Kim Painter

Special to USA TODAY

It’s Mother’s Day — time to tell all the moms out there what a great job they are doing. Dads get the glory in a just a few weeks. Despite such praise, today’s parents often question their choices — and have a whole Internet of voices ready to question them, too.

No wonder there seems to be a growing thirst not just for authoritative parenting advice, but the science behind that advice. Call it evidence-based parenting. At least two books published in the past year are aimed squarely at parents and parents-to-be who want to know the nitty-gritty of studies covering everything from home birth to vaccines to pacifier use.

“There’s definitely a groundswell of interest in seeing more evidence around the choices that parents make,” says Emily Willingham, a science journalist and college biology instructor who, with science journalist Tara Haelle, co-wrote the latest book, The Informed Parent: A Science-Based Resource for Your Child’s First Four Years.

“I think it comes down to information overload in our generation of parents,” says Alice Green Callahan, author of The Science of Mom: A Research-Based Guide to Your Baby's First Year, published in 2015.

Callahan, who has a doctorate degree in nutritional biology and two children under 6, says: “We have access to the Internet, which is full of parenting advice and information. It’s a tremendous benefit, but it’s really overwhelming, especially when you are finding so much conflicting information. But parents are starting to understand that science is a tool that can help you cut through that.”

Which is not to say that reading some studies — or books about studies — will tell you whether you should circumcise your son or sleep-train your daughter.

“For a lot of these decisions, there is no one true way,” says Willingham, who also has a doctorate degree and is the mother of three boys ages 9 to 15. “You have to make your own decision based on your own situation.”

But to do that, it’s helpful to know that circumcision seems to reduce the risk of urinary tract infections and that sleep-training (which often involves letting a child cry a bit) does not appear to harm the parent-child relationship. It’s also helpful to know the strengths and weaknesses of the studies that reached those conclusions.

And it’s crucial to know your own biases — the things you want to believe regardless of what the science says. “We all tend to cherry-pick,” Willingham says. The trick, she and Haelle write, is looking at the whole cherry tree.

Both of the recent books spell out the art of reading scientific studies — including reminders that research is always evolving, that anecdotes are not data and that some studies are more rigorous than others. If you know your randomized controlled trial from your case report and know that the first carries a lot more weight than the second, you just may be an evidence-based parent.

Ari Brown, a pediatrician in Austin, says many of the parents in her practice — and the readers of her own books, Expecting 411, Baby 411 and Toddler 411 — do want that level of detail. Others are more willing to rely on their own instincts and the advice of a trusted pediatrician, she says. “That’s what we are here for. We do try to stay up to date with the latest information.”

Here’s what readers of The Informed Parent will learn about:

• Dying your hair while pregnant. You may have heard that it’s risky, but “the evidence doesn’t actually support this one at all.” Studies in hairdressers find no increase in problems in their children.

• Eating your placenta. Your favorite celebrity may be doing it, proclaiming benefits such as increased milk production and improved mood, but “evidence to support these claims is pretty much non-existent.” An oft-cited 1954 study that supposedly showed increased milk production was “poorly conducted” and never replicated.

• Vaccines. Yes, some vaccines (such as the swine flu vaccine of the mid-1970s) have been failures, and they all carry some risks, such as allergic reactions and fevers. But “the question is whether the benefits outweigh the risk, and the evidence clearly shows they do.” The authors devote a long section of the book to the relevant research.

• Pacifier use. Binkies do have proven benefits. They can reduce anxiety and pain when a baby gets a needle-stick. In the first year, they can reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. But they also can contribute to ear infections and dental problems. The mix of benefits and risks varies “depending on the child’s personality, age, and frequency of use.”

• Toilet training. There’s no evidence that attempts at “intensive training” before age 2 bring any advantages. “From the science, the key is not to rush, shame or pressure the child.”