Was that supposed to be helpful?

When I became a mom, my baby and I were settling into a home routine when an unsolicited issue of Parents magazine arrived in my mailbox.  Without having signed up for a subscription I was the recipient of an issue - apparently once you gift birth you are automatically given a subscription to Parents magazine.

Like any good parent, I read my first issue page by page - cover to cover.  As I read I carefully marked pages I wanted to refer back to when my baby was further along in the first year.  I followed this same process with the first few issues of the magazine. 

One evening my husband came home from work and I was bawling.  I had read an article in the magazine that I would swear linked poor housekeeping and literacy (granted this was nearly 3 years ago and I cannot locate the article today).  As I read that article, I looked around my house - seeing the dust piling up on my shelves, I was convinced my child would never learn to read!

After I recovered from my devastation - and assuring myself my child would not be illiterate due to my lack of detailed housekeeping - I began perusing these articles with skepticism. 

While I think there is value in the Parents publication and it does offer relevant, pertinent information to moms and dads, sometimes the information can be misleading and can cause trusting parents undue alarm.  For example, in the August 2012 issue, there is an article titled An Autism Red Flag.  This brief blurb on page 56 tells parents [in bold text], "they found that if you pull a 6-month-old up to sit and his head lags behind, he'll be more likely to be diagnosed with autism at age 3 than a baby whose head doesn't fall back."

The article then goes on to tell parents that if they perform this test on their 6 month old and the baby's head does lag behind, don't panic [in plain text].  I feel certain that the study this article cites has validity, but I also feel certain that Parents misrepresented the study and potentially causes moms and dads like myself unnecessary panic.

There is often hype around new study findings in the media - leading the trusting public to swing from one extreme to another. I find that it's best to take the plethora of information thrown at us (especially tips on parenting) with a healthy dose of apprehension.  Don't let well-meaning tips and tricks interfere with your own beliefs and practices of  parenting - after all you know your child better than any magazine article ever will.  And when in doubt, consult an expert before jumping to any conclusions.