Parenting Made Complicated: What Science Really Knows About the Greatest Debates of Early Childhood
David Rettew
Abstract
Parenting Made Complicated: What Science Really Knows About the Greatest Debates in Early Childhood addresses many of the long-standing parenting controversies that new mothers and fathers face. These include topics related to screens, daycare, praise, sleep training, spanking, time-outs, helicopter versus “old school” parenting, and others. Each chapter is devoted to a different parenting controversy, and a synthesis of what is known scientifically about each topic is presented, written in a nontechnical and conversational style. Parenting Made Complicated, however, doesn’t assume that the “c ... More
Parenting Made Complicated: What Science Really Knows About the Greatest Debates in Early Childhood addresses many of the long-standing parenting controversies that new mothers and fathers face. These include topics related to screens, daycare, praise, sleep training, spanking, time-outs, helicopter versus “old school” parenting, and others. Each chapter is devoted to a different parenting controversy, and a synthesis of what is known scientifically about each topic is presented, written in a nontechnical and conversational style. Parenting Made Complicated, however, doesn’t assume that the “correct” answer for each parenting dilemma is the same for each child and instead provides a roadmap for how the best approach may vary according to a child’s temperament or other important factors. Many case vignettes and boxed practical suggestions are provided. Accounts are also given regarding how scientific information on a particular topic is applied and sometimes manipulated toward political aims. The book is written by child psychiatrist David Rettew, an expert in child temperament who has conducted research in child development and worked clinically with families for over 20 years.
Keywords:
parenting,
parents,
screens,
daycare,
spanking,
sleep training,
gender,
picky eating,
divorce,
praise,
temperament
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2021 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780197550977 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: August 2021 |
DOI:10.1093/oso/9780197550977.001.0001 |
