Enjoyable read and a decent summary of all the hot research as well as a perspective not heard much but feels very Emily Oster inspired.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley!

The cover of this book is simple but to the point.
The book was a must-buy for any mom/parent.



I'd definitely purchase a copy and check out other books by the author.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!


Like many new parents, I’m a sucker for a good parenting book. Most books promise the secret to a full nights sleep, no tantrums, and more. This is not that book. In fact, it sets out to make you forget about those books and the anxiety they might make you feel about the “right” way to parent your child.

The premise of the book is “no-shame parenting” and each chapter focuses on a different aspect of motherhood and provides reassurances, back by studies, that there is no magic bullet to working, marriage, food, or behavior issues.

While this book was not revolutionary, it was a good reassurance. If you like Emily Oster books, you would probably like this one.

It's so nice when a parenting book uses research as it's foundation, but is still relatable to every family. Lots of parenting fads come and go, so a research based approach is my preference. This book has a lot of great ideas and acknowledges that all families are different and have different needs. A great resource for parents!

The title of Lindsay Powers's parenting book You Can't F*ck Up Your Kids: A Judgment-Free Guide to Stress-Free Parenting might be a little misleading. You can, after all, "f*ck up your kids" (according to Powers, by smoking while pregnant, skipping vaccines and neglecting, abusing or starving your children). And anything that promises truly "stress-free" parenting should probably be viewed with a hint of skepticism. Title aside, however, Powers's book is a powerful one, reminding anxious parents that, "loving, feeding, and housing your child will lead them to become a happy and healthy person."

During her tenure as editor-in-chief of Yahoo! Parenting, Powers saw first-hand the ways today's "hyper-connected world" could manipulate parents' "worst fears and neuroses," resulting in stressed-out adults desperate to find the perfect way to parent their precious children. But her experience as a mother of two, along with a comprehensive review of existing research, suggested that the decisions parents worry about the most (e.g., breastfeeding vs. formula, daycare vs. a stay-at-home parent, sleep training vs. co-sleeping) are often the ones least likely to matter in the long run.

There is no shortage of how-to parenting books promising the perfect solution to whatever challenges your kids throw your way: not sleeping, refusing to eat vegetables, biting other toddlers, overdosing on screen time. You Can't F*ck Up Your Kids doesn't offer answers to such specific questions (though Powers does include high-level overviews of the research around each issue, along with many others). Instead, it serves as both a reminder and invitation to slow down, stress less and remind yourself that you're doing the best you can--and that's ultimately what matters most to the little ones in your life. --Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm

Discover: The founding editor-in-chief of Yahoo! Parenting reviews what matters most in parenting--and what doesn't!

If I didn't know better, I'd say Powers stole my idea. After reading about the development of "parenting" in Late Bloomers (Kaarlgard) and Normal Sucks (Mooney), I started to realize that part of the reason raising children is so hard these days is because parents place extraordinary expectations on themselves to be perfect. There are largely social reasons for this: parents want to give their kids the best possible opportunities for success given the various racial, economic, social and other constraints they may operate within. Parents want their children to rise to the top and try to navigate the onslaught of conflicting information to do so.

Powers takes a look at several hot topics, including breastfeeding, daycare and prenatal nutrition and examines the scientific literature. She essentially comes to the conclusion that if you're doing your best to be a loving, supportive parent, you're doing enough. She makes it clear that abuse, neglect and other traumas DO have the potential to "f*ck up your kid," but she also reminds readers that it's still possible for children to thrive despite their difficult childhoods (this is not an excuse to mistreat children, though!). Her writing style is clear and somewhat conversational.

I appreciate the way Powers looks not only at what the studies say, but also the cultural and historical context in which they were written. She argues that what may be "the right thing to do" for one set of parents may be (at best) unattainable or (at worst) damaging for another set of parents. If you (or someone you know) is an anxious parent, this book may help.

This book is a well-researched guide on raising kids and - more importantly - going easier on ourselves as parents. It’s full of funny and cringe-y stories, science, interviews, and never boring. A nice sanity reminder that extra screentime, less than “perfect” meals, and basically everything is ok — especially in times of this pandemic.

There are only a handful or pregnancy/parenting books I recommend, and this is now one of them. Powers’ refreshing, heavily researched book on all the things we obsess over as parents are debunked and give you the confidence that you really can’t f*ck up your kids as long as you tend to their basic needs and offer them love, support, and your attention. In an era of Instagram & Pinterest perfection, this book is a much needed dose of reality of what parenting REALLY looks like, and how to embrace it fully.

Good common sense advice to new parents. Using humor and behavioral examples, the author presents a guideline for parents to raise children without fear.

I help run and facilitate a Motherhood book club at our local library for moms in our community so I am always on the lookout for books to add to our reading list. Our book club focuses primarily on nonfiction books related to parenthood so when I saw this book available as a galley, I couldn't wait to check it out.

One of the most common things that come up in our discussions is the ways we moms feel like we aren't measuring up. Whether our kids are big or small, whether we work full time, part-time or stay home, everyone feels infiltrated with how we think we "should" be doing things and all the ways we feel like we are lacking.

With technology and social media, we are bombarded with more information than ever before and while there are many benefits to this, there are also just as many reasons we are having parenting information overload.

In You Can't F*ck Up Your Kids, author Lindsay Powers takes on some common and often highly sensitive parenting topics such as breastfeeding vs. formula feeding, daycare vs. staying home, screentime, and the idea that any parent has it "all figured out'".

Her writing is relatable and I enjoyed how she interweaved research with a conversational style of writing in her chapters. There is a great balance of information from her won experiences as well as other parents which helped give a wider perspective on these topics.

Her overall message is that the majority of parents are really just doing the best they can and that most of these choices are not going to make it or break it for our children. She talked through each of these topics and why either way, your kids are going to be just fine. Enter her #noshameparentingmovement.

I appreciated the end of her book and how she shared how her own childhood trauma affected her not only as a parent but also as a writer. There are, of course, choices that can significantly impact children negatively, but they are not because someone didn't breastfeed or allowed their child to fall asleep on their own in their crib.

I appreciated this relatable and informative approach to discussing the many issues parents (and primarily mothers) are up against these days.

Thank you to Atria Books for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.