Rating: 
Summary: EXCELLENT -- HIGHLY RECOMMEND TO ALL
Review: This, as with all Dr. Sears' writings, is excellent. Very thorough and he does a great job of encouraging a mother's natural instincts to respond to her child's needs. Buy this for anyone you know who is pregnant.
Rating:
Summary: Practical, informative, inspirational!
Review: In the Sears' The Baby Book, you will find a gold mine of information and encouragement for the new parent. Despite the fact that I am a young first-time mom, I have been caring for infants and children longer than I haven't, and I can personally testify that the Sears' methods are not only medically and psychologically sound, but they are a wonderful, rewarding, commonsense approach as well.
The reveiwer from Reston finds fault with their pro-beastfeeding, pro-shared sleep approach. I am shocked that she comes down on the Sears' so hard on both counts--after all, even the formula companies acknowledge that "Breast is best" before they advertise their products. Furthermore, the pediatic establishment publically advocates breastfeeding for at least a year. The Sears would be dishonest medically if they did not inform parents of the many advantages of breastfeeding. And they DO NOT condemn, either mothers who do not choose to breastfeed or to share sleep. For the record, I quote the book directly, "Just as a breastfeeding mother is not better than one who bottlefees, a mother who shares sleep woth her baby is not better than one who doesn't" The Sears' only claim is from their own experience, that what they advocate is "what works for most couples most of the time." Rather humble when you compare it to the claims of most other childcare gurus.
Personally, my husband and I have shared our bed with our baby, and it is more convenient, more restful, and more loving for all parties involved. Babies legitimately like to be close; to paraphrase one phychologist, it would simply be a bad survival mechanism if helpless infants liked to be left alone. Also babies who share sleep have a lower incidence of SIDS.
All in all, The Baby Book is a handy reference for questions from colic to teething to what games are good to play with your baby. It truly is as billed, GENTLE and REASONABLE. I highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent and Comprehensive Guide by a Seasoned Pro.
Review: This is an excellent and very thorough guide. Dr. Sears, a pediatrician with eight children of his own, shares his wealth of knowledge with the reader in a guiding rather than dictacting manner. He presents different parenting styles encourages parents to follow their instincts and choose the parenting style that suits their child and them the best. I highly recommend this book (it makes a great baby shower gift)!!
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Baby Gift is this Book
Review: Having had no previous experience handling a baby before I had one, I read almost every book on the market and found this one to be the most comprehensive and informative. If you put in the time to do "attachment parenting" now, the rest of your life will be easier because your child will be secure and well-behaved. Unlike other books, Sears is really not judgmental - for example on the subject of co-sleeping, he says it is up to each family to do what works best for them. Compare that with the "What to Expect" book, where they tell you if you co-sleep with your child, you are not encouraging your child to be independent! My kids, now 8 and 5, are very independent and emotionally mature and I do credit attachment parenting. Do not be put off by the author's ideal parenting model - we all need models to aspire to even if we don't meet them.
Rating: 
Summary: Romantic parenting: Beware of feeling guilty
Review: Few parents can live up to the ideal that the Sears advocate. They recommend what they call "Attachment Parenting" that is: we stay connected to our babies 24 hours per day in order to help them feel secure after leaving the womb. During the day, they recommend we "wear" the baby in a sling and at night we sleep with her next to our body. In between, we should breastfeed and snuggle with her.I have met many well-adjusted, happy chidren and adults who were not raised by parents following the Sears method. So I am sceptical of the book's validity. I think the book appeals to our desire to escape modern life and parent our babies in a blissful natural way. We all want to create a beautiful secure nest for our special loved one. Sears claim they know how to do this and will make you feel you are going to short-change your baby if you don't follow their path. If the book's philosopy appeals to you, buy it. Just don't let it make you feel guilty if you can't live up to the ideal. Your baby is probably still going to get all the love and attention she needs even if you aren't always attached. Sears and Sears claim that modern childrearing is new, an experiment and even unnatural. They claim that we should look to tradional societies for child-rearing advice (without ever showing any proof that children raised in those societies are better adjusted.) They say that their style of "Attachment Parenting" is how traditional societies today (those that anthropologists study such as indian tribes)and our foremothers parented for thousands of years. So, based on their experiences and tradition, we should all practice this type of parenting. The problem is that we live in a very different world than tradional societies. Although this book is very popular, I wonder how many parents actually follow the advice in it. I have yet to see anyone carrying their baby in a Sear and Sears type sling. I tried it and my baby cries about half the time she is in it. I don't know anyone who carries their baby all day. I am skeptical of Sears and Sears advice that parents should sleep with the baby next to them in their bed. I know parents who do it that live chaotic, stressful lives with neither the baby or the parents getting much sleep. I know parents who put their babies in cribs, in a nursury down the hall, who are calm and rested with sleeping babies. (What works for us is: One of us sleeps in the same room with the baby. We have our baby in a box in the bed or in the crib.) Some studies have shown an increase in SIDS when babies sleep with parents and there have been deaths due to parents rolling over on their infants. The Sears and Sears approach is their own philosophy and is not for everyone. It is not based on lots of studies but on their own limited experience. They have very strong opinions on breastfeeding and call formula feeding "an experiment". They imply that you are taking a grave risk by formula feeding your infant. They compare formula to an experimental drug. While studies show that breastfeeding is much better than formula feeding, they certaining don't show that formula feeding is a big risk. In some places, Sears and Sears give advice that goes contrary to what other experts say. For example, in several places they mention putting babies to sleep on their stomachs. Yet experts worldwide advise us to put babies to sleep on their backs because it is proven to reduce the risk if Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The book provides lots of helpful advice on the basics of infant care so in that respect it is useful. But, there are many books that do that such as "The Mother of all Baby Books". I wouldn't recommend the Sears and Sears book because I thought their philosphy of childrearing was biased and will needlessly make most parents feel guilty because they don't live up to the ideal.
Rating: 
Summary: Attachment Parenting 101
Review: This is a wonderful book for parents, particularly mothers,who plan to do nothing else but tend to their baby 24/7 for the first two years of life. It is a great resource and full of medical information that is both helpful and reassuring. The only drawback to this book is the authors' opinions--which may make you like an inferior mom if you give up breastfeeding before one year, go back to work, and do not sleep with your baby. All of the chapters in this book really reinforce attachement parenting. It is a nice concept, if you can do it, but if you can't, you might find this book a frustrating and guilt-inducing read! For those who don't practice this type of parenting I recommend Dr. Spock!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and abundant information.
Review: As a second time Mom, 6 years later, I had forgotten what babies "do". I had read "What to Expect" the first time around, but this book is so much better. It is an excellent source of information, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is expecting.
Rating:
Summary: You'll use this book almost every day.
Review: 689 pages that cover nearly everything you'll want to know in the first two years. I find myself looking things up constantly for a tidbit of information. I've found answers to simple questions like when to start my baby drinking from a cup to more complex issues like what solid foods to start with first and how to guage my baby's reactions to first foods. This book certainly has an Attachment Parenting twist to nearly every topic, so it is best if you follow this type of parenting. (AP = following your baby's cues; sleeping close to your baby; carry your baby a lot; don't use rigid structure or sleep training.) The book is easy on the eyes - broken up into readable chunks so you don't have to wade through pages of text like many baby books. There are three "must have" books for the first two years - this book, The No-Cry Sleep Solution and The A to Z Medical Handbook. Get these three and you're covered for nearly everything.
Rating:
Summary: One of the three most enjoyable pregnancy books
Review: What a book. This is a must for all pregnant woman...so much better than "What to expect when expecting" #1 on my top 3 1) The Baby Book 2) Babytales:A Pregnancy Companion 3) Girlfriends guide to pregnancy ladies read and enjoy the books and your pregnancies
Rating:
Summary: Great buy, Worth the read.
Review: This is THE book to have, if you have a baby. If you are up with a sick baby in the middle of the night, its like talking to a Dr who doesn't mind. He tells you what to look for, and when to call the Dr. I've read this book at 3:am several times, and always felt better whatever my decision was. The attachment parenting stuff is nice, and presented in a way that everyone can relate to. The Sears' know not everyone will go for the AP thing and present alot of options.
| 
