Mayim Bialik was the child star of the popular 1990s TV sitcom Blossom, but she definitely didn’t follow the typical child-star trajectory. Instead, Mayim got her PhD in neuroscience from UCLA, married her college sweetheart, and had two kids. Mayim then did what many new moms do—she read a lot of books, talked with other parents, and she soon started questioning a lot of the conventional wisdom she heard about the “right” way to raise a child. That’s when she turned to attachment parenting, a philosophy and lifestyle popularized by well-known physicians like Dr. William Sears and Dr. Jay Gordon. To Mayim, attachment parenting’s natural, child-led approach not only felt right emotionally, it made sense intellectually and instinctually. She found that when she followed her intuition and relaxed into her role as a mother instead of following some rigid parenting script, both she and her children thrived.

You know more than you think -- What is attachment parenting?: the science of attachment and intuition -- Baby needs a smooth entrance: birth and adjustment -- Baby needs milk: why we nurse -- Baby needs to be held: how will you ever get anything done ever again? -- Baby needs nighttime parenting: gentle techniques and co-sleeping -- Baby needs potty: elimination communication -- Baby doesn't need all that stuff: figuring out the essentials -- Baby doesn't need unnecessary medical intervention: when (and when not) to call the doc -- Baby doesn't need pressure: letting kids be kids -- Baby doesn't need punishment: understanding gentle discipline -- Keeping your relationships strong: staying "you" when you become a parent -- Balancing work and family: different families, different choices -- Acknowledgments.