Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool (The ParentData Series)

I read expecting better and loved the book, so I was ready for my next steps of reading books about what to expect after the baby is born. I had some books gifted to me that I started reading and they would just make me stressed and overwhelmed. So I knew I should give this one a try. This book is the BEST. Emily feels like a best friend and therapist at the same time, giving helpful data-based answers without exaggerating, making you feel stupid or just giving you advice without any basis for it. I love that. It’s so easy to read, it makes me feel supported as opposed to stressed, and makes me feel better equipped to become a mother soon. I love the chapter that talks about post birth effects on the mother (as those are not talked about enough). Thank you! I highly recommend.

This was recommended to me by my cousin and I gifted it to my friend who is going through her first pregnancy journey. Very informative she loved it

I really enjoyed Emily Oster’s book on pregnancy so I was really excited to read this book. So far I have felt like this book was a bit more opinion based than her other one. I am more of a numbers girl, so I wish it had held with her previous data driven takes. Overall it is solid and helpful for new parents like myself!

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!

Loved the discussion on the data; I feel empowered to make my own decisions instead of blindly following guidelines. Also a huge stress reliever to find out about how much things really matter or don't matter

As a first-time mom, this book was incredible. I learned so many valuable insights into motherhood and how to maneuver through different milestones and changes with your baby/toddler. I will definitely be gifting this to other mom friends and recommend it for you too!

This really calmed my anxiety and provided me with amazing information to make decisions for myself and my baby. No more peer pressure or guilt from all the advice everyone throws my way. No more needing to follow the latest trends. Just solid, study based information providing me a foundation on what decision fits my family best.So grateful for this author and her books.

As someone who has a background in economics and does data analytics for a living, I of course bought both Expecting Better and Crib Sheets.These books are ok. They have some interesting data and they get you thinking about issues you will likely encounter as a pregnant lady and later as a new parent. However, the tone is very much geared towards a subset of the population that can relate to the life of upper-middle lass professionals, especially those with an academics schedule. I also failed to see how her personal choices reflected at all the data that was presented. In the end, our decisions are going to be subjective, even if bombarded with the most accurate, up-to date data and insights.For example, after seeing just how safe epidurals are, why anyone would chose not to have one (as the author did) and to be martyr, is beyond me, but to each his own.Crib sheets in particular opens up with things I just can't relate to. Getting a baby to get used to not being swaddled at the 4-5 months mark - that's nice if you don't put the baby in day-care after at most 12 months of maternity leave, which is what most people get at best. Day cares will not swaddle babies, so you need to prepare for that earlier.Or the angst about mommy group fights on Facebook? Um why even bother or engage in that? If you are an educated professional especially, why bother with the opinions of the social media mob? Just disconnect and stop fretting.There are many books out there but honestly just listen to friends whom you trust and tend to see eye-to-eye with who have already had children. Most importantly, ask and listen to your pediatrician. Books such as this one can help you think of the right questions and anticipate decisions that will need to be made - but they don't really provide much in terms of solutions or guidance. To her credit, the author admits that even when presented with the same information, people will make different decisions and her goal is to share that information and her experience, and not to offer prescriptive device. Enjoy your baby and don't aim to be a perfectionist.