Alice Callahan's Blog, page 2

After Another School Shooting, Doing My Best to Parent in a Scary World

Since last week’s shooting at Umpqua Community College, I’ve been thinking a lot about the problem of gun violence in our country. This isn’t a typical topic for me, but of all the things that we worry about as parents, this should probably be among the top of our list.

My 4-year-old daughter, Cee, is full of questions, and she looks to me to help her understand the world. Why was the moon was so red on the night of the lunar eclipse? How do our eyes work to let us see? Can Mary Poppins reall...

Learning to Crawl Disrupts Infant Sleep (Or, Science Confirms What We’ve Already Observed)

Sometimes, when you’re going through a rough patch with your baby’s sleep, it helps just to know that it’s normal. A recent study published in Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development helps in this regard, because it shows that when babies learn to crawl, they have a harder time sleeping during the night (1).

The study, conducted in Israel, followed 28 infants from about 5 months to 11 months of age. Every 2-3 weeks, the babies’ motor skills and sleep patterns were assessed...

Where I’ve Been: Busy with Media Coverage of The Science of Mom!

I planned to be posting more frequently here on the blog over the summer, but my limited time has been filled up with responding to media requests about my book. That’s a great thing, and it’s been fun to hear from people interested in my book and to have the opportunity to talk about it.

The most exciting media opportunity was my interview with Rachel Martin on NPR’s Weekend Edition. I wrote about that experience on the blog here. After that broadcast, Amazon was sold out of my book by the e...

Hear My Interview on NPR! And a few thoughts on it…

I was thrilled to be interviewed by Rachel Martin for NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday. The interview aired yesterday, but you can listen to it and read the transcript here:

‘Science of Mom’: Scientist Sorts Through Studies So Parents Don’t Have To

I’m not going to even try to pretend that this was not a HUGE deal to me. I grew up listening to NPR every single day. We lived in a very small house, where the bedrooms were all basically right off of the kitchen, and the sounds of Morning Edition wok...

5 Evidence-Based Tips for Your Baby’s First Shots

As most of you know, we welcomed a new little boy into the world last December. I know how important it is to vaccinate on time, even more so because we live in a town with very low immunization rates. That means we’re low on herd immunity to protect our most vulnerable citizens, including newborn babies. So to me, it was a relief when BabyM’s 2-month appointment rolled around and he could get his first round of shots.

But. But… I hate to see my little boy cry in surprise when he gets shots....

The Science of Mom: An Introduction

I’ve loved hearing from readers who are enjoying my book this week! Several have emailed me, written notes on my Facebook page, and left wonderful Amazon reviews. I’m full of gratitude and so glad that parents are reading and enjoying my book. It’s a truly awesome feeling.

On top of all of that, I recorded an interview with Rachel Martin of NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday this morning. Talk about an exciting and nerve-wracking and amazing experience. The interview will air this Sunday morning. W...

3 Ways to Help Your Favorite New Author

I’ve never been very good at self-promotion. I’m a shy person, and half of the time, I write stuff and sort of hope nobody reads it. But I’m learning that if I want people to read my book – and I do! – then I actually do need to tell people about it. I also need to ask for help spreading the word.

I poured myself into this book for 18 months. I read thousands of studies and talked to scientists, doctors, and parents. I thought carefully and worked hard to write in a way that is informative, a...

The Things She Carried… and Barely Used

I’ve been unpacking after a week-long trip to my mom’s house. Among the items I’m pulling out of my backpack: 2 nonfiction books that I’ve been wanting to read, 2 copies of The New Yorker, 1 new legal pad for writing, plus clothes for running and yoga.

I barely cracked open the books and magazines. The legal pad is as clean as ever. The workout clothes are still neatly folded and fresh smelling. I’m exhausted, and I’m laughing at myself. After almost 5 years of motherhood, why do I still hold...

A Book Update (It’s Coming!), Plus 2 Giveaways to Win Your Own Copy

You know that feeling you have when you’re 40 weeks pregnant and waiting for the baby to arrive? Maybe you still have a million things to do on your to-do list, but you know that the baby could arrive any day now – maybe tonight, or maybe a week from now. All those weeks of waiting – waiting to get pregnant, waiting for ultrasounds to see a heartbeat, and waiting for morning sickness to pass. You wait and wait as the weeks of pregnancy tick by, ever-so-slowly at first, then faster and faster,...

How Often Should a Baby Poop? And Other Important Questions…

Last week, I wrote about BabyM’s nap strike. This week, we’re recovering from another kind of strike. BabyM went 7 days without pooping. I like to think I’m pretty laid-back about these sorts of things, but I admit to being a little worried – enough to do some research on it. So today on the blog, I’m going to write about baby poop.

I’m sort of sorry to bring this up, because I think it’s one of the worst parenting clichés – this idea that we become obsessed with our offspring’s bowel habits....