Not Using Diapers and 5 More Unique Ways Mayim Bialik Raises Her Children

The Bing Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik is not just an actress and neuroscientist, but also a single mother of 2 boys. She believes that forming a strong attachment with your children from the start is crucial, and she even wrote a book about it called Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way.

Mayim strongly believes that her parenting style is one of the best, so we at Bright Side decided to find out what her secrets are.

1. She says no to using diapers.

When Mayim Bialik’s kids were babies, they used the potty instead of diapers. It’s hard to believe, but it’s actually true. She practiced something called “elimination communication,” which means learning a baby’s innate cues to know when they need to relieve themselves. When her kids used certain signals, she would bring them to the potty instead of letting them use diapers.

She believes that the mistake people make by using diapers is that they first teach the kids to use them as a bathroom and then untrain them to not use their diapers as a toilet.

When Mayim learned about this technique 13 years ago, at first she thought it was madness. But eventually, she noticed a pattern in her son’s signals, and by the time her son was 10 months old, he could reliably sign when he wanted to use the potty.

2. She believes that babies should be worn.

Mayim is a big fan of attachment parenting — a philosophy that encourages baby-wearing and co-sleeping. People who practice this philosophy focus on the nurturing connection they can develop with their kids and consider it an ideal way to raise empathetic, independent, and secure children. Other than forming a strong attachment with your little one, baby carrying has been shown to help babies cry less, sleep more, gain weight, breastfeed longer, and more.

3. She puts her phone down when she’s with her boys.

Even though she finds it hard not to respond to all the emails and texts she gets, she still finds the strength to put her phone down and enjoy quality time with her kids. This helps her feel more connected to her children and, at the same time, they can have full attention from their mom.

4. She apologizes to her kids.

Mayim believes that apologizing is not surrendering your power, but it’s actually owning your power and claiming it. Every parent makes mistakes and so does Mayim — there have been times when she lost her temper and shouted at her kids, and that’s not something she is proud of. But she realized that behavior like this is an ego-based defense mechanism, and instead of justifying her behavior, she cools down and apologizes.

According to Mayim, a proper apology should look different than simply saying, “I’m sorry.” Instead, she can say, “I messed up. I used my anger against you, and that’s wrong. I’m truly sorry, and it’s not okay for me to act like that. I am working on having more patience because I don’t want you to be afraid of me. I’m so sorry.”

This won’t make your kids think that you don’t have any authority or make you appear weak. But they’ll realize that strong people can admit when they are wrong.

5. She doesn’t give her kids rewards for cleaning after themselves.

People often use an allowance to motivate their kids to do chores, but in reality, no one gets paid to do household work. That’s why instead of “bribing” her kids to do something around the house, Mayim teaches her kids to clean up after themselves and not expect anything in return. They can reap the rewards of having a clean house and have the satisfaction of doing it on their own.

6. She still doesn’t give her kids, who are 13 and 16, an allowance.

Many people teach their kids the value of money by giving them pocket money. But not Mayim. She does this by teaching them how to balance their desire for things based on the actual amount that they have to spend.

They also have a charity box at home where they put loose change, money found in pockets after they have been through the washer, and even coins they find on the street. At the end of the year, they donate the money to a charity of their choice and participate by using a calculator to total it all up.

The other way she teaches her kids the value of money is by shopping at thrift stores, as she doesn’t participate in disposable fashion. This means that she doesn’t buy clothes as the trends and seasons change, but instead, tends to wear the same things repeatedly. She also doesn’t do things that require expensive maintenance, like getting manicures, pedicures, and even dyeing her hair.

Do you use any of these parenting tricks? What’s a parenting secret you swear by?