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

1.24k reviews for:

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

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.

jjk2020's review against another edition

4.0

funny informative fast-paced

mainon's review against another edition

4.0

Emily Oster's first book, Expecting Better, was my pregnancy bible. I deeply appreciated her fact-based, data-driven approach to evaluating common pregnancy concerns and recommendations. She's an economist with a background in scientific health studies, and it shows. I felt so much more informed to make choices in pregnancy after reading her book.

This book, Cribsheet, tries to do the same with the first few years of parenting. Choices about breastfeeding, co-sleeping, circumcision, discipline, monitoring your child's development -- she looks at all of these. The problem is that there seems to be a lot fewer of the really helpful studies or evidence-based conclusions than there were for the pregnancy questions. So although her approach remains the same, I don't have quite the overwhelming feeling of "I'm prepared for these parenting decisions" the way I did with pregnancy decisions. Still, I'm very glad I read it, and I trust it will be useful as I get closer and closer to my own post-birth years (beginning in just a few months, now!).

katiemack's review against another edition

4.0

This was more effective for me than Expecting Better, probably because there are fewer medically risky recommendations. While some readers may be frustrated by her "here's the data, do what's best for you and your family" approach, I appreciated that there's more neutrality here than the clear bias presented in her previous book. (Except for vaccines. Completely agree with her on that one.) I also took issue with folks who used Expecting Better as their pregnancy rulebook, so I like the pick-and-choose aspect of this one.

book_wayne's review against another edition

4.25

emotional funny informative fast-paced

anne923's review against another edition

4.5

informative reflective medium-paced

katyifky's review against another edition

3.5

informative slow-paced

kochiscookin's review against another edition

4.0

I loved the author’s methodology, although most of the advice boils down to “the data is inconclusive; just do what’s best for you and your family.” But that’s a comfort in some ways—as a soon-to-be parent, I’m comforted in knowing most parenting strategies and wisdom (of which there are a LOT) aren’t absolute. And the book gives a helpful baseline for what the most common decisions parents face are and the arguments for how to approach them.