Name: Rebecca Owen's review of Cribsheet by Emily Oster
Item: Cribsheet
Rating: 5
Author: Rebecca Owen

Emily Oster

Parenting is full of decisions, nearly all of which can be agonized over. There is an abundance of often-conflicting advice hurled at you from doctors, family, friends, and strangers on the internet. But the benefits of these choices can be overstated, and the trade-offs can be profound. How do you make your own best decision? Armed with the data, Oster finds that the conventional wisdom doesn't always hold up. She debunks myths and offers non-judgemental ways to consider our options in light of the facts. She also shows parents how to think through freighted questions like if and how to go back to work, how to think about toddler discipline, and how to have a relationship and parent at the same time. Cribsheet is a thinking parent's guide that empowers us to make better, less fraught decisions - and stay sane in the years before preschool.

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

Cribsheet

Rebecca Owen

From the author of EXPECTING BETTER, an economist's guide to the early years of parenting With Expecting Better, award-winning economist Emily Oster spotted a need in the pregnancy market for advice that gave women the information they needed to make the best decision for their own pregnancies. By digging into the data, Oster found that much of the conventional pregnancy wisdom was wrong. In Cribsheet, she now tackles an even greater challenge: decision-making in the early years of parenting. As any new parent knows, there is an abundance of often-conflicting advice hurled at you from doctors, family, friends, and strangers on the internet. From the earliest days, parents get the message that they must make certain choices around feeding, sleep, and schedule or all will be lost. There's a rule--or three--for everything. But the benefits of these choices can be overstated, and the trade-offs can be profound. How do you make your own best decision? Armed with the data, Oster finds that the conventional wisdom doesn't always hold up. She debunks myths around breastfeeding (not a panacea), sleep training (not so bad!), potty training (wait until they're ready or possibly bribe with M&Ms), language acquisition (early talkers aren't necessarily geniuses), and many other topics. She also shows parents how to think through freighted questions like if and how to go back to work, how to think about toddler discipline, and how to have a relationship and parent at the same time. Economics is the science of decision-making, and CRIBSHEET is a thinking parent's guide to the chaos and frequent misinformation of the early years. Emily Oster is a trained expert--and mom of two--who can empower us to make better, less fraught decisions--and stay sane in the years before preschool.

Ben Jenkins

Too much data theory and not enough parenting tips. There's some good stuff here but it's buried under pages of unnecessary statistical explanation.

Nash

As any new parent knows, there is an abundance of often-conflicting advice hurled at you from doctors, family, friends, and the internet. From the earliest days, parents get the message that they must make certain choices around feeding, sleep, and schedule or all will be lost. There's a rule--or three--for everything. But the benefits of these choices can be overstated, and the tradeoffs can be profound. How do you make your own best decision?


I’m a soon to be mother that honest to God has no idea what to do or what to expect. I possess some knowledge thanks to nursing school, but when it comes to actual part of carrying a child, YOUR CHILD, and going through the ups and downs of maternity, I am completely lost. 

When I went to my first OB appointment, I had an incredible amount of information thrown at me with recommendations and instructions to follow on things that hadn’t even crossed my mind until that very moment when the nurse hand me the pile of paperwork. Thing that I was expected to follow with no questions asked as if this is written in stone and this is what you must do. 

When I went home, I had a killer headache. I was overwhelmed and then I realized that I never asked the questions that I had previously written down for the Doctor. What a dummy. So I read everything, wrote down my concerns, talked about it with my husband and before going to the provider again, I did my own research. I started looking on forums and reading mommy blogs (big mistake) then, by some kind of miracle, one of the YouTubers I admire posted a video about her recent maternity journey and the material she used to come up with her own instructions, this book was on the list. I immediately looked it up and borrowed it from the library. 

My God, I had no idea that a lot of women were thinking the same way I was. Many mothers-to-be needed to know the why’s. I am so glad I came across this book. It helped me understand that is okay to ask this type of questions and that like many other subjects, professionals tend to disagree at the bottom line. Sometimes there isn’t even a bottom line. Conclusions are often different for everyone just like in scientific experiments. I loved knowing that my truth, reality, or choices are not the same ones as everyone else’s and that that doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m doing something wrong that could potentially damage my precious bundle of joy. I am content with the choices I’m making and conscious of the risks and whatnot of my decisions. 


Looking forward to read more from Emily Oster.

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Emily Oster is the non-judgemental girlfriend holding our hand and guiding us through pregnancy and motherhood. She has done the work to get us the hard facts in a soft, understandable way' Amy Schumer Parenting is full of decisions, nearly all of which can be agonized over. There is an abundance of often-conflicting advice hurled at you from doctors, family, friends, and strangers on the internet. But the benefits of these choices can be overstated, and the trade-offs can be profound. How do you make your own best decision? Armed with the data, Oster finds that the conventional wisdom doesn't always hold up. She debunks myths and offers non-judgemental ways to consider our options in light of the facts. Cribsheet is a thinking parent's guide that empowers us to make better, less fraught decisions - and stay sane in the years before preschool.

Magdalene Lim

"Before the baby, you’re a vessel to be cherished and protected. After the baby, you’re a lactation-oriented baby accessory." 

Nuggets of wisdom like this - nobody tells you that unless you have a gazillion mum friends and are like a rabid reader of all baby/parenting books. Then perhaps, you would have an inkling of the vast milky way (pun unintended) of things involved in becoming a parent. 

What I appreciate about this book is not that it is book of answers - it is not. What it is helpful in, is getting first time mums to consider things that you may or may not have thought about. E.g. circumcision, vaccinations, when or whether to introduce TV, how far or close to space the kids apart. Oster provides both sides of the coin and there is usually no black and white answer to which is the best - so you still have to weigh the pros and cons vis a vis your specific situation, and decide what you want to do. 

As an economist, Oster says, "Heed the statistics mantra: anecdote is not data." Yet, you need quantitative as well as qualitative (stories) data to make the best decisions, yah? So those with parenting/caregiving stories, do share. :)

Thomas Karstens 

A very comprehensive book on some of the most pressing issues young parent face in the first couple of years, what approaches to solving them exist, and which way the data points. I greatly appreciate the data-driven approach employed by Oster, and how critical she is in accepting research "findings", especially since many of the other parenting books out there are highly anecdotal.
Beware that in many instances the data can't answer the question sufficiently and you will be left to make your own decision after all :)

Maddie

Richard Atkinson

Chana

Martha F.

New parents receive abundance of often-conflicting advice from doctors, family, friends, and the internet. How do you make your own best decision? Oster debunks myths around breastfeeding, sleep training, potty training, language acquisition, and many other topics. She shows parents how to think through freighted questions like if and how to go back to work, how to think about toddler discipline, and how to have a relationship and parent at the same time. -- adapted from jacket

Rebecca Owen &
Cribsheet by Emily Oster

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Rebecca Owen &Cribsheet by Emily Oster

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Rebecca Owen &
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