The Wonder Weeks

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'''''The Wonder Weeks: How to Stimulate Your Baby's Mental Development and Help Him Turn His 10 Predictable, Great, Fussy Phases Into Magical Leaps Forward''''' is a [[fortune-telling]] [[pseudoscientific]] best-selling book and mobile app masquerading as developmental psychology.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thewonderweeks.com/about-the-wonder-week-app/|title=The Wonder Weeks App|work=The Wonder Weeks|access-date=2017-08-27|language=en-US}}</ref> It was written by former professor Frans Plooij, and originally published in 1992 in Dutch.<ref>''Oei, ik groei! De acht sprongen in de mentale ontwikkeling van je baby'' by Frans Plooij (1992). Kosmos Uitgevers. {{Isbn|9021522209}}.</ref> It has been republished several times, in several different languages.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qgrGAQAACAAJ&dq=wonder+weeks&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y|title=The Wonder Weeks: How to Stimulate Your Baby's Mental Development and Help Him Turn His 10 Predictable, Great, Fussy Phases Into Magical Leaps Forward|last=Plooij|first=Frans X.|last2=Rijt|first2=Hetty van de|date=September 2017|publisher=Kiddy World Publishing|year=|isbn=9789491882166|location=|pages=|language=en}}</ref> In the book Plooij claims that that the cognitive development of babies occurs in predictable jumps and that these "leaps" will indicate when the baby will be especially fussy.<ref name="trouw">{{cite news|url=http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/5009/Archief/article/detail/2605998/1997/11/19/Oei-ik-groei-leidt-tot-bittere-ruzie-van-wetenschappers.dhtml|title='Oei, ik groei!' leidt tot bittere ruzie van wetenschappers|last1=Kok|first1=Annemarie|date=1997-11-19|accessdate=14 June 2015|publisher=Trouw}}</ref> However, a follow-up study by Plooij's PhD student, Carolina de Weerth, failed to find any evidence of predictable leaps, which is unsurprising because the idea that you can predict when babies will be fussy from week-to-week is completely ludicrous.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title = Emotional instability as an indicator of strictly timed infantile developmental transitions|url = http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2044-835X.1998.tb00748.x/abstract|journal = British Journal of Developmental Psychology|date = 1998-03-01|issn = 2044-835X|pages = 15–44|volume = 16|issue = 1|first = C.|last = de Weerth|first2 = P.|last2 = van Geert}}</ref> 

==Claims==
According to the book, a baby should go through 10 predictable jumps or "leaps" in its cognitive development during the two years, with 8 in just the first year, counted from the due date if the child was premature.<ref name="groeisprongen">{{cite web|last1=Plooij|first1=Frans|title=Groeisprongen|url=http://www.oeiikgroei.nl/love/love-ontwikkeling/sprongen/|website=oeiikgroei|accessdate=14 June 2015}}</ref> These jumps consist of two phases; a week or so where the baby is generally unhappy, followed by a week or so where the baby is generally happy, due to discovering new things with the newly gained cognitive skills. The "leaps" are predicted to occur at 5, 8, 12, 19, 26, 37, 46, 55, 64 and 75 weeks old.<ref name=":1" /> This is, ''[[a priori]]'', suspicious that these cognitive leaps would be this predictable, because infant development is highly variable. For instance, the range of normal development for learning to walk ranges from 9 months to 18 months. The narrowest windows of cognitive development that are currently accepted in the literature typically span months.<ref>[https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/speech-and-language Speech and Language Developmental Milestones]</ref>. And these ranges, of course, refer to ''normal'' development, and developmentally delayed children may reach these milestones late, if at all.

==Reception==
The book is popular among parents who visit online forums such as baby center and mumsnet and in Facebook groups. Many parents believe that the book is "real" because of [[confirmation bias]]; because the windows of fussiness and good behaviour are close together, it's easy for parents to convince themselves (or others) that if their baby isn't fussy they're simply entering the "leap" early or late, and because infants are commonly fussy, nearly every baby will show some fussiness during these "leaps".

The appeal of the book is understandable; most people want to their baby to be happy, but babies aren't always consolable (see: colic). This book provides a pleasant explanation for this fussiness (they baby is simply becoming smarter! That's great!) and relieves the pressure on the parent to attempt to find some other explanation for the fussiness. It's human nature to want to explain phenomena, and explaining fussiness in an baby is no exception.

==Reality sets in==
A follow-up study by Plooij's PhD student, Carolina de Weerth, unsurprisingly completely failed to find any evidence of greater fussiness or higher cortisol levels corresponding to these supposed leaps.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="trouw" /> This pissed off Plooij, who actually tried to prevent the ''British Journal of Developmental Psychology'' from publishing the study.<ref name="trouw" /> It didn't work; the study was published in 1998, and he was disgraced; his behaviour was so egregious that  a coworker described his behaviour as "very indecent" to the press, and who also pointed out that his work contradicted the greater body of research on child development.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.trouw.nl/home/-oei-ik-groei-leidt-tot-bittere-ruzie-van-wetenschappers~a361efcd/|title='Oei, ik groei!' leidt tot bittere ruzie van wetenschappers|last=|first=|date=|website=Trouw|language=nl-NL|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2017-08-27|quote="zeer onfatsoenlijk"}}</ref> Plooij was fired in 1997 and thereafter left academia.<ref name="trouw" /><ref name="AD">{{cite news|url=http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/4561/Wetenschap/article/detail/511584/1997/11/13/Hoogleraar-woedend-over-weerlegging-theorie.dhtml|title=Hoogleraar woedend over weerlegging theorie|last1=Dirks|first1=Bart|date=January 13, 1997|accessdate=14 June 2015|publisher=Algemeen Dagblad (AD)}}</ref><ref name="volkskrant">{{cite news|url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/dossier-onderwijs/positie-plooij-onhoudbaar-na-openlijke-kritiek-op-oud-promovenda-auteur-oei-ik-groei-ontslagen-als-hoogleraar~a481373/|title=Positie Plooij onhoudbaar na openlijke kritiek op oud-promovenda; Auteur 'Oei, ik groei' ontslagen als hoogleraar|last1=Dirks|first1=Bart|date=1998-01-14|accessdate=14 June 2015|publisher=Volkskrant}}</ref> Carolina de Weerth's study was published in 1998.

At present, Carolina de Weerth is a full professor in her field, doing actual science and earning a modest government salary whilst running her own lab at Radboud University  in the Netherlands,<ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carolina_Weerth Carolina De Weerth]</ref> whilst Plooij sits on his ass passively raking in the dough from book and app sales to literally millions of fleeced sleep-deprived parents despite the fact his work was debunked nearly 20 years ago.

==External links==
*[https://spacefem.livejournal.com/787216.html the wonder weeks] — a book review by spacefem

==References==
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[[Category:Parenting]]
[[Category:Books]]

Categories: Parenting, Books