Hello! I am Roselia Shi. I migrated to the United States a decade ago and now live in Newport, Arkansas. I completed my formal education in allied health sciences and have worked in many positions. When I met and married my husband, Josh, we moved to Arkansas because of his job. We have a daughter named Tara.
Would you like to share your story with us? Guest posts and contributions are welcome. Please email me at rose[at]parentingscience.today or parentingscience[at]gmail.com, or connect with me via Twitter @ParentingSci101.
Josh and I couldn’t wait to start a family together, but I was struggling with subfertility and had to seek treatment. So, getting pregnant during the second year of our marriage was nothing short of a miracle. I was expecting to follow godly parenting.
However, the rather difficult and extended labor involved with Tara’s otherwise normal delivery was the start of a journey that has been bumpy at times. Just a week after her birth, Tara contracted neonatal jaundice, and we landed back in the hospital. I tried breastfeeding her but it didn’t work out, so we had to start bottle feeding. Then the colicy phase began, and boy, it was long and tough. Suffice it to say, Josh and I learned to survive on the least amount of sleep for quite a long time.
In addition, Tara had low birth weight. She also sprouted her teeth quite late, started sitting later, and never crawled but rather directly transitioned to standing then walking. But she has been unstoppable since then. She is super fast and feisty, with unlimited energy that we cannot seem to keep up with.
Tara has just started going to a daycare center, and I have gone back to work as a healthcare worker. My heart sinks a bit every time we leave her at the daycare. I think about Tara and miss her till it’s time to pick her up.
The parenting and growth issues we encountered with Tara have made me turn to the internet a lot. Actually, it started a lot earlier! I started investigating science-based parenting when I was home during my maternity leave.
Since I was the only (and lonely) child in a nuclear family, I literally had no idea what babies were like or how to raise them. My husband and I have no family and few friends in Arkansas, so there is no support system.
The media shows you perfect images of mothers and their babies who look blissfully happy and normal ALL THE TIME, and the homes they depict look so neat and tidy ALL THE TIME as if they are a direct cutout from a home decorating magazine. This was what I saw, and this was what I was expecting. But the reality is different.
Parenting in the age of awfulness is difficult, and let me tell you why: It’s absolutely important to decorate the nursery of your dreams, start a baby registry early, and stock up on the perfect baby gear, but it’s even more important to know how to raise your baby and raise it right. You must understand the issues and challenges you encounter as a parent and resolve them in a responsive and holistic manner.
Parenting is challenging and messy but very rewarding. However, with the right information and a lot of patience, it can be done, and it can be done right! This site is a small attempt to share some useful information, insights, and tips about science-based responsive parenting.
I have always loved solving common health and parenting-related problems; I love chemistry and biology and want to improve human health. That’s why I decided to study allied health sciences. I love reading scientific articles and journals, which is exactly what I did when I was expecting Tara during my maternity leave and when I was at home with her for a whole year and a half.
I started exploring evidence-based parenting. I started reading parenting articles and pediatric journals in order to better equip myself for this crucial phase of life. I also started consolidating my learning in the form of writing. Parenting Science is the result of this endeavor.
However, I am not the only voice on Parenting Science. Some of the articles have been written by a learned peer of mine who has a doctorate in Pharmacy and a Certificate in Child Psychology and Counseling (CPCS). However, due to his institutional affiliation, he wishes to remain anonymous on Parenting Science.
I hope that you will find Parenting Science a useful resource for your parenting needs. Tara and I would like to wish you good luck in your respective parenting journeys.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, pediatrician, child psychiatrist, or even a parenting expert. The insights, opinions, and views expressed in my writing are based on personal beliefs and experiences, and all the research work is cited. These insights and information are not shared by the organizations I have been affiliated with.
As a mother and author, I encourage you to use this site for informational purposes only and not for diagnosing or treating any illness in your baby. What works for Tara and I may not work for each and every baby; therefore, I urge you to consult other sources and to seek professional advice whenever necessary. Lastly, I would also like you to know that I don’t receive any compensation for my opinions or endorsement.
Note: Some of the information presented on this site is very scientific in nature, and therefore, may or may not apply to all moms, but it is perfectly applicable to health workers like doctors, nurses, and pediatricians who deal with young children, infants, and toddlers in their line of work. Therefore, readers’ discretion is advised.