May Research Roundup

What I'm reading this month, in 3 minutes or less

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Hellooooo, sapiens! We’re back for this month’s research roundup, where I summarize recent studies that caught my interest in (roughly) three minutes or less. 

Today, we’ve got four studies covering: moms’ experiences with parenting, baby sleep, COVID vaccine side effects, and songs getting stuck in our heads.

Let’s get to it! 

1. Moms say they do more childcare. Dads say it’s an equal split.

Pew Research Center. Don’t you just love going to Pew Research Center’s website and casually perusing their latest research reports? Oh, that’s just me? Hm. Anyway, over the past two years, Pew has collected data on various aspects of U.S. mothers’ experiences. This article summarizes some fascinating key findings from that work:

• In opposite sex couples, moms say they take on more of the childcare, while dads say it’s an equal split. For example, 57% of moms say they do more feeding, bathing, and changing diapers, while 56% of dads say these tasks are split equally.

• The majority of moms (66%) say parenting is somewhat or a lot harder than expected, and 33% say it’s stressful all or most of the time.

• But an even greater share (83%) of moms say being a parent is enjoyable, and 80% say it is rewarding, most or all the time.    

My take: Being a parent is a study in contradictions. It’s tiring! It’s rewarding! It’s harder than we imagined! It’s enjoyable! Glad I’m not alone in these conflicted feelings. Also, a great reminder to try to be intentional about how responsibilities are divided at home.

2. One tip for better baby sleep

The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. There are few things more stressful (and exhausting) for new parents than getting our children to sleep.