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Summary: The ONLY book you need on parenting an infant
Review: As a first time mom, I reviewed a lot of books on babies. I received this book as a gift and it is absolutely the best gift I was given. I will give it to every friend that becomes pregnant. I love the compassionate approach to parenting an infant presented here. Although it is thick, it is easy to read and even with limited time, I have been able to finish it. I started reading this when my baby was 1 month old. Sure wish I had learned about it while pregnant! If you only read one book on babies - pick this one - you won't need any others!
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Summary: Excellent choice if you only buy one parenting book
Review: This book is a wealth of information. It advocates attachment parenting and gives helpful tips for the first time parent. An excellent source for those interested in attachment parenting but not sure if they agree with it. This text offers valuable insight into why babies should be picked up when they cry, worn frequently (in slings) and also why breastfeeding is so important. This book also offers valuable tips on how to "share sleep" and why this fosters parent/child harmony. I have read 4 books by these authors and have enjoyed all of them. I would recommend this book to the "expecting" or "experienced" parent. A breath of fresh air and an excellent argument against non-attachment parenting styles. (Ferber etc.) Read it! You won't regret it!
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Summary: Wish I Had it From the Get-Go
Review: It was amazing to me when I picked up this book and discovered that it confirmed that the way I intuitively wanted to parent was OKAY. In fact, it was natural and wonderful. I no longer had to worry about what the "experts" were saying (some contradicted my way of thinking entirely, which made me worry that I was doing the wrong things). I found support for my natural parenting style here, as well as a good reference for medical, developmental, and behavioral factors in my baby's upbringing. The practical nighttime amd baby-wearing tips are not in any other books I found and were very useful. I learned that if you know and bond with your baby, you will always know what he/she needs. This book helps teach you to bond with your baby. It is wonderful and will be the gift I give at every shower from now on!
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Summary: A Godsend for Parents of "Fussy" Babies
Review: This book has had a profound positive influence on our lives. When our first child was born, my husband and I were at our wit's end with this infant who always cried, always wanted to be held, never "just fell asleep" (had to be nursed and rocked), always refused a bottle (exclusively breastfed). I found myself, when he was only 1 month old, desperately searching parenting books for help. Into my life came The Baby Book. What revelations! Attachment parenting! Wear your baby! Sleep with your baby! Breastfeed your baby! These were all the things my baby insisted upon! And Dr. Sears said it was OK! I had been trying to make my infant fit into the mainstream parenting mold and he didn't fit. No doubt about it, without Dr. Sears' advice mother, father, and baby would have continued on a very unhappy course. With the guidance of this book, we have raised this high-needs baby to be a happy, well-adjusted child.
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Summary: The best baby book ever written.
Review: This book is clearly the best baby book ever written. The Sears are down to earth with their suggestions and practical advise. I would like to see every new parent get a copy of this book before their first child is born. The Baby Book is very helpful for parents and grandparents of children up until age 2 or so.
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Summary: It's my "Baby Bible"
Review: My copy is a hand me down from my sister-in-law, she has four children. I didn't receive it until after my daughter was born, and I feel as if I had it throughout my pregnancy a lot of my unanswered questions and concerns would have been addressed. It prepares you for breastfeeding, child/parent bonding, it gives you chapters of what's normal behvior in infants and toddlers and what's not, it even describes what type of breast pumps are out there and rates them( MY OPINION: get the Medula eletric pump, it's worth every penny. If you can't afford it, rent the hospital's it's the best hands down). The book has been with me from Louisiana to Hawaii and everywhere else we've traveled. Thank the good Lord for Dr. Sears and his wife Martha, because of their book we were able to diagnose my daughter's reflux. We immediately brought her to her pediatrian where she was hospitalized that very day. The information you receive in this book will educate you beyond what some doctors can or will offer you in office visits. In every situation that I have experienced with my daughter, whether it be questions about sleeping positions affecting her walking abilities, side effects and long term effects of immunizations, what signs to look for and steps for diagnosing alleregies, there's even a list of poisonous household and garden plants. There are too many subject matters to list! This is THE BEST GIFT YOU CAN GET FOR YOURSELF OR SOMEONE YOU LOVE! My daughter is now 15 months old and we will be using this book for a long time to come. It offers me CPR steps for infants and toddlers, a list of childhood illnesses,causes&symptoms, language development, and much more. It has provided me with contact numbers, and information I may have never received. As a mother, I feel Martha's opinions, ideas and antedotes are very comforting . We must remember though, as parents we all have our own way of doing things. Every piece of information that is offered, or pushed on you you do not have to take. Trust your instincts, asks lots of questions if you're uncertain, find a pediatrician who you trust and feel comfortable with, and most importantly give your children the most love you can. I feel that this book is in full support of all of these important things. It is up to you as a parent the amount of bonding, attention and care your child can or should receive. Don't feel guilty or pressured by anyone or anything to do something that is nor right for you or your family. This book offers a complete A-Z on what can or should be done for just about every situation, find what information works for you and use it. Get "The Baby Book," it will take a lot of the unknowns out of parenting and will allow you to focus on other things like enjoying your child!
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Summary: i wish every pregnant family received this book before birth
Review: this book reenforced my own opinions about taking care of my 5 month old daughter. i was a victim of those marketing guys selling baby devices, and i think that if you've felt uncomfortable with advice you've received, or even just been overwhelmed in a baby store shopping for your first baby, this book should help you. i really wish i had this book before my daughter was born, neither my doctor nor hers ever talked about different options for birth, or after. and i couldn't figure out that dang sling to carry her until now either! well, at least i didn't see the all the possibilities until i read the great chapter on "baby-wearing". this was as good if not better than "what to expect the first year" by eisenburg & co., and much easier for day-to-day living. this is really the way to parent!
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Summary: Proud To be an Attachment Parent
Review: When my high needs son was 5 months old, I was told about Dr. & Martha Sears by a friend. Thank Goodness! I was fighting myself constantly, my instincts were telling me to hold my baby, breastfeed him whenever he wanted, and not let him cry. But everything I had been told and read by mainstream society told me my instincts were wrong. I read The Baby Book, and was filled with relief and hope. I'd never heard the term High Needs before, but it described my son perfectly. Suddenly, I understood why my child wouldn't follow the standards set by society. And I could relax. My instincts were right on. This book was so helpful to me, helping me to trust myself and my child to communicate his needs to me. The information on devopment and illness is helpful, but I found the support for the mother/child or father/child attachment so much more important. For parents who want to have a strong, secure attachment to their child/ren, please buy this book. Contrary to popular opinion, APed babies and children are wonderfully well adjusted, and have respect for their fellow humans, something we can all agree is lacking in this society. My child is 19 months old now, and still breastfeeding, still family bedding. He is well adjusted, he plays well with other children, and has a very secure attachment to both his father and myself. He also knows his needs will be met, tantrums are few and far between, and he hardly ever cries. This does not mean he is spoiled, he understands he will not run into the street without either of us with him, he doesn't hit the dog, etc. He is the joy of our lives, a special happiness about him that I believe wholeheartedly would have been snuffed out by mainstream society parenting. Parents looking for an alternative should read this book. Learn to trust your instincts. Allow your child to be their own person. And most of all, respect them as individuals, not someone who should be forced to fit a mold that someone else poured for them.
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Summary: The Best Baby Book
Review: I just loved this book. I got it when my daughter was 4 months, and it was so great to read something that made sense of all the new problems I had. The Sears' offer lists of what to do when... I just go down the list, and something works. It affirmed my belief in breastfeeding and introduced me to co-sleeping and baby wearing. both of which worked wonders for my family It also contains great information on medical issues that arise with infants. As a first time mom I found this info to be invaluable. It lists symptoms, and you can look up what might be the cause. Then figure out how to solve the problem, or if you should call your doctor for help. I have also bought The Discipline Book, and The Family Nutrition Book by the Sears' Both great books.
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Summary: I like this book as a very general outline to parenting
Review: I am what I consider to be an attachment parent. I came to this style compeltly on my own, having never heard of it until my daughter was about a year old. I just natuarally fell into the AP guidelines. I think any childcare book 'should' most certainly be taken with a grain of salt and tempered with the parent's good sense and judgement and knowledge of their own child. I am also uneasy with the comments that this book is a 'bible' for parents and stuff. I enjoyed the book and follow many of the guidelines but I do not follow every single bit of advice given all the time. I think that many of the negative reviewers missed the whole point of the book, which is that the parents should do what they think is best. The book even says that some babies 'will' sleep better in a crib and that not every parent is going to follow every single one of his suggestions. C'mon parents, use a little common sense. No place in this book in there an assertion that 'every single' thing Sears says is law. FWIW, I also have problems with his lack of real studies and his lack of objective info on vaccinations. A reader wrote: Reviewer: A reader from CALIFORNIA << Formula is an "experiment"! >> Yes, formula has only been in use for 200 years of the tens of thousands of years of human exsistance. The ultimite effects of formula are still not known. Thus, it is an 'experiement' of sorts. << Guess what Bill & Martha, NOT EVERYONE is capable of breastfeeding! >> They do realize that about 2% of women cannot breastfeed, thus the suggestions on bottlefeeding and bonding. << Nurturing & love come from the heart, not from the breast or the bottle! >> Actually, a certain reflexive anamalistic form of nurturing and love comes from the part of your brain that releases prolactin and oxytocin when the baby suckles at the breast. This instinctive form of attachement is in fact impossible for bottlefeeding mothers to achieve. I think that your opinion of this book is based on your own feelings of guilt and insecurity about not having breastfed your child. Perhaps if you become less defensive about it you will be able to read this book with a little bit more objectivity.
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