The Wonder Weeks

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The Wonder Weeks: A Stress-Free Guide to Your Baby's Behavior
AuthorFrans X. Plooij
Hetty van de Rijt
Subject
ISBN
978-1-68268-427-6

The Wonder Weeks: A Stress-Free Guide to Your Baby's Behavior is a book with advice to parents about child development by physical anthropologist Hetty van de Rijt and ethologist and developmental psychologist Frans Plooij. Xaviera Plas-Plooij is a third author of recent editions. It was first published in English in 2003[1] as the translation of the 1992 Dutch book Oei, ik groei![2] The 6th edition in 2019[3] includes a chapter on sleep.[4] The book claims that the cognitive development of babies occurs in predictably timed stages.[4] This has long been a controversy in developmental psychology.[5] Experts in child development have objected that sleep regressions are not so predictable.[6] The publisher has produced a mobile app based on the book.[7]

Claims

The book describes 10 predictable 'leaps' observed in a child's cognitive development during the first 20 months, with 8 in the first year. Months are counted from the due date because development begins with conception.[8] These developmental 'leaps' consist of two phases, A phase where the baby is generally unhappy, followed by a period where the baby is generally happy, due to discovering new things with the newly gained cognitive skills. They are predicted to occur at 5, 8, 12, 17, 26, 36, 44, 53, 61-62 and 72-73 weeks old.[9]

Plooij's initial study was based on a survey of the mothers of 15 babies showing periods of greater and lesser fussiness.[10][6] However, a follow up study by his former graduate student, with four infants and measures of cortisol as an indicator rather than the mothers' reported observations, failed to find a predictable pattern of stress.[11][6] A third study, with 18 babies, also found an effect on fussiness, but again based on maternal report.[12][13][6] None of the studies show evidence that the periods of fussiness are related to changes in cognitive development, a key component of the theory.[6]

Controversy

A follow-up study by Plooij's PhD student, Carolina de Weerth, examined the claims of the book. She tested both behaviour and cortisol levels and failed to find any evidence of greater fussiness or higher cortisol levels corresponding to the leaps,[11][14] though this might be due to inadequate sample size.[6] According de Weerth, Frans X Plooij tried to pressure her into not publishing the study.[14][15][6] Plooij disputes this account.[6] The controversy that ensued led to Plooij's departure from academia.[14][16][17]

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-57954-645-8
    .
  2. ^ Van De Rijt, Hetty; Plooij, Frans X. (1992). Oei, ik groei! [Ai, I'm growing!] (in Dutch). Ede and Antwerp: Zomer & Keuning Boeken BV.
  3. ISBN 978-1-68268-427-6
    .
  4. ^ a b Verhoeven, Eymeke (2018-03-07). "Je kind loopt nog niet? Maakt niet uit" [Your child isn't walking yet? It doesn't matter]. Nederlands Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  5. doi:10.1007/BF03070912
    . Verloopt het vroegkinderlijke ontwikkelingsproces geleidelijk of sprongsgewijs? Deze vraag houdt onderzoekers bezig sinds het begin van deze eeuw, toen de systematische studie van de ontwikkeling van het kind begon. [Is the early childhood development process gradual or in leaps? This question has preoccupied researchers since the beginning of this century, when the systematic study of child development began.]
  6. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on 2023-06-05. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  7. ^ "The Wonder Weeks App". The Wonder Weeks. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  8. ^ The Wonder Weeks (2019 ed.) p. 23.
  9. ^ Ibid. p. 22.
  10. ISSN 0264-6838
    .
  11. ^
    ISSN 2044-835X
    .
  12. PMID 12025364
    .
  13. ISBN 0-8058-4098-2
    .
  14. ^ a b c Kok, Annemarie (1997-11-19). "'Oei, ik groei!' leidt tot bittere ruzie van wetenschappers". Trouw. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  15. ^ "'Oei, ik groei!' leidt tot bittere ruzie van wetenschappers". Trouw (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2017-08-27. Retrieved 2017-08-27. zeer onfatsoenlijk
  16. ^ Dirks, Bart (January 13, 1997). "Hoogleraar woedend over weerlegging theorie". Algemeen Dagblad (AD). Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  17. ^ Dirks, Bart (1998-01-14). "Positie Plooij onhoudbaar na openlijke kritiek op oud-promovenda; Auteur 'Oei, ik groei' ontslagen als hoogleraar". Volkskrant. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
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