Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five Book

Medina is simple, direct, and interesting as an author. He does a nice job at splicing up research from a variety of fields and areas for the lay reader, such as myself. (Although, the academic in me would have liked the research better cited with a bibliography at the back of the book.)

It seemed to me that a lot of the research he refers to is not new and has been cited in Blink, Nurture Shock, Drive and other recent, popular, non-fiction books. Despite this, I didn't mind revisiting it in this new light. As a result, I left the text thinking more deeply about my behavior as a parent and a person. The importance of empathy as a human trait and empathy as an expressed behavior resonated with me. There is something truly magical when talking with a person who has the capacity to understand and relate to you with altruism.

Medina is successful at providing insight into neuroscience that is salient to human development. My trust was won, in part by the author's early discussion on associative versus causal data. This clearly put into light the level of caution that must be exercised when using data (especially qualitative research) to back a thesis with resounding certainty. Further, he is realistic about the challenges of meeting every need of a child. He does not give excuses for poor parenting, but he does show compassion for the inevitable limits every parent faces. This level of realism provides a space for Medina to interject a little humor and humanity into his writing.

On a more critical note, it seemed at times like the author's agenda was splintered. On the one hand, he points to claims of children uttering complete sentences at 10 months of age when exposed to focused techniques (insert skeptical, eye twitching, forehead wrinkle here) and then turns around in further chapters telling the reader not to compare his/her child to others.

I found myself wondering, "If my job is to give my child the space he needs to develop without comparative pressure, what is the purpose of giving extreme examples of extraordinary baby development?" It seemed that some of the qualitative reports were given only to serve the very purpose the author later attempts to steer the reader away from, comparing your child's development to others.

I imagine that most parents who pick up this book are a bit like me, very concerned about the role they are playing in their child's development. I wonder how many other readers share my reaction when the author tells the story of his 9 month old saying the word "octopus". I found myself wondering if I am even worthy of changing my son's diaper. "My god", I thought to myself, "My son is 15 months and has yet to utter a multi-syllabic word! Oh, the HORROR!"

If indeed, Medina's purpose was to spare the hyper-vigilant parent from meaningless comparisons, he could have taken out some of his more extreme examples of rare, but extraordinary linguistic and behavioral development. (Perhaps I am being just a tad bit over sensitive here.) But these moments did not seem relevant to the claim that turning off the T.V. or making eye contact with your child is important.
Despite these complaints and the few, "I am not qualified to parent. My son is doomed." moments, the book reflected many of my own philosophies.

I see myself returning to the text and his website: www.brainrules.net/brain-rules-for-baby as a resource. It's good to have a sober reminder as a parent to stay strong in a world where cable T.V., video games and armchair parenting are so seductive after a long day of work and a few sleepless nights.