The Confident Parent

Starred review from October 15, 2016
Scott, a Colorado-based neonatologist and pediatrician, shares wisdom gleaned from both her medical career and her experience as a parent and grandparent in this guide to caring for infants and toddlers. As the title suggests, the overall purpose here is to help parents feel more confident in a variety of decisions and to reduce the fear often felt in today's parenting-as-an-endurance-sport environment. Parents who reject the rigidity of some attachment parenting advocates will appreciate the research-based boosts that Scott provides for formula feeding, sleep training, and letting the baby sleep in her own bed (hint: none of them will damage a child). Scott is decidedly in favor of letting babies and toddlers explore their world, and she encourages parents to gather their village, including partners, extended family, and other care providers, to reduce parental stress, which can have negative effects on children's well-being. The final two chapters, on discipline and the importance of play, touch briefly on issues related to preschoolers and grade-schoolers, but the focus is primarily on the younger set, with confidence-boosting advice that first-time parents will find especially useful when faced with the exhausting complexities of caring for a newborn.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)