Anonymous wrote:To be honest....I'm glad I didn't do any true hard core research and that my husband and I went with our gut and common sense and just saw what kind of child we had and figured out what worked. We asked our parents and his first awesome daycare teach and some friends some best practice on things but never cracked a book. I think that helped us keep our head clear and just focus on what OUR child needed.

+1
Never read any books either. Just common sense and trial & error as needed.
Looking back, we used a hodge-podge of philosophies discussed on this board raising the kids.

Literally pretty much everything. I guess that could make me sound neurotic, but in a real way, research is my family’s “tradition.” I literally parent the way my mom did— by doing research (she’s an MD and research scientist).

I'm glad I researched spanking. I always thought it was no big deal and figured I'd did it occasionally but now I can't imagine striking one of my kids.

Anonymous wrote:Vaccine dangers

The only danger is in not vaccinating your baby.

Anonymous wrote:Vaccine dangers

Did you also research the rubella outbreak and what it used to do to pregnant women and their babies before the advent of the vaccine a few decades ago? Or do you only like to get your information from vaxxed.conspiracytheories.bigpharmaisouttogetyou.omigodtoxins.com?

My child had an incredibly rare, serious vaccine reaction and guess what? I still vaccinate my children. Because the risk of a rare event is incredibly rare - but the benefits of vaccinations are very real. Vaccines are an important part of protecting our kids -- especially as more and more vaccine-preventable diseases spread thanks to misinformation.

Car seats. No way we'd be rear-facing until 4 if we hadn't read lots of articles here:

http://www.thecarcrashdetective.com/best-practices-car-seat-safety/

Anonymous wrote:Raising a Spirited Child helped me appreciate that my first born was not the outlier he appeared. I only wish i read it sooner and put him in a more suitable preschool with other sensory seeking types so he would have been sanctioned less. Looking back, his montessori preschool set him back developmentally and confidence-wise.

Can you elaborate on this? I think my one year old may be "spirited" and we're considering Montessori. What problems did you run into, and what kind of school was a better fit?

RIC

Vaccine dangers

"Oily proteins" pp here - I should have said "fat" and "fatty protein"

It's also common sense. What is the brain anyway but fat and protein...

I know that I am prone to over-research things in general, so I have tried very hard to go with some combination of conventional wisdom/advice from trusted peers/my gut in general and only research things where I need more information to make a specific decision (e.g., picking a pediatrician and a nanny; school lottery ranking) or where my initial approach isn't working/a problem arises (some potty training issues w/ #1, some sleep issues w/ #2).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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'm not a Dr Sears fan, but what kind of oily proteins are you talking about? Sardines, salmon, nuts... anything else?

The Science of Mom (book and blog) has a great round up of those early foods and why. https://scienceofmom.com/

Also love her summaries of the latest research on other topics as well, but food is where she shines.

Lack of sleep and expectations for how the first month would be. When I was a new mom, knowing that the sleep deprivation wouldn't be forever and everyone goes through it was extremely helpful to my sanity.

To be honest....I'm glad I didn't do any true hard core research and that my husband and I went with our gut and common sense and just saw what kind of child we had and figured out what worked. We asked our parents and his first awesome daycare teach and some friends some best practice on things but never cracked a book. I think that helped us keep our head clear and just focus on what OUR child needed.

CPR and first aid. I had to resuscitate my infant, and it was terrifying. I was so panicked I wasn't really doing it right. Then I remembered the training, but only because it had been so recent. Even if you've been trained, get a refresher course in infant CPR and first aid.

Another +1 for Happiest Baby on the Block. The swaddle chapter alone was responsible for MY happiness.

Car seats. I didn't realize I wasn't using them correctly until I read the Car Seat Lady blog.

Allergy info. I have severe food allergies and my daughter has none. I totally credit early introduction BEFORE age 1. If your kid is high risk, the team at Children's is great for ensuring you proceed safely; otherwise you can read up on Bamba and just start slowly introducing allergenic foods beginning at 6 months.

Feeding Your Baby Day-by-Day was helpful only because I'm not very imaginative when it comes to food, and it was so helpful to have stage appropriate foods to give my baby.