and a lot of hard work and understanding, and willingness to meet him where he was. And this all started when he was a toddler, which was when I read about Collaborative Problem Solving.

I have read so much about theories of education and different schools that I think I might qualify for some kind of a degree. All worth it. We love the school we chose.

I'm glad I read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child.
But I basically research everything!!!

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Anonymous wrote:None. I go by what I learned growing up

How did you learn how to breastfeed or sleep train an infant? How could you remember that.

A lot of cultures breastfeed. There's not a huge debate of what a mother will do.

Sleep training is also a very modern/western custom. A lot of things like not letting an infant cry or reading the signs of tiredness aren't rocket science.

True. However the parts about when to transition from three to two naps, how to rig a ladder schedule of wakefulness, getting circadian rhythm to work with sleep pressure, etc. has allowed us to help two average/sensitive sleepers get to 12 hours of unbroken sleep early on. That's priceless time spent, IMHO.

Nobody in my family gets 12 hours of unbroken sleep and never had. I was never counting on that.

That's not the point. If you knew about sleep science and it helped your child get more sleep, why would you not use it? Sleep is so crucial for everything health-related, including mental health.

Not everyone needs 12 hours. I go with individual needs, not statistical recommendations

I am one of those people who enjoys reading about car seats and safety research. I wouldn't say I'm glad I did it, though -- if anything it feeds my anxiety. Read your seat manual carefully and buckle your kid snugly, is probably all the advice most people need.

I really find the parenting blogs and books so helpful, and wish I had read more and earlier. So much of pregnancy is spent thinking and talking about birth (and breastfeeding) not what comes after. Also, it's easy to think you'll be patient yet firm, and then in the moment it all flies out the window. For the kid I happen to have, Peaceful Parent / Happy Kid and the Highly Sensitive Child are both important resources ... though not sure I would have picked them before encountering trouble with more common recs like 1-2-3 Magic.

I was oblivious to kids when growing up, and had no familiarity with any kind of childcare (despite siblings and babysitting).

Anonymous wrote:RIE - took the parts I liked and discarded the rest. I love what narration and conversation as a new born on did for my daughter - she was communicating at a very, very young age and is the most verbal 23 month old I have ever encountered. Also read a lot about sensory stuff, sign language and brain synapses. We read to DD from the day she was born and she loves books now.

I wish I had learned more about actual breastfeeding prior to her birth - I pumped for nearly a year but never enjoyed nursing - and neither did she.

+1 I never cared about sleep training but was very interested in childhood brain development. I got lucky with breastfeeding as I really had no clue either!

Baby-led weaning. So glad we discovered this and read about it. It has worked so well for our family.

I looked up different sleep training methods, that was helpful.
Everything else- just sorta winging it. Outside of medical recommendations, parenting seems more like an art than a science. For every study I read I can find one with the opposite conclusion.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None. I go by what I learned growing up

How did you learn how to breastfeed or sleep train an infant? How could you remember that.

A lot of cultures breastfeed. There's not a huge debate of what a mother will do.

Sleep training is also a very modern/western custom. A lot of things like not letting an infant cry or reading the signs of tiredness aren't rocket science.

True. However the parts about when to transition from three to two naps, how to rig a ladder schedule of wakefulness, getting circadian rhythm to work with sleep pressure, etc. has allowed us to help two average/sensitive sleepers get to 12 hours of unbroken sleep early on. That's priceless time spent, IMHO.

Nobody in my family gets 12 hours of unbroken sleep and never had. I was never counting on that.

That's not the point. If you knew about sleep science and it helped your child get more sleep, why would you not use it? Sleep is so crucial for everything health-related, including mental health.