Review of CRIBSHEET

Using data to survive the first few years of parenting

My girls <3

Of the few books I managed to read during pregnancy, they were all parenting books. Expecting twins on your first go can be both doubly exciting and doubly overwhelming. Naturally, as I did when I first found out I was pregnant, I turned to my go to data-driven expert: Emily Oster.

Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool is Oster’s second book in her triad of parenting books. Having already read her pregnancy book, Expecting Better, and her school-aged parenting book, The Family Firm, I pretty much knew what to expect going in. And I was of course not disappointed.

I read Cribsheet about a month before my girls were due and the book covers nearly all of the major topics of parenting: vaccination (yes, please), sleep training (not going to emotionally damage your child), breastfeeding (formula is perfectly good too!), eating solids (baby led weaning isn’t magic), physical milestones (the ranges are massive), and more.

The book is a great resource, along with her newsletter and online chat bot, that I consult nearly every day at this point trying to manage my three-month-old twins. The bottom line is that everyone who claims to be an expert on some new fad or parenting ‘hack’ probably isn’t. Most things we do don’t have dramatic long-term consequences and whether things work or not with parenting often comes down the individual baby, rather than your parenting specifically. (Though I do have two different babies, so I feel like I have my own little experiment going every time I try something new!)

As with her other books, each chapter concludes with a ‘bottom line’ box that summarizes the key takeaways from each chapter. Typically, I don’t love these types of features in books, but for a book that is designed to be consulted regularly, it’s a fantastic feature.

Oster’s goal is to give new parents the data to resist fads, reduce anxiety, and build confidence in parenting. I will say, having read the research before having kids and now trying to apply that research in my own parenting is harder than I expected. But it is comforting to know that most of those little details we freak out about won’t actually matter much at all.

I highly recommend all Oster’s books, her newsletter and website, and Instagram for any parents. It’s a way better resource than google, and one that gives clear answers rather than doom.

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Published: 2020

Publisher: Penguin Books

Format: Paperback

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If you think this sounds interesting, bookmark these other great reads:

• Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong--and What You Really Need to Know (2014) by Emily Oster | Read my review

• The Family Firm: A Data-Driven Guide to Better Decision Making in the Early School Years (2021) by Emily Oster | Read my review

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