Publishers Weekly
★ 07/05/2021
Equal parts informative and entertaining, journalist Brickman’s debut explores parenting in these tech-drenched times. With a baby-tech market worth nearly $46 billion in 2019, new parents have plenty of ways to gather data on their child’s lives, leading Brickman to ask if parents should “run... toward the safe, analog space.” She covers a slew of child-related gadgets, among them breast pumps, sleep trackers, and monitoring devices that provide parents with “NASA-level” data. Along the way, she offers insight from people who develop and market such technology (“You don’t want to overwhelm people who are looking for simplicity,” the founder of a baby monitor company tells her), explores physicians’ opinions (sleep trackers, one pediatrician warns, “get right up to the line so they don’t have to be regulated by the FDA”), and candidly shares her own experiences (“like many women before me, I grew to despise my pump”). Things come back to how overwhelming parents’ options are, a situation Brickman considers with humor: though looking at tracking data has been shown to release dopamine, she writes, “you can control a child as much as you can force her to poop on command.” For parents wondering whether to bring gadgets into the nursery, this will be an invaluable tool. Agent: Amelia Atlas and Kari Stuart, ICM. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
In Baby Unplugged, Sophie Brickman doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable conversations or uncomfortable conclusions about herself, her generation or why technology is often compensating for historic failures to support parents and kids. This is a book for parents, grandparents and anyone who loves kids or is curious about childhood, including their own. It is also fantastically well-written, both challenging and fun to read and deserves a place on your bookshelf.” — CHELSEA CLINTON
“Baby, Unplugged is a heartfelt, thoughtful, and warmly humorous odyssey through parenting in the Digital Age. Sophie Brickman looks to science for guidance, makes decisions from knowledge rather than fear, and humbly shares her mistakes and successes. We can all benefit from her journey.” — MICHAEL RICH, MD, MPH, director of the Digital Wellness Lab, Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School
“Equal parts informative and entertaining, journalist Brickman’s debut explores parenting in these tech-drenched times…..For parents wondering whether to bring gadgets into the nursery, this will be an invaluable tool." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Sophie Brickman has crafted a comprehensive, personal, hilarious exploration of all the ways technology touches our children’s lives, for better and for worse. Baby, Unplugged explains the terms and conditions of our wired families; read this book before you touch one more ‘on’ button.” — DAVID L. HILL, MD, former chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Communications and Media
“Well-researched and unvarnished conclusions.” — Wall Street Journal
“If you feel overwhelmed by your digital existence, definitely make time to unplug and read this book.” — Boston Globe
MICHAEL RICH
Baby, Unplugged is a heartfelt, thoughtful, and warmly humorous odyssey through parenting in the Digital Age. Sophie Brickman looks to science for guidance, makes decisions from knowledge rather than fear, and humbly shares her mistakes and successes. We can all benefit from her journey.
Boston Globe
If you feel overwhelmed by your digital existence, definitely make time to unplug and read this book.
CHELSEA CLINTON
In Baby Unplugged, Sophie Brickman doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable conversations or uncomfortable conclusions about herself, her generation or why technology is often compensating for historic failures to support parents and kids. This is a book for parents, grandparents and anyone who loves kids or is curious about childhood, including their own. It is also fantastically well-written, both challenging and fun to read and deserves a place on your bookshelf.
DAVID L. HILL
Sophie Brickman has crafted a comprehensive, personal, hilarious exploration of all the ways technology touches our children’s lives, for better and for worse. Baby, Unplugged explains the terms and conditions of our wired families; read this book before you touch one more ‘on’ button.
Wall Street Journal
Well-researched and unvarnished conclusions.
Wall Street Journal
Well-researched and unvarnished conclusions.
