Data-Driven Guide For Parents By Economists

The new parents are sent home from the hospital with diapers, snot suckers, swaddles, all the basics one might need to care for a new baby. But what you do not get is a user manual. It turns out that there are no operating instructions prescribed by a doctor on what to do when that little human does not eat, does not sleep and does not stop crying.

Instead, insomniac moms and dads are inundated with unsolicited tips from friends and family, as well as a barrage of conflicting information from books and blogs about raising a child.

How do you start to make sense of all this? That's where Emily Oster comes into play. In her latest book, "Cribsheet: A data-driven guide for better and more relaxed parenting, from birth to preschool," the economics professor at Brown University and author of "Expecting Better" investigates all the research and presents to parents what science says about breastfeeding, sleep training, education and more. The main point, said Oster, is to let parents make their own informed decision based on what works best for them and their children.

"The first good decision making is to have the correct evidence," said Oster. "How else do you give meaning to so many conflicting advices, especially when it comes to different people you trust?"

Here are some to take away from "Cribsheet":

Sleep

Sleeping can be one of the most frustrating issues for new parents. Current guidelines recommend that babies should sleep on their backs in a crib without blankets and stuffed animals to reduce the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). The American Academy of Pediatrics also encourages parents to sleep in the same room as their baby.

However, some parents prefer that their babies sleep in a separate room. Others choose to co-sleep with their babies in their own beds.

"Part of what is so difficult about this advice is that a minute someone tells you to keep the child in bed with you, otherwise they will feel abandoned, and then, the next minute, someone says it's incredibly dangerous to do that "said Oster.

Instead of giving a definitive answer, Oster tells parents what the research says: babies who sleep on their backs have a lower risk of SIDS; there is moderate evidence that bed sharing is risky; and sleeping on the couch with a baby is dangerous. It allows the reader to weigh the pros and cons, so if having the baby sleeping in another room helps the parents to sleep, for example, they may feel able to make that decision.

In regard to sleeping together, Oster said: "If you do it in the safest way possible, do not smoke, do not drink, there are not many blankets in bed, there is an increased risk of co-sleeping, but it's a number very small ".

She added: "And for some families, they're going to look at that data and they say, 'Yes, you know, actually this is a choice that I want to make because this co-sleeping environment, this is what we think will work for our family. "And I think this really highlights the importance of thinking about differences between families, it's hard to follow someone else's advice because it's not you."

By: Preeti Narula

Content: https://wtop.com/parenting/2019/05/economist-delivers-data-driven-guide-to-parenting/