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

Brain Rules: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Baby from Zero to Five is an extremely informative book appealing to scientists and new parents alike. It is a useful and realistic guide to how a baby develops without sugarcoating the difficult problems parents will inevitably encounter.This book is organized into five main brain rules: pregnancy, relationship, smart baby, happy baby, and moral baby. Each section outlines the biological processes occurring at different stages of development and the behavioral outcomes due to these processes and does so in a manner that is both interestingly anecdotal and informative.I think I most enjoyed this book because John Medina tells all aspects of parenting and the real situations and emotions parents come across, even using mistakes of his own to enlighten readers. He relates scientifically proven studies to real-world experiences of everyday parents.PregnancyMedina starts by taking myths commonly told to first-time parents and disproves every one of them with logic and clarity. For example, many new parents are told that playing Mozart to their unborn child in the womb will improve their cognitive abilities. Medina explains that although the child may remember the music when exposed to it outside of the womb, Mozart has no actual effect on cognitive abilities such as math skills. He then explains scientifically studied and proven things that women can do during pregnancy to help their child later in life, such as eating healthy, exercising, and reducing their stress levels. Specific things like B-complex vitamin folic acid and omega-3s help in the formation of neurons and actually reduce the risk of neural tube defects by 76 percent and the fact that babies actually want to be left alone during the first half of pregnancy are just a few of the useful tips provided. Medina also explains the formation of every sensory organ, the stage in pregnancy when these organs connect themselves to the brain, and the first uses of these senses by the baby. This initial sensing can even affect the child's preferences to food, among other things, later in life.RelationshipThis section of the book is basically about how normal it is for couples to suffer in their relationship during the first year of their first child's life. Although many statistics are given on the increasingly high divorce rate and the horribly negative effects of marital arguments on a child, Medina offers actual solutions to the common problems new parents face. Being prepared for the stress on a relationship a child brings is the best way to prevent the marital problems that lead to divorce; if you understand why you're fighting, you can fix it and prevent arguments in the future. He also mentions the beneficial effects of parents fighting and reconciling in front of the child, emphasizing the use of empathy and how it teaches them to argue rationally and fairly.Smart Baby: SeedsAbout half of a child's intelligence is due to genetics, and there's nothing parents can do to change that. IQ tests are only one way of measuring intelligence, and mostly only describe how well someone can take an IQ test. Intelligence is malleable and cannot be measured by a single assessment. Children need room to explore and be creative in order to truly be intelligent. The thirst for exploration is innate and helps babies learn about their environment through trial-and-error experiments. Creativity entails making connections between seemingly unrelated notions and "involves many groups of cognitive gadgets, including episodic memory and autobiographical memory systems." Intelligence is a mix of many aspects and not one test alone can even begin to quantify it.Smart Baby: SoilMedina outlines four things parents can do to actually help their baby be more intelligent. On cognitive tests done on children in America, "breast-fed babies score on average 8 points higher than bottle-fed kids, an effect still observable nearly a decade after the breast-feeding has stopped. They get better grades, too, especially in reading in writing." Talking to your baby increases their linguistic abilities and IQ, and does even more so with the amount and variety of words you use with them. Encouraging creative play and praising childrens' efforts rather than their intelligence are two more things that can help maximize a child's brain power.Happy Baby: SeedsBabies cry for almost every emotion they experience, which are controlled by many areas of the brain, many of which take years to fully develop. The ability to regulate these emotions and learning how to empathize with another person's emotions are how a child makes connections with other people to ultimately make friends. Having friends is the best predictor of happiness, but there is also some genetic component to how happy a child can become.Happy Baby: SoilRaising a happy child involves much parental attention and understanding of a child's emotions. The ability to recognize and empathize with a child's emotions affects how a parent reacts to these emotions and how parents deal with them are big factors in how happy the child will be as an adult.Moral BabyAlthough babies are born with an innate sense of right and wrong, moral behavior takes much guidance to develop. In order to properly teach children how to behave acceptably in society, parents much have clear, consistent rules and rewards; swift, reasonable consequences for breaking the rules; and explanations for why those rules exist. This explanation of the rules helps children internalize and understand moral behavior.This book provides a very unique perspective on the developing child, combining both scientific and parental aspects. It is very easy to understand because Medina gives clear and even engaging evidence for the data he presents instead of merely a list facts or explanations in purely scientific jargon. He also tells both sides to every story. Not only does he show how parents can raise happy and intelligent children, but also he warns of the many consequences of not giving your child a healthy environment in which to grow.

When I finished the book the next day I had to share and I asked our preschool director if she had ever heard of it. She said no, what is its viewpoint? That was the perfect question to ask because it doesn't have a viewpoint. At least not a traditional one and that is what makes Brain Rules such a good book that you should get for yourself or for someone you care about.If it has a viewpoint it is this: take the best peer-reviewed science about how brains work, especially the brains of pre-born, new-born, and toddlers and have a great writer/scientist convey the essence of those studies to parents. Mr. Medina is one of the best scientists turned writers I have come across. He is also passionate about sharing and has a ton of free stuff on his websites related to this book and his adult brain rules book.Our daughter is 2.5 and adopted. But I still found the pre-birth chapters fascinating and informative. The book also had welcome forays into relationships: how those help shape the baby, and how babies can thrust big challenges into relationships.But the heart of the book is good, sound, parenting advice backed up by research. Yes you probably have heard some of it before but it is conveyed here very well and gathered together. In the end you gain a wealth of knowledge about approaches and ideas that work and those that don't.Great book to give or get if even thinking of becoming a parent and a definite get if you are pregnant or have a new-born or toddler.

This book is great. For a "hard" science book it is remarkably soft and feely! (Byt the way, that is my favourite kind: good research, sound critical thinking blended with humanity and sensitivity - especially when it comes to my baby!)I was looking for a book that gave me insight as to what is going on neurologically in my baby's brain, and then with advice to best approach these different changes.What I loved about this book was the overall philosophy of empathy and attention, combined with really practical suggestions for behavioral approaches for parents. If you follow the advice in the book, you will be a happier, better person, not just a better parent. The division of each section into the "seed" (what is genetically inheritable) vs the "soil" (the effects of nurturing and environment) was great, making each section easy to understand and access. The suggestions in the soil section I found particularly insightful.I liked that this book also addressed the parents marriage, an essential but often overlooked aspect of successful parenting.I loved that the book addressed the "whole" person - not just a breakdown of ages, development stages, behaviours or what have you. The division into happiness, smartness and morality (goodness) reflected this wider perspective and was an approach I found refreshing and authentic.What I was looking for but didn't find in this book was a more specific age breakdown of how the brain develops and what challenges and opportunities this presents - for example: "at age 2-3, you child is developing the part of the brain that controls will and intent. This may make your child want to do everything their own way, which can be frustrating and result in tantrums. But remember a sense of will is how we achieve things in life and is essential to our development, so here is how you can harness that energy and develop it..... At 4 the higher functioning areas of the brain are developing so you child may enjoy telling long imaginative stories, but they may also start to lie...." And so on. I have yet to find a book that does this. (would love to know if anyone has!)I rate this book far better than "What's Going On In There" which I found to be quite poorly written (very waffly, points were not made clearly, too verbose), with too much focus on the science of brain development and not enough on application or advice - it made me feel the author was trying to prove she is a clever brain scientist, and my, doesn't she know an awful lot about brains! But I don't think she knows all that much about parenting.I also tried "Bright from the Start" which I enjoyed and found had some useful suggestions, but ultimately was a bit too generalised in the age groups so much of the advice was the same or similar for all ages, and nowhere near as good at addressing the "whole child", or the "whole parent" for that matter. A good companion book to "Brain Rules" though some of the information (eg. no TV before age 2) is repeated - often because the research is clear and unequivocal."Brain Rules" spells out easy to understand steps that you can implement for positive change in your life. It does require that you are already quite an actualised or self aware person - if you are, this book will reinforce your beliefs and give practical advice; if emotions and self reflection have never been important to you, this book may seem vague or impractical. Much of the advice is deceptively simple, even obvious at times - but it can be surprisingly difficult to consistently apply. The great news is that a little goes a long way - even small changes along the lines suggested (such as stopping to consider the child's point of view before speaking or acting in anger) can have a powerful impact. And I would say the title really does not do this book justice. This book is far more than a set of rules, it is an insightful, informative and compassionate guidebook to better parenting, and would make an excellent addition to any parenting library.

I have just finished reading this book and couldn’t feel happier for purchasing it! It is a MUST read for any parent to be or existing one. The book is so well explained with examples and structured. We can all learn from it or at least try. It truly helped me to understand my toddler’s tantrums better and what’s the reason for them. It’s a brilliant book, recommend it 10000%!

Must read for the going to be parents It makes u aware of the reality and also for already parents who have not read it before

John Medina makes it known he doesn't promote or encourage anything unless there are MULTIPLE investigations and research projects done on it. He does mention some new findings and encourages parents to do their own work. I was very happy to see some of the brain rules included strengthening the parental reationship as well as their own with the baby. He does offer a great review on "Baby Einstein"-like educational programs and how they do nothing for development. WELL worth a read, especially early in the pregnancy to prepare a healthy, smart baby, even while still in the womb.Not some new fad plan, but almost common sense about health, communication and relationships. Seems obvious, but how many of us never follow those?

produit acheté en français puis en anglais pour offrir à une personne ne maitrisant pas bien le fraçaisla traduction est mot à mot page à page au plaisir de sa lectrice

Excellent explanations of the baby's brain development and what affects it. It is based on scientific information and gives practical advice for parents what to do in order to support the baby's brain development.