'Dr. Mom' debunks unscientific mommy blog advice

New parents sometimes visited Dr. Stephanie Liu's office, asking about medical advice they'd seenonline.

Liu, a family physician who splits her time between Edmonton, Alta., and Atlanta, Ga., said one of the most common questions patients would askwas about sleep-training strategies for parents teachingtheir babies to fall asleep by themselves.

Mothers would often tell Liu they had reada mommyblog about how sleep-training your child can lead to abandonment issues, anxiety disorders or ADHD later in life.

"These things aren't rooted in fact," Dr. Liu told CBC's Radio Active on Monday.

• When it comes to parenting advice, the best tip may be to throw away the books
• Traditional parenting visits from Cree elders connect urban First Nations families with culture

But even knowing that, she saidshe could also relate to her patients' concerns.

"Once I had my daughter I went on some of these sites, and I'll be honest they're pretty powerful," she said."I was almost afraid to sleep-train my daughter.

"I thought, 'Oh my gosh, Madi's going to have an anxiety disorder' and my husband did a fellowship in sleep medicine."

Life of Dr. Mom

"With a lot of these blogs, some of the time they offered really good advice, but sometimes they offered some pretty inaccurate advice," Liu said.

In September, she launched the blogLife of Dr. Mom to counter some of the misconceptions she'd been asked about.

She delves into research on topics like postpartum depression, allergies, and flu vaccines.

Liu also draws on her experience as a mother. Her daughter Madi turned two in December.

Before she had her daughter, Liusaid, she was a strong advocate for breast-feeding in her role as a physician.

"I was a huge preacher before," she said.

"I'd preach and preach and say, 'Breast is best' and, 'Go to a lactation consultant,' and it was only after I had my daughter that I said, 'You know,this is really hard,' and I felt really sad and really madthat I couldn't breastfeed."

She still encourages breastfeeding butsaid she'd like to write more on her blog about support and resources for mothers who can't.

Overall, she said, the feedback she's received about her blog has been very positive, but some of her posts have led to backlash from commenters online.

• Edmonton Goop-debunker buoyed by renewed attack on Gwyneth Paltrow's wellness brand

In a post about vaccination, someoneresponded, "No matter what you write, you'll never change my opinion," Liu said.

She said she welcomes criticism about her blog, even though she rarely likes it in person. She remains optimistic that readers will consider what she has to say: "I hope over time I can change a few opinions."

Liusaid her focus is to connect parents to information in a more personal way.

"I think for patients hearing about a bit of the personal stuff, they're able to connect," she said.

"[It's better] than just giving them a pamphlet about sleep training or starting solids, so I think that's what was needed."