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1.24k reviews for:
Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool
Emily Oster
4.08 AVERAGE
1.24k reviews for:
Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool
Emily Oster
4.08 AVERAGE
funny
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
funny
informative
medium-paced
Very informative book, and was useful information as a soon to be parent, especially to get explicit numbers on some of the more controversial topics.
I don’t know if it changed my mind about many issues, but it did highlight which decisions were actually important and which ones I should give myself grace with if it turns out I need to be more flexible and go against the grain.
I don’t know if it changed my mind about many issues, but it did highlight which decisions were actually important and which ones I should give myself grace with if it turns out I need to be more flexible and go against the grain.
As an anxious person going through an anxious pregnancy, I am very much expecting to be an anxious parent, but this did exactly what I needed got rid of all the crap, did the research into what the studies are actually saying not what people want to read from it. THANK YOU
Oster offers such helpful analysis of all of the data when it comes to parenting. This might not be the best strategy for everyone, but for my type A personality it provides a lot of peace of mind to read through the data comprehensively. She is an expert on research, so you hear all the possibilities in an unbiased way that can help you form your own opinion. She also does a great job of leaning into parenting being a personal journey that everyone will make different decisions on, which provides a lot of freedom to explore!
A good reminder read that there isn't a clear right and wrong with parenting choices. Rather, Oster outlines facts for families to make the decisions that work best for them. If every parent were to read her research and understand her points, there would be way less "mommy wars" and much more understanding that works best for some doesn't work best for all, yet all of our children can be safe, healthy, and well cared for.
informative
This book has some good insights but it is definitely less helpful than Expecting Better. I wanted more details in a lot of places. I'll probably still revisit some chapters as my baby gets older. I think the main takeaway is that whatever works best for your family is the best decision in most cases. The data is just not there for most parenting decisions. And much the data that is there focuses on things like IQ and test scores later in life, which are arguably not the most important outcomes to be looking at.
Emily Oster uses the same data-centered approach in Cribsheet that she did in Expecting Better. (You can read my review of that here.) That’s why I loved Expecting Better so I knew I’d love Cribsheet too. Oster wrote Expecting Better after she had her first child and drew on her own experience of pregnancy for that book. She would present the data and explain why she made the choice she did but was never judgmental about it. The choice was ultimately left up to the reader. Cribsheet is the same, only Oster wrote it after the birth of her second child. She knows from personal experience that all children are different and what works for one may not work for another – even if they have the same parents.
Cribsheet covers the most heated topics related to a baby’s first year – sleep training, breast vs. bottle, vaccinations, working vs. staying home, etc. The section on toddlers includes walking, talking, potty training, discipline, education and more. Like in Expecting Better, she presents the various approaches to each topic and then her analysis of the available data, without judgment. My oldest child is 16 years old and my youngest is 18 months old. A lot has changed in 16 years. One example is that it’s now recommended that children sleep in the parents’ bedroom for their first year. This blew me away! My older kids were in their own room within weeks of birth and this was pretty much standard at the time. After reading Oster’s section on sleep, I understood why the recommendation had been put into place and was able to decide how long I thought it was appropriate for my new baby to sleep in my bedroom given the available data.
I hope that Oster continues to write books as her children grow. I’ll be first in line for all of them!
Cribsheet covers the most heated topics related to a baby’s first year – sleep training, breast vs. bottle, vaccinations, working vs. staying home, etc. The section on toddlers includes walking, talking, potty training, discipline, education and more. Like in Expecting Better, she presents the various approaches to each topic and then her analysis of the available data, without judgment. My oldest child is 16 years old and my youngest is 18 months old. A lot has changed in 16 years. One example is that it’s now recommended that children sleep in the parents’ bedroom for their first year. This blew me away! My older kids were in their own room within weeks of birth and this was pretty much standard at the time. After reading Oster’s section on sleep, I understood why the recommendation had been put into place and was able to decide how long I thought it was appropriate for my new baby to sleep in my bedroom given the available data.
I hope that Oster continues to write books as her children grow. I’ll be first in line for all of them!
i grudgingly finally picked this up (or downloaded it). it’s pitched at a very low level, which is good in some ways and also a little annoying (get ready for an explanation of a randomized trial and the fact that there’s limited data on lots of things and that some things are just hard to study). The audio version probably made it seem more condescending than the print version would. This is a better book to flip through, so I would do print version. (I did e-audio bc it was free through library and there’s a pandemic.) For areas where I already knew quite a bit, coverage seemed cursory and I thought important points were missed. But it’s meant to be an overview. It was a helpful summary of available data for a bunch of topics, and while initially I didn’t like someone who wasn’t an expert in any of the topics writing about them all, I came around to liking an overview from someone who didn’t have an invested and entrenched career interest in a particular position. But also, since I thought there were gaps for things i knew more about... definitely look elsewhere if you care a lot about a particular topic.
I read Oster's first book, Expecting Better, throughout my pregnancy. I found that volume a little more educational, I think largely because there's just so much that they're unable to say for sure about babies. Studying infants in a real way is evidently really difficult
My first foray into parenting books and it was the right one to start with.
Oster is not prescriptive in her advice on parenting the first year of life. In fact there is almost no instruction at all, just an exploration of data. She methodically explains risks and recommendations of possible parenting choice in a non-judgmental way, with the expectation that parents will consider the data and make decision for what fits best within their family.
In a world where the online debate on right and wrong parenting is very heated, this book made me feel reassured that there is no one scientifically proven correct way. And gave me the tools to make decisions myself.
Oster is not prescriptive in her advice on parenting the first year of life. In fact there is almost no instruction at all, just an exploration of data. She methodically explains risks and recommendations of possible parenting choice in a non-judgmental way, with the expectation that parents will consider the data and make decision for what fits best within their family.
In a world where the online debate on right and wrong parenting is very heated, this book made me feel reassured that there is no one scientifically proven correct way. And gave me the tools to make decisions myself.