Mayim Bialik was the child star of the popular 1990s TV sitcom Blossom, but she definitely didn’t follow the typical child-star trajectory. Instead, Mayim got her PhD in neuroscience from UCLA, married her college sweetheart, and had two kids. Mayim then did what many new moms do—she read a lot of books, talked with other parents, and she soon started questioning a lot of the conventional wisdom she heard about the “right” way to raise a child. That’s when she turned to attachment parenting, a philosophy and lifestyle popularized by well-known physicians like Dr. William Sears and Dr. Jay Gordon.
To Mayim, attachment parenting’s natural, child-led approach not only felt right emotionally, it made sense intellectually and instinctually. She found that when she followed her intuition and relaxed into her role as a mother instead of following some rigid parenting script, both she and her children thrived. Drawing on both her experience as a mother and her scientific background, Mayim writes about her experiences spanning the past 6 years since the birth of her first son.
I read the book, Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way. It was fascinating, it had tons of useful information and interesting parenting stories. It also had some parenting goals that I could never have attained, and some I have no interest in. But it is not about agreeing with the book, it is about learning, first hand, from a neuroscientist who knows how the human brain works. How cool is that, a mom who really has a cognitive understanding of a lot of the parenting processes, from the babies & toddlers perspective, to the mom and dads perspective, from the inside out!
There are 2 huge things that stood out for me in the book. One, the remarkable properties of breast milk, from healing cuts, to feeding the next generation! I adopted and therefore did not have access to breast milk, although I did research a breast milk bank, I am glad the trend is for moving away from formula, which while it worked for us, is not the optimal form of feeding a mammalian baby!
The other interesting part of the book was about potty training, or the more worldwide form of it known as elimination communication . This was a myth, an urban legend, that I heard about when I was raising my toddler. To read Mayim’s real experience with it was quite eye opening, and also lends a lot of credibility to the subject.
And lastly, there are no judgements in this book. Mayim and her family work hard, and even overtime, to raise their 2 boys the best way they have come up with, with a lot of research behind them. It is not for everyone, but it is a great perspective, and a great read!
Disclosure: I attended an event at Simon & Schuster moderated by The Moms. I had received the book 2 weeks prior from S & S to review. All opinions are 100% my own and honest.
And of course I had to take a picture with my favorite Supporting Actress in a Comedic Role!
I remember her…I use to love watching Blossom when I was a kid. Interesting book, thanks for the recap!
Loved her then, love her now. Great pic of y’all. I need to add her book to my too-long list of must-reads.
Awesome, I remember Blossom!! You all look great!
I will look to see if my library carries this. I loved that show and I love parenting stories. Thanks!
i remember hearing she slept in a single bed as a family.. .interesting.
I’m going to see her next week when she makes her way back to the West Coast. I’m very intrigued to learn the scientific support for the (mostly accidental) attachment parenting we have been doing!
Parenting can be such a daunting task; except, of course, for those who are “naturals). ” (of which there are not many). I was trained and worked in infant mental health which was based on attachment theory so I am very glad to hear about this book. I think its the only way to go. Thanks for the review.
i’m glad she turned out so normal, most child stars end up in trouble or on drugs. it’s goos also that she was willing to follow her instincts, because it worked for one parent does not mean it will work for all
Great book to give parents.