Parenting Styles of the Stars: Weird or Worth It?

Celebrity Parenting Styles

Celebrity parenting styles have been mentioned a ton in the news lately—it was hard not to notice January Jones' admission that she ate her own placenta or the pic of Mayim Bialik breast-feeding her three-and-a-half-year-old son in the subway. And it is hard not to wonder whether Kelly Ripa's Electrolux "juggle" commercial is even an exaggeration of her impressive ability to balance a family and a fabulous career. It got us wondering, what other parenting styles are the stars using?

Elimination Communication - Gisele Bundchen

Or when you begin potty training soon after birth—also known as infant potty training, or natural infant hygiene, or our favorite, “potty whispering.” Elimination communication took the spotlight when Gisele announced that she had successfully potty-trained her 6-month-old son, Benjamin, using this method. For elimination communication to work, parents must rely on their child's body language, facial expressions and verbal cues. Not to, er, poo poo this idea, but it sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) - Helen Hunt, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tobey Maguire

The back-to-basics approach of RIE emphasizes the importance of treating infants and children as equal members in their relationships with adults. Founded in 1978 by infant specialist and educator Magda Gerber and pediatric neurologist Tom Forrest, M.D., RIE is an LA-based organization, which may explain why stars, such as Hunt, Curtis and Maguire, are drawn to the classes. We'll start with getting our infants to rock us to sleep and pick up their own socks.

Pre-mastication - Alicia Silverstone

As soon as Silverstone's infamous video hit the Internet, skeptics were horrified by the potential sanitary risks resulting from chewing up solid food and feeding it to your baby much like birds do. (Silverstone is also raising baby Bear Blu as a vegan). Pre-mastication supporters believe that the germs in a mother’s mouth can help her baby’s immune system produce helpful antibodies, but skeptics are concerned by the potential for harmful disease transmission, such as herpes or HIV. We'll stick with the old fork-and-knife approach for now.

Attachment Parenting - Mayim Bialik, Alanis Morissette

Attachment parenting has stayed on our minds even after the shock of the TIME Magazine cover wore off. Behind the seemingly quirky practices of co-sleeping, extended breast-feeding, joint baths and “baby wearing,” is an effort to promote strong emotional bonds between parent and child and to establish, above all, a secure attachment. In her Huffington Post article, Alanis Morissette explains, “The primary reason for breastfeeding into toddlerhood is to maintain that consistent connection, health and sense of well-being (frankly, in both the child AND the mother) until, optimally, they naturally wean.

Honesty, Openness and Friendship - Jada Pinkett Smith

Though “friend first” is not an official parenting style, some celebs place great value on being a friend to their children – and no, not in the creepy Dina Lohan sort of way. Consider it a watered down version of free-range parenting (which is essentially a reaction to “helicopter” parenting). Jada Pinkett Smith believes in giving her children, Jaden, 13, and Willow, 11, space so that they will learn to be responsible for their own decisions. Like all of the other challenging and rewarding aspects of parenting, giving your child space to express him or herself while still maintaining parental authority is definitely a balancing act.