In Emily Oster’s previous book, Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom is Wrong?and What You Really Need to Know, the award-winning economist used data to disprove common pregnancy misconceptions (the dangers of consuming sushi, for example). With her latest title, excerpted here, she’s graduated to the toddler and preschool years.
Nearly everyone who has parented a toddler?or who has been a toddler?has a tantrum story. When I sat down to write my new book on parenting, Cribsheet, I asked a few friends about this. My mom recounted in detail holding the bedroom door closed so my brother wouldn?t get out during a tantrum-induced time-out. My friend Jenna reported that her mom is still angry about a tantrum episode Jenna had at age four in a Kmart. Tantrums are at the more extreme end of toddler acting out, but toddlers act out in other ways as well. They can almost seem like scientists?experimenting with what is possible.
If I throw this half-eaten cauliflower stem at Mom and say, ?I don?t LIKE IT!,? what will happen" The constant experimentation can be exhausting and confusing, but the somewhat good news is that there are evidence-based approaches to dealing with discipline.
I say ?somewhat good? since there is no magic bullet that will completely stop tantrums and turn your two-year-old into a seven-year-old. Instead, parenting interventions focus on how to re­spond to bad behavior when it starts and limit recurrence.
There are a few spe...