Parenting Advice from Former Child Stars

The phrase child star is synonymous with tragic outcomes and E true Hollywood stories. But there's another route: the parenting guru.

Did you ever think you'd be taking child-rearing advice from Blossom? Two decades after her sitcom aired, Mayim Bialik has launched a second career as an unofficial spokesperson for attachment parenting. Actually, after her neuroscience PhD and her TV comeback on the Big Bang Theory, it's a fourth career, but who's counting.

In "Beyond The Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way," the 36-year-old mother of two boys, touts the benefits of co-sleeping and diaperless potty training.

Last year, Bialik's unconventional mothering methods drew both admiration and ire when she blogged one the website Kveller about breast feeding her three-year-old.

Bialik let both Miles, 6, and Frederick, 3, dictate the weening process, which meant they continued to breast-feed much later than most kids. Other Bialik-isms: she believes in slings and "wearing" babies over strollers and encourages bed-sharing over cribs in the early years.

"I was in graduate school studying the hormones of human attachment as part of my thesis, and started seeing the results of these kinds of parenting choices that these friends of ours were making," Bialik says of her attachment to attachment parenting. "The relationship between adult and children wasn't based on them being told that they were bad."

Unfair as it may be, it's hard to picture Bialik doing anything other than the running man while wearing a big floppy flower hat. But to her credit, there's a big PhD next to her name on the cover of the book. Both are assets if we're talking sales.

Danica McKellar can attest to that. She's another example of why being a child star in the '90s was a lot more promising than being one in the '80s. After gifting Fred Savage with his first kiss on "The Wonder Years," she went on to major in math at UCLA. Now she's a new mom and a bestselling author of three books designed specifically for young girls in need of an algebraic equation for confidence. "Kiss My Math," "Math Doesn't Suck," and "Hot X," are McKellar's tutorials for high school and junior high kids in need of math mojo. They've likely also come in handy for parents with no math skills of their own to impart on their kid.

There's Candace Cameron Bure, former Full House 'DJ', if you will, and current spiritual Richard Simmons. Record scratch. Cameron's book, "Reshaping It All: Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness," offers a more reverent approach to healthy eating and family dinners. But the more controversial question she's let her spiritual side answer has to do with punishment. Cameron spanks.
She calls it " a loving correction" that's both "effective and biblical." For Cameron it's not a first resort, but maybe a second or a first and a half. She gives the example of a kid being asked twice to put a toy in a basket. "This prepares them that the word no comes with consequence."

For Lisa Welchel's kids that consequence could be a scalding, burning tongue. Remember Blaire, the blonde snobby aristocrat from Facts of Life? She's a "hot saucing" advocate now. Welchel has been authoring fringe parenting books on everything from home-schooling to "mom time" these days. But it was her book on "Creative Correction" that made her a name aside from "Facts of Life's Blaire". Now she weighs in anytime a mom is accused of child abuse for practicing her method of discipline. Remember the recent case of the mom convicted of child abuse charges after dipping her 7-year-old's mouth in scalding hot sauce? Psychiatrists have called this form of discipline "torture," but Welchel told the Washington Post: "called it an effective deterrent," adding, "a correction has to hurt a little."

Now the mom of four grown kids, Welchel runs a ministry and oversees "Mom Time" meetings, or gatherings of moms in local groups. Otherwise known as people with things in common who are friends. But in order to throw your own "Mom Time" meeting, you have to buy Welchel's DVD chock full of recipes and ice-breakers and principles behind the four F's: "food, father, friends and fun."

Five minutes in Welchel's world, will have you clinging to anything Soliel Moon Frye has to say. The artist formerly known Punky Brewster released her first parenting guide, "Happy Chaos" this past September. Moon Frye's take on parenting is more middle of the road than the other child star parents. Her tips are practical, but not groundbreaking (make dinners exciting for kids by coming up with games, try to be present when your parenting even if you have a busy schedule). The overall message is all-inclusive: forgive yourself for making mistakes. Parenting isn't about being perfect, she attests, and there's no "wrong" way to raise a kid. But lets be honest, Punky isn't ordering hot sauce from Lisa Welchel. Soliel's kids, Jagger and Poet, are disciplined with a piece of paper, some crayons and the chance to express their feelings artistically. Says Moon Frye, "We draw it out."


Related:
Punky's kids' birthday tips
Candace Cameron's health struggles
Blossom on potty training
Mayim Bialik on home births