Mayim Bialik has been in the industry since she was a kid and is most known for her role as Blossom. These days she is known for her role as Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory. One surprising fact about Mayim is that she is a neuroscientist in the real world as well, which makes her one smart cookie.

She also likes to write books from time to time, and has a parenting book out called Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way. Her parenting methods over the years have been questioned by people because they are unconventional, to say the least. She believes in super closeness with her children including sleeping with them and some of her methods have certainly raised a few eyebrows over the years because she goes off the beaten path.

Like most parents, she believes that she is doing what’s best for her children. She doesn’t seem to care what anyone thinks about it either. We have found some sweet pictures of her and her children and it’s clear that she has a very loving family. Check out these 20 pics of controversial mom Mayim Bialik.

20 She Strongly Believes In Birth Bonding

She is a huge believer in attachment-parenting which means there are some rules that you have to follow. One of the main rules that she talks about in her book is birth bonding. She believes that there is a sensitive period right after birth which mom and baby are biologically programmed to be together so that they can bond. You don’t want to be taking any pain meds either during birth. Everything should be as natural as possible when giving birth. Mayim believes that if you bond with your child right after birth then you will likely bond easier the older the child gets. Which totally makes sense and would certainly be a goal for all parents.

19 Breastfeeding Until Her Son Was Four

One topic that typically gets people warm under the collar is when the right time is to stop breastfeeding. Most people do it for about a year and then slowly wean the baby onto the bottle. Mayim breastfed her son until he was four, and even then, she didn’t want to stop. Most people would think that was a little excessive. “I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss being able to latch him on and make it all better. We have other ways to soothe Fred now,” reported Daily Mail. Of course, a lot of people would not go so far as she has with breastfeeding because four seems to be too old for that sort of thing.

18 Sleeping With Her Child Is Important

Part of attachment-parenting means that you should be sleeping with your child as well. The idea is to have your children as close to you as often as possible. Experts frown against co-sleeping because they believe that the risk of SIDS is much higher when sleeping with your child, especially as a baby. Mayim shares her bed with her children which must leave little time for her and her husband. You also run the risk of having a hard time getting your child adjusted to their own bed. But she thinks that it strengthens the bond between mom and baby, and it also prevents separation anxiety.

17 She Prevents Her Child From Crying

We’re not sure what kind of magic she’s using that she can prevent her child from crying but sign us up. Before a child can talk, however, they use crying as a means of communicating their needs to their parents. It’s up to a parent to figure out right away what their child needs to stop the crying. But Mayim tries to prevent the crying before it even starts. That means she had to focus to try to determine what her children need at any given time. It can’t be easy and not too many moms even have the time to do that.

16 No Playroom In Her Home

If there is room in the home, a lot of parents like to have separate playrooms for the children so all the mess can be located in one area but Mayim isn’t one of those parents. For one thing, Mayim doesn’t believe that her children need expensive toys or a lot of them in order to be happy. Because of that, she doesn’t see a point in having a separate playroom for them. She thinks that today’s society is too commercial and that parents are buying too many things for their children. She would rather play with her children rather than let them go off and do their own thing.

15 Her Hubby Was A Stay At Home Dad

Mayim is now separated from her husband Michael Stone but when they were together, he was the primary parent that stayed home with the kids. She was the breadwinner in the family thanks to her role on The Big Bang Theory. “I know some dads who might fit a more sensitive parenting stereotype. I think they’re awesome!” the actress explained to Green Child magazine. “But my husband’s not one of them. He is masculine but not brutish, and sensitive but not passive.” She stated, “Because he is now the at-home parent, it’s nice that he meets all kinds of dads in our community. I can tell you, these guys don’t sit around talking about what their wives forced them to do that morning.”

14 Feeding The Children On Demand

Mayim believes in feeding her children on demand which means around the clock if necessary. “From the time that Fred night-weaned a year ago, he was nursing about once a day, but not always once a day. Sometimes he'd go a few days without nursing,” she explained. “After night-weaning, he could nurse anywhere but in the bed, since it invariably made him think of nursing all night, which he did like a real champ for his entire happy milky life until he was 3. And I didn't want to go back to that! I nursed Fred four to six times a night for three years. I pumped at work for Fred from the time I got the job on The Big Bang Theory when he was 18 months old until he was 3.”

13 She Believes Babies Are Born Potty Trained

She believes that babies are born potty trained which means that she starts reinforcing that behavior right away so that the child isn’t 2 when they start to train. We couldn’t imagine the time it would take to do something like that; to always have to be watching for signs, but Mayim believes it’s the best way possible. “I do believe babies are born potty-trained. They're born knowing and are able to give subtle signals that become very prominent if you reinforce them.” Many people would certainly find such a task exhausting.

12 She Doesn’t Like Yelling At Her Kids

We don’t think that any parent really enjoys yelling at their children, it just sort of happens. She doesn’t believe that parents should even raise their voices to their children. A more calm and soothing approach to talking to her children is the best. “Someone asked me, ‘So you parent with no yelling?’ I said, ‘Oh no, I’ve yelled!’ But it’s not disingenuous to say that’s not something I go to,” Mayim told Green Child magazine. “It’s something that happens because I’m a human and not perfect. But this is the framework we start from – that just because I can yell, and I’m four feet taller, doesn’t make it ok.”

11 She Loves Using Cloth Diapers

Many people have grasped onto the idea of using cloth diapers instead of dependable diapers. They consider it a cheaper method but it also means that you have to wash them every time and a lot of people aren’t a fan of the mess. Mayim has stated in interviews that she has often felt out of place at mom groups because of her attachment-parenting methods. "I used cloth diapers. I didn't use pacifiers or bottles," said Bialik. "I didn't have fancy clothes and neither did my baby. I didn't have a manicure. I mean, I barely had time to shower. How was I gonna have time to get a manicure?"

10 She Doesn’t Think That Moms Should Be Competitive

She also learned in the mom's groups that moms can be really competitive and that’s something that she has a hard time understanding. She found it strange that in these groups, moms were often encouraged to brag about their birthing experiences. Who got done their labor faster and "how precocious their babies were with pooping, rolling over, sitting up, smiling.” She found the whole experience to be very sad and disheartening. "Everything was a competition," she said. "They were not my people. I left in tears." It was hard for her to understand. "Moms are so competitive! Why is that?" Bialik asked. "Is it because we're just catty and combative by nature? Is it because we're bored and we have nothing better to do?"

9 She Doesn’t Make Them Say They’re Sorry

You might be surprised to hear that Mayim doesn’t worry much about manners when it comes to her kids. A lot of parents work really hard to make sure that their children are raised to be polite. Mayim doesn’t believe in having her children say “please” or “thank you” all the time. “We talk about positive modeling. And believe it or not, it works. We talk about lowering other people’s expectations of when they will say it,” Mayim told Time magazine. “Grandparents, for example, often expect pleases and thank yous. We had to have conversations with them that we believe in teaching natural expressions of appreciation. Eventually, in a very age-appropriate manner, my children have generated ‘please,’ ‘thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry.’”

8 She Believes In Positive Discipline

Mayim may have different methods of disciplining her children than the average parent does. She believes that positive discipline means communicating with her children at a higher level. Most parents will discipline their children by yelling at them or giving them a timeout but Mayim is not interested in that. She tries to communicate with her children about what they did wrong by speaking to them like they are adults. She believes that you should treat your children the way that you expect to be treated and that means treating them as equals.

7 Home Birth Is A Must

Home births have become more popular over the years but there are still a lot of parents that want the comfort and safety of a hospital room. Mayim didn’t want to go to a hospital, in fact, she wanted to be as comfortable as possible which meant having her children in her living room. She felt that the environment would be more relaxed for the baby to be born in. She didn’t take pain meds and she had a midwife with her the whole time. When she gave birth to her second child, her older son was right there in the room while she was giving birth.

6 She Strongly Believes In Homeschooling

Mayim is a big believer in traditional homeschooling. It’s another touchy subject for most parents because many people believe that homeschooling makes it hard for kids to adapt to society when they are older. She is certainly more than smart enough to teach her children anything they need to know. She believes that she and her husband are more apt to teach their children than anyone else. Mayim loves the flexibility that homeschooling allows their family. She can have as much time with her children as she wants and she can work around her own schedule.

5 Her Children Don’t Eat Meat

Mayim is a vegan and that’s the way that she chooses to raise her family. She doesn’t believe in eating meat and she makes sure that her children follow the same menu that she does. “I'm technically a vegan, but I do eat egg if it's in things.” That can be a difficult lifestyle for a child to follow but Mayim isn’t worried about what anyone else thinks. "Let's get back to a model of camaraderie that reduces competition, fosters friendship and empathy and increases the success of a society that is built on the foundation principles of woman-to-woman support, which has sustained our species for so long, so well," she said. "We can only do this together."

4 Daddy Can’t Tuck Kids In Alone

Sometimes allowing dad to tuck the children in gives mom a much-needed break from the day, but Mayim isn’t onboard with that. She thinks that it should be a team effort. “We recently stopped nursing Fred at night, and it didn’t sit right with me to say, ‘I don’t want to deal with his crying for me at night,’ and make my husband do it. In my family and in my marriage, that’s wrong,” she told Green Child magazine. “We, of course, take turns with hard things, but my reason for making him do something that he has no more skills at than I do, just because I don’t want to do it, or because it hurts… that doesn’t work for us.”

3 She Keeps Them Out Of The Media

She may be a TV star but she doesn’t allow her children to see her onscreen. That’s because there is limited media allowed in her home. Her children are not allowed to watch TV because she doesn’t want them to be susceptible to peer pressure. She doesn’t want the things that they see on TV to shape their personalities or self-esteem. She also doesn’t like them to see all the toys on TV that they will want for themselves. When they are allowed to watch TV she chooses what programs are acceptable for them to watch and she keeps them out of the media as much as possible.

2 She Loves Using A Sling

Mayim is a big fan of the sling and her children are often photographed in them. The reason for this is because it’s all part of how Mayim bonds with her children. She believes that physical contact is very important for children. She gets to be as close to them as possible because the infant is pressed up against her body when she carries them in a sling. She is able to monitor her child’s needs while keeping her baby happy at the same time. Experts say that slings also help a child to learn a sense of balance.

1 She Loves Reading To Her Kids

Lots of parents believe that reading to children is a great thing for them because it makes them love reading themselves. We know that she doesn’t allow a lot of TV in the home and for her, books are more important. Mayim reads to her children a lot. Not only does she believe that her children develop a love of reading through this but it gives her more time that she can spend with her children. She likes books that teach her children about different situations, people and emotions. The books that she recommends are: Esphyr Slobodkina's, Caps For Sale, Norma Simon's, Why Am I Different?, and Arnold Lobel's, Frog and Toad series.

Sources: The Richest, Daily Mail, E! Online, Brainy Quote