The most recent cover of Time magazine is causing a lot of controversy. The issue explores attachment parenting and its rise in popularity. Some see attachment parents as selfish, while others swear by it. Either way, attachment parenting and extreme breastfeeding are now part of the national conversation. 
posted by reenum on May 12, 2012 - 184 comments

Last year it was Amy Chua, Tiger Mother (previously on mefi). This year, Paula Druckerman has written Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting, inspired by a trip to a coastal town when her daughter had temper tantrums and French parents didn't. French kids eat the same food as their parents, and aren't constantly snacking. And "when French friends visited [...] the grownups had coffee and the children played happily by themselves." It's about patience -- let the kids cry it out a bit, let them learn how to play alone instead of hovering. And perhaps obsess a little less -- the French don't even obsessively buy books about how to parent. Wall Street Journal article, and video interview by WSJ's Gary Rosen.
posted by madcaptenor on Feb 4, 2012 - 128 comments

A woman wonders how she will teach her daughter about sex in an essay titled How I Learned About Sex.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Nov 13, 2011 - 92 comments

One in every 8 babies born in the US is premature. A new study (pdf/via) published online Wednesday in Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology indicates that vaginal progesterone gel can help women who are pregnant for the first time and at risk of premature birth extend their pregnancies, reduce potential complications and boost the health of their newborns. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Apr 8, 2011 - 18 comments

Merit badges for nerds, mothers, and Etsy hipsters. [more inside]
posted by zamboni on Jan 28, 2011 - 18 comments

"A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids. They wonder what these parents do to produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies, what it's like inside the family, and whether they could do it too. Well, I can tell them, because I've done it." [more inside]
posted by typewriter on Jan 9, 2011 - 407 comments

(pdf) Chris Gottlieb writes in the "Baltimore Law Review" about judging parents. The article discusses instances of racism and classicism in the family court systems. An adaptation of the "Baltimore Review" article appears in the New York Times. [more inside]
posted by zizzle on Aug 26, 2010 - 56 comments

So that woman on video beating her child... WAIT! Don't delete this yet. Something I found interesting was that at least one news article mentioned that she was an Irish Traveller. Apparently there are ten thousand Irish Travellers in the USA but little is known about them academically , as a result, they have developed a rather negative stereotype, primarily as con artists and scammers. Probably one of the only nomadic groups left in modern times, these gypsies are a discriminated race in native Ireland.
posted by dirtylittlemonkey on Sep 23, 2002 - 91 comments