When I do my Wednesday stories on Instagram, I get a lot of questions about running. Rather than interrupt the parenting content, we thought we’d collect those separately and put them in podcast form. And then I convinced Laura Green to ask the questions. If you do not follow Laura on Instagram, she puts out very funny running comedy; it is seriously the best. So: if you like running and parenting and discussions of the pelvic floor, please give this one a listen.

An interview with Virginia Sole-Smith about "Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture."

I speak with Megan Nix about her book Remedies for Sorrow, in which she recounts her journey with her daughter, Anna, who was born with congenital CMV. I would highly recommend the book, which is a combination of informative and deeply affecting. 

We’re finishing out Black Maternal Health Week with an interview with Erica Chidi — writer, entrepreneur, doula, and more. We talk about issues around Black maternal health, maternal health in general, and possible solutions. 

I am very excited to be joined today by Kelly Fradin, who wrote a new book called Advanced Parenting: Advice for Helping Kids Through Diagnoses, Differences, and Mental Health Challenges. I think this book is a must-read for any parent struggling with a complicated parenting problem. And as Kelly describes in this conversation, it’s also a book for every parent, since all of us face the challenges of advocating for our kids at one point or another. Her book is full of tools and resources that will help you manage the stress and navigate the business of care. And we’re going to cover some of her top tips in today’s conversation. 

Today, we have a bonus episode where Emily answers your personal questions about her journey with pregnancy and parenting.

Thanks for sending in so many great questions on Instagram at @profemilyoster!

Today’s bonus episode is an audio recording from one of my recent appearances in Montclair, New Jersey. It was an amazing night. Hundreds of people were there. Hillary Frank was there. And now you can be there too, in some small way, by listening to this episode.

The event was hosted by Watchung Bookstore and held at Temple Ner Tamid. I was so lucky to be joined by Hillary Frank, who asked me some really thoughtful, smart questions about my work on parenting. If you don’t know her, Hillary is the creator of the podcasts The Longest Shortest Time and Here Lies Me and author of the book Weird Parenting Wins. 

Big thanks to Hillary, Watchung Bookstore, Temple Ner Tamid (and the staff that made this recording!), and all of you who came out and asked your questions at the end. 

Today I am thrilled to feature an interview with Majka Burhardt, a professional ice climber (seriously) and the author of a new book called "More: Life on the Edge of Adventure and Motherhood," which is a really raw, gripping book about the first years of parenthood. It’s a book that I had a hard time putting down, even when it pulled me back into the uncertainties and fears of the beginning of parenting. 

Today, we have a bonus episode where Emily answers your personal questions about her career and more. 

Thanks for sending in so many great questions on Instagram at @profemilyoster! Stay tuned for more.

We're making some short-term changes to the podcast — and big plans for the future!

From now on, you can listen to the audio version of the newsletter in the  Substack app with their text-to-speech feature. Find instructions here.

To get the newsletter in your inbox for free, subscribe at parentdata.org.

The panicked emails and DMs I got about gas stoves last week were perhaps best summarized by a message on Sunday. I had indicated I’d cover this this week, and the person simply asked, Can you tell us the bottom line RIGHT NOW, because I’m planning to buy a new stove today? 

Today I am thrilled to feature an interview with two professional women runners, Lauren Fleshman and Molly Huddle. Lauren has a new book out tomorrow, which is the impetus for our interview, and we’ll also talk about Molly’s book from last spring. We talk about running, but I promise this is really a conversation about postpartum and post-puberty and finding a way to excel in male-dominated spaces and tons of other stuff. It’s a good listen even if you do not love to run. Enjoy!

Today we're diving in to sleep training details. Many people are sold on the idea of sleep training, but then there is the how? When do you start? Is there a better method?

Today, we have a bonus episode where Emily answers your personal questions about her marriage and more. Thanks for sending in so many great questions on Instagram! Stay tuned for a possible part two...

How long is too long? And what about refreezing?

Here is my dive into the question of when you should brush your teeth. This is admittedly a somewhat narrow question, but I am hoping to settle a family argument.

Several months ago, I wrote a post encouraging people to consider what “one thing” they’d like to change to make their daily life a little easier. You guys wrote in with absolutely amazing things — many, many more than we could follow up on. But we picked a few representative cases and did a deep dive into the problem and possible solutions. Today we’re talking about kids and eating.  

Today I am absolutely delighted to feature an interview with two amazing authors.  Jessica Grose is the author of the just-released book Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood, and Yael Schonbrun is a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor at Brown (my colleague!) and the author of the new book Work, Parent, Thrive.  

Today's discussion: a lens into thinking more generally about where data comes from, and whether we can be confident in what it tells us. 

This episode was inspired by a question I get frequently. It’s some version of “I’m pregnant and my doctor said it’s important to work out but that I shouldn’t get my heart rate above 140. Is this true?”  Let's look at the data!

Mastitis. If you’ve had it, the word itself prompts a reaction. When I mentioned the topic in our ParentData Slack channel, one team member commented, “Just the thought of this gives me a fever.” For me, the salient memory is adhering to the advice to feed the baby first from the affected breast. I love my son, but I did not love him at that moment. But let's dive in!

Pacifiers are a big deal but also a source of stress. This is true with infants, when people worry about risks (nipple confusion?) but also see possible benefits (SIDS prevention?). And it’s true later on, when parents become concerned about possible downsides to long-term use. Today I will dive deep, deep into the data.

For  charts of the survey data, please visit https://www.parentdata.org/p/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-pregnant

In this moment, I am still getting a lot of questions about illness and seeing family. I will note, however, they are mostly not about COVID. People — especially those with young kids — are more worried about flu and RSV. The pandemic isn’t over, but it’s reached a place for most people where COVID is part of a broader landscape of illness. The turducken we build this year for Thanksgiving is going to be one we consider keeping indefinitely; it’s one we could have had in earlier, pre-COVID years, except  we were not thinking about it.

One of my favorite things to do is peruse relevant journals and see what they are up to that I’m not hearing about in the New York Times or in the scary headlines you send me on Instagram DMs. Today I’m going to surface the results of one of those perusals. I spent a few hours in JAMA Pediatrics, a top pediatrics journal. Here’s some of the interesting stuff I found, plus a bit of speculation at the end about why they didn’t pop up in your news feed. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Several months ago, timed with the paperback publication of The Family Firm, I wrote a post encouraging people to consider what “one thing” they’d like to change to make their daily life a little easier. You guys wrote in with absolutely amazing things — many, many more than we could follow up on. But we picked a few representative cases and did a deep dive into the problem and possible solutions. It’s now been enough time for a trial. So — did these ideas work? How do they look when we follow up?  Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Today I’m addressing two of the big panic buttons that have come across my desk recently. First, the paper on hair straighteners and uterine cancer. Second, the FDA removal of Makena, a drug to prevent preterm birth, from the market.  Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

A vasectomy is a low-risk procedure that provides excellent (permanent, though sometimes reversible) birth control. In an effort to help readers who've written it about it, and anyone else who is thinking this through, today is a vasectomy deep dive. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Today, I'm curious about the question of whether we are sicker than “usual.” For many people, it feels that way. But we also know that fall is always a time of respiratory viruses. I believe there are two potential explanations for the current state. One is that there actually is more childhood illness — especially respiratory illness — than there was in 2019. A second possibility is that we are back to 2019 rates and we just forgot what it felt like. So which is it? This didn’t prove easy to answer. But today I’m going to tell you how I went about it. For more on this subject, including graphs from this post, check out ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Today’s post is an interview with writer Marnie Hanel on her new, incredibly beautiful book about packing lunch boxes for your kids. When this book was first brought to my attention, I scoffed. I am nothing if not a hater of high-pressure lunch packing for children. However: I was convinced to consider the book by the fact that one of my children’s lunch boxes came back pretty much uneaten most days. But I didn’t just want to do an interview — the pitch of the book is that this can be easy. Is that true? I needed to evaluate.  Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

My inbox, and my Wednesday Instagram stories, are usually a good barometer of where people are in their concerns about COVID. In the past several weeks, nearly all of the questions I get are about vaccines, and specifically how to navigate what sometimes feels like confusing messaging. Today I want to try to help by talking through three somewhat specific questions. First: What is the value of getting the bivalent booster? Second: vaccines in pregnancy. Is there a best time to get boosted? Third: vaccines for the under-5 set. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably get a sense that I like to run. As part of this very intense hobby, I recently acquired a pair of “super shoes” — the new-technology racing shoes that supposedly make you faster. When I posted about them, I got questions, and also some skepticism. One commenter told me (nicely) that her husband feels the research does not support the value of these shoes, or that only the Nike versions work. This really felt like a question for data. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Listen, I know you don’t want to think about this. I know you’re settling down with your coffee, hoping this will be about preschool or vaccinations, or really anything except itchy bugs that infest your child’s head or butt. However: sometime later (hopefully much later), you will thank me when you see worms in the toilet and you know what to do.   Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had impacts on children that go far beyond the effects of disease. We are beginning to get a better understanding of the impacts on school-age children, especially around learning. Many of the readers of this newsletter, however, are parents to smaller children. And if you’re in this group, you might have heard some scary coverage about COVID and infant development. But are those concerns real? Or just fearmongering?

Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

I get many questions in the category of “I’m worried about [FILL IN THE BLANK]. Should I be?” Sometimes these questions are in the immediate panic category (“A new study said gummy bears cause cancer!”). And some are more of a constant low-level concern. I want to address perhaps the most consistent of the latter: Zika. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Lots of people ask whether Montessori school is better. Or replace “Montessori” with whatever parenting philosophy you want. Today I’m going to start with a dive into the limited data. And then I’ll explain why, in fact, that question is unanswerable and makes no sense to ask.  Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Today’s ParentData episode is about ParentData — where we are, where we are going, and answering some questions about how it gets produced. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

I have another special treat for you. You’re going to hear an interview that I did on Instagram Live with Dr. Liza Aguiar. Liza is a pediatric urologist and when we asked you to submit questions for her, you sent us hundreds. In this conversation, we were able to dive deep into some of your questions about circumcisions, daytime potty training, nighttime potty training and bedwetting, and her real thoughts about Miralax. I hope you enjoy! Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Today’s discussion is a heavy one: it’s about stillbirth. Like miscarriage or birth trauma or countless other parts of pregnancy and parenting, this is not a topic that’s easy to discuss. The result of that lack of ease is a lack of discussion. But the lack of discussion can leave people feeling unprepared and alone in loss. It also makes it more difficult to think about interventions that might change outcomes. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Today I’m recommending (very briefly!) several books that I think will resonate with this audience. They are all completely different. Hopefully at least one will work for you… Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

This is not the first time I’ve discussed Tylenol in pregnancy. It’s not the second time either! But the topic keeps coming up. The latest iteration was a series of scary Instagram posts, some of which reference a possible class-action lawsuit. Yet advisory bodies like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine state that Tylenol is safe during pregnancy. So what's going on? Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Covid School Data Hub: https://www.covidschooldatahub.com/research

An interview with social worker and writer Miranda Featherstone on eggs, sperm, and sex ed. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

My mom, Sharon Oster, died in June. When it happened, I desperately wanted to write something to honor her and my memories, but it was impossible. Now I'm feeling ready. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

One of the topics I talk and write about most frequently is the value of early allergen introduction in preventing allergy development in children. A natural follow-up question, though, is: What if my child does have an allergy? In today's episode, we're going to dive in to the world of oral immunotherapy (OIT). Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Continuing with our theme of back-to-school week, today we are talking about homework. Is it important? Or is it just a way to force parents to stay up late finishing their children’s Pilgrim dioramas and reliving our childhoods through Model Magic clay? What does the data say? Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

We’re heading into back-to-school week in my neck of the woods, and in honor of that, this week ParentData is school-focused. Today we have an interview with education expert Michael Horn about his new book, From Reopen to Reinvent: (Re)Creating School for Every Child. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Several months ago, the CDC issued new guidelines on developmental milestones that completely eliminated crawling from its list. This change prompted some pushback from physical and occupational therapists, who argued that skipping the crawling milestone is a cause for concern. What is the source of this worry, and is it supported in data? Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

About 18% of women in the U.S. use antidepressants regularly. By far the most common antidepressants are the SSRI class. Both pregnancy and the postpartum period can be times of significant stress and mental health challenges, making the question of use of SSRIs during these periods a salient one for many people. Today, I'm going to discuss the data. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Worksheet available at: https://www.parentdata.org/p/one-thing-sleep

At the end of last week, the CDC released new guidelines for COVID, both for the overall population and for schools and child care settings. I want to discuss that today, in the hopes of making clear what it means for parents. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Subscribe to ParentData. 

Last week on Instagram, an account with over a million followers shared a “fact”: eating hot dogs in pregnancy increases child brain cancer risk by 33%. I posted immediately to dispel this claim, and to discuss the limitations of the study referenced.  But here's the full data dive on this and similar studies. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at ParentData.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Subscribe to ParentData.

Share your one thing.

Preorder The Family Firm in paperback.

Today I want to talk about two fears that parents have been bringing to me: parechovirus and monkeypox. As parents of small children (which most of you are), how much should these change your behavior? Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at parentdata.org. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

EMFs are everywhere, and so, it seems, is fear of them. But what does the data say? Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at emilyoster.substack.com. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Today: A decision tool for labor induction. A review of the new evidence on COVID vaccines and periods. And a slightly longer dive into pain management and natural alternatives to an external cephalic version for breech babies. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at emilyoster.substack.com. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

The presence of BA.5 has raised significant concerns about reinfection and prompted questions from readers like “Are we all just going to get COVID every three weeks now?” You know how we can better answer these questions? Data. Let’s go. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at emilyoster.substack.com. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

Last week, a reader asked: "My oldest is a big fan of Disney princesses, and I have friends who make a big deal about how girls who like princesses grow up to be less successful than girls who like superheroes. I was wondering if the research supports that?" I got curious reading this. What, precisely, do we know about Disney princesses and their impacts, nefarious or otherwise?   Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at emilyoster.substack.com. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

After the horrifying events in Uvalde, many people wrote to ask about guns, about their child’s safety, about what they could do. I didn’t think I had the expertise to talk about this, but I thought immediately of Megan Ranney. She’s a practicing emergency physician, Academic Dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, and a longtime researcher on sticky social problems, including violence, mental health, and technology. She’s also a friend, and I was very grateful she agreed to come talk with me about the data behind guns and gun violence. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at emilyoster.substack.com. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

The TL;DR is that I do not think this paper makes a compelling case that video games are good for cognitive development, any more than other papers make the case that they are bad. Beyond that, it’s revealing about the big-picture issues in asking this question. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at emilyoster.substack.com. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.

When new guidelines like this are released, a natural question is why and, more specifically, what changed in the data or social fabric to push it forward. I want to talk through that today, for both the breastfeeding and sleep guidelines. Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at emilyoster.substack.com. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.