Press Kit
Valerie E. Looper is a chemist, patent attorney, and mother of three who brings a science-driven lens to early parenting. Through her work in science, law, and family life, she discovered a powerful insight: babies think like researchers—constantly experimenting and learning from every interaction. In Mommy Science, she blends storytelling, evidence-based insight, and practical strategies to help parents approach the newborn stage with confidence and curiosity. Valerie is a sought-after speaker whose engaging talks offer a fresh, empowering framework for understanding how babies learn—and how parents grow alongside them.
Sample Interview Questions
What do you mean when you say “You can teach your baby to smile to be picked up?” Don’t they do this naturally?
Smiling is a signal, and so is crying. In fact, crying is a baby’s first signal, and smiling is a subsequent, learned signal. A newborn will start out with crying for everything because that’s all it can do. You might accidently teach a baby to do something else to be picked up, or not. If you’re conscious about it, you might have better luck.
Mommies are all stuck with being scientists.
When people say that there’s no manual for a baby, they’re only telling the truth. That’s because there’s a lot of variability in babies, just as there is in adults. This means that, whether the parents know it or not, their job is to figure out this little mystery package. The only way to do that is by trial and error. That’s what scientists do: they try one thing and then another until something works.
