Must read for all parents!
You must read cribsheet by Emily Oster
Parents these days are tech-savvy, info-hungry, data-driven sponges; especially when it comes to how we want to raise our children. Our kids are our world but despite global travel, our worlds are a bit smaller. Westernized countries have less children per family, we start having them at an older age, and we live further away from immediate family than we did 100 years ago. Yes, I am talking about the ‘village.” We don’t have the village like we used to.
Take my mother for example. She started having children 45 years ago. At that time, between my mother and father, they had a total of 4 parents, 5 siblings (and their spouses) as well as countless neighbors and friends to rely upon for child-rearing advice, childcare, and emotional support. While some families still have access to this structure or a part of it, a lot of us don’t.
My husband and I chose travel and life-experiences before we finally met and had children. This resulted in us residing in differing cities and provinces than most of our immediate family and friends. Yes, there is FaceTime and texting but when it comes to raising my boys, I often rely on Google, books, and apps to get me through challenging milestones.
My background is in nursing, but I now focus on Sleep Consulting. I am going to recommend a book that virtually eliminated my anxieties regarding multiple topics, not just sleep. The book is New York Bestseller cribsheet by Emily Oster. Emily Oster is a professor of economics at Brown University, she has written 3 books that will change how you parent.
She hits side-taking topics such as breastfeeding, vaccinations, sleep training, introducing solids, milestone achieving and potty training to a whole new level. She lays it out in factual and no-nonsense terms anyone can understand with a twist of humour. Of course, I am possibly a bit bias when I highly recommend Part II Chapter 11 on sleep training. Oster highlights the pros and cons to sleep training in an honest and evidenced-based formula, then she tells us what she did with her own children, raw to the bone.
I can’t say enough good things about this book except that I wish I had it earlier in my mothering career. I struggled intensely with decisions such as puree vs baby-led-weaning and methods of potty training - topics she discusses in this book. The only two other topics I truly struggled with when it came to my own children that were not discussed were gestational genetic testing and cloth vs disposable diapers.
What do you think Emily Oster; cribsheet 2nd edition?
For more tips on Drifting off to sleep visit my website at www.driftsleep.ca Kyla Lucas is a Certified Sleep Consultant, a Registered Nurse and a mom who resides in Tsawwassen, BC. Making sleep a Breeze. Drift Sleep Consulting. Everything you need to know about Infant and Toddler Sleep.Sign up for blog updates!
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