Parenting styles seem to come and go in and out of fashion. Some make a lot of sense and are fads only in the sense that they don't break out into the mainstream, with lots of parents doing it. For example, few people people around me knew what I was doing when I carried my kids around in a MayaWrap.
When I recently read about lip reading babies, I figured this was the latest fad. Turns out it was just a study about how babies learn to talk. I'm sure it won't be long before we start to see lip reading books and DVDs for parents and babies though.
Parenting fads, ideas, and styles that have been popular recently include:
- keeping a child's gender a secret and hiding their gender until they are older so that they aren't overly influenced by masculine or feminine clothing, toys, etc.
- the helicopter parent who hovers over their child and pays almost too much attention to their needs and micromanages all of their problems
- the permissive parent who quickly gives in to all of their child's needs and wants, which often seems to leave the child in control of the household
- the free-range kids movement, whose followers believe that "Children, like chickens, deserve a life outside the cage."
- the family bed and cosleeping, in which the parents and kids sleep together, but which pediatric experts discourage for newborns and infants because of the risk of SIDS
- redshirting, or the idea of holding kids back from starting kindergarten for a year so that they will be a little bigger and have better motor skills than their peers and maybe be better at sports
- infant potty training, which involves potty training young infants, often before they are six months old and well before the usual age that experts recommend start when most toddlers are ready between 18 months and 3 years
- baby sign language, in which you start teaching your baby signs when they are about six months old
- baby wearing or using a wrap or sling to carry your infant or toddler around with you
- baby swimming lessons that teach infants and toddlers how to float and swim in the water in case they accidently fall in, which is not a substitute for adult supervision if you choose to do this.
- Baby TV channels and programs, which go against the general recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics which "discourages media use by children younger than 2 years."
- Baby classes, DVDs, and computer programs that are supposed to help you get a jump start teaching your baby to talk, sing, or read, etc.
- choosing a unique baby name for their baby, such as Blue Ivy or Apple
- having extravagant birthday parties
Your parenting style is important. Don't make choices on how you parent your child based on the latest fads.
Parenting Books
Except for a few parenting books that have stood the test of time and continue to be recommended and read by parents year after year, many parenting books have led to fads.
Although no one has really taken over the role of Dr. Spock 
, time tested parenting books include:
- The Nursing Mother's Companion
- Your Baby's First Year
- The No-Cry Sleep Solution
- Setting Limits with Your Strong-Willed Child
- What to Expect the First Year
- Coping with a Picky Eater
- Touchpoints Birth to Three
- Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems
Other more trendy parenting books include:
- The Happiest Baby on the Block
- Secrets of the Baby Whisperer
- On Becoming Baby Wise
- Nanny 911
- Deceptively Delicious Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food
- Supernanny
- Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
- Free Range Kids
Sources:
American Academy of Pediatrics. Policy Statement. Media Use by Children Younger Than 2 Years. Pediatrics Vol. 128 No. 5 November 1, 2011.
