Book excerpt: A much-needed guide that delivers essential baby and child-care advice while reminding parents to calm down and trust themselves. Parents are more overwhelmed than ever before -- juggling demands on their time as well as conflicting advice from family, friends, frenemies and "experts" on how to achieve parental perfection. Pediatrician Jane Scott has seen this parental anxiety up close, and in The Confident Parent she shares advice on how to cut through the confusion, dial down the insecurities and unhelpful advice, and simply do what countless parents around the world have done throughout history: respond to their little one's needs without overthinking, overstimulating, and overparenting. Informed by a unique global perspective, The Confident Parent shows readers how to be not just better caregivers but happier and more balanced human beings. The book covers the basics of baby and child-care from breastfeeding and sleep training to managing temper tantrums, offering a fresh perspective that’s both commonsense and liberating. Takeaways include: * Children are strong and resilient--unless parents teach them not to be. * Picky eating is learned, not innate. * There is such a thing as being too careful. This upbeat and empowering guide shows how small changes can yield big results -- helping both parents and kids feel more secure, confident, and connected.