The Rise of a New Kind of Parenting Guru

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By Andrea Delbanco

Editor in Chief, TIME for Kids

My colleague Eliana Dockterman’s story “The Rise of a New Kind of Parenting Guru” explores the big business of moms who share their professional expertise to huge Instagram followings, and the love/hate relationship millennial parents have with them.

I wrote to Eliana to ask what inspired her to write the story. “When I became a new mom in November, I would wake in the middle of the night with various questions,” she told me. “When should I try imposing a nap schedule? What were the best solids to introduce first? What would be our family philosophy on how to handle tantrums as our baby got older?”

When my kids were newborns, I bothered their doctor, texted friends, and went down the black hole that is the Internet. Now, parents like Eliana have other options. “I didn’t want to bother my pediatrician with these squishy problems. But I didn’t fully trust popular momfluencers with pristine homes and glossy hair who were flooding my social-media feeds to provide data-backed answers,” she said. “Increasingly, I found myself turning to a subset of momfluencers online that I call mom experts: Women with higher degrees like RNs, PhDs, and MDs, providing solutions based on both experience and research. When I clicked on their accounts, I saw that dozens, if not hundreds, of other moms I knew were following them too—and buying their courses.”

I recommend reading the full article, even if you don’t have infants in your household. It might make you laugh, or lead you to some new Instagram accounts to follow.

Have any experts appealed to you? Are there any whose advice you’ve found more harmful than helpful? Write to me at andrea@time.com.

Best,
Andrea