Rating: 
Summary: Yes Mother, he's a doctor
Review: The Baby Book is a God-send. When mothers and mothers in law express shock that your baby sleeps with you, and that you don't let that baby cry herself to sleep, you can simply refer them to Dr. Sears. The philosophy behind the advice stresses attachment and gives the reader permission to respond to their babies without feeling as though it's "spoiling" them. Sometimes it goes a bit too far in my opinion (something about a crib being like a prison cell), but I have appreciated having Dr. Sears' point of view. I use this book alongside Caring for Your Baby and Young Child : Birth to Age 5 by The American Academy of Pediatrics. The two together make up a balanced and comprehensive guide to parenting babies.
Rating: 
Summary: This Book Is Ruining Our Families
Review: This book is rubbish. Sleeplessness among new parents has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. because of the Sears' "attachment parenting" technique. Even in the workplace, it has become acceptable for dads to come in late or call in sick because they are suffering from a socially acceptable form of sleep deprivation. Attachment parenting is the reason so many millions of new parents don't get any sleep. This book is the reason why millions of eight-month olds are still waking up every two hours, and why millions of sleep-deprived moms meet in "moms groups" all over the country and on-line, groaning about how tired they are and how they just aren't enjoying being moms. This book is the reason why harmony is no longer part of the home when the baby enters the family. This book is bad for public health.Because of "attachment parenting", you can no longer eat in peace at a restaurant next to a family with a baby or toddler. The parenting technique described in this book is dangerous to children's social development and ultimately dangerous to society. In recent years people have begun to dislike being around other people's children or babies because children are such brats now, thanks to "attachment parenting". It's almost a given that if you have a baby you're getting no sleep, or if you have a toddler you cannot possibly bring him anywhere. This book explains exactly how to raise a spoiled, ungrateful, demanding brat who will never appreciate anything you've done for him. Please, please, PLEASE do not subscribe to the quackery in this book or any attachment parenting book. Read Babywise or any of James Dobson's books. The rhetoric in the Sears' book, with the exception of their pro-breastfeeding approach, is downright dangerous. I am a natural childbirth advocate, breastfeeding advocate, and cloth diaper advocate. I had a beautiful home birth, but I put my baby on a schedule right away and she is the most happy baby most people have ever seen. People can't believe it when they see her, and she has slept peacefully through the night since seven weeks. Our home is harmonious and filled with happiness. We do not need to have our precious daughter physically attached to us at all times to give her love and all the care she needs. Love for children is spiritual too, not just physical. She is loved and KNOWS she is loved, sleeping peacefully in her crib just down the hall, while my husband and I enjoy long nights of uninterrupted sleep. If you follow the advice in "The Baby Book", your life at home with baby will quickly become a living hell, and I can promise you that you won't want to have any more children. I'm sure William and Martha Sears had hired help. If you raise your kids this way, they will some day be sitting on a psychiatrist's couch at age 30 saying that their parents didn't give them any coping skills. If third world countries know best how to raise babies, why aren't they the leaders of the free world?
Rating: 
Summary: Babies Can Come With Instructions!
Review: I read this book cover to cover before the birth of my first child (I am now the mother of 3, and this book has become my constant companion!). I was very nervous about becoming a mother before the birth of my first - being responsible for another human life seemed so overwhelming. And this book really helped me to feel more knowledgeble, and more comfortable in my role as a mother. The reason I like this book so much, is that it is truly a comprehensive manual about your baby during the first two years of life. Dr. Sears, a pediatrician and father of EIGHT, has supplied all the medical details you could want in a baby care manual. There are entire chapters devoted to the developmental stages of infancy, at-a-glance charts to help you monitor your baby's progress, and many detailed explainations of symptoms, illnesses and treatments. (My personal favorite is a dosage chart for infant tylenol, which can save you a middle-of-the-night-call to your family doctor. I can't even count how many times I've used that!) The extremely detailed index of the book will help you find any topic quickly. And yet, this book goes far beyond simple growth charts and common illnesses. Dr. Sears will encourage you to trust your mothering instincts. He calls it "attachement parenting", which simply means developing a close bond with your baby, and responding to his or her needs. Dr. Sears' wife Martha also shares her personal thoughts and observations throughout the book. These "diary-type" segments often accompany the detailed medical explanaitons by Dr. Sears. This really helps to make the text personal. While Dr. Sears gives you the professional medical perspective, Martha follows right behind with personal stories using the conversational tone of a trusted friend and experienced mom. You will also find a wealth of information on: breastfeeding, discipline, sharing sleep with your baby, "wearing" your baby in a sling, ways for helping the "fussy" baby, nutrition, and special tips for fathers just to name a few of my favorite topics. I use this book so often that I no longer loan out my copy. The only thing I don't like about the book is that it has a paperback cover. My copy is so well used, it is showing significant wear. Also, it is very large - more than twice the size of any other baby/parenting book I've seen. That does make it awkward to read lying in bed, or to try and balance in your free hand as your feed your newborn. But I wouldn't want to edit out a single page of text - it's all valuable.
Rating:
Summary: Best advice on baby care I've read so far!
Review: This book has been a godsend to me as a first-time mother. It upholds all those instinctive feelings mothers have when, for example, they hear their baby's cry and yearn instantly to tend to the child rather than follow the worn-out advice to just let the baby "cry it out." Sears also disproves the theory that babies under the age of one year have the capacity to "manipulate" adults and points out that responsive, humane care of the small child can lead to the growth of an independent, well-adjusted child in good time. We've practiced many of Dr. Sears' recommended parenting tactics and find our child to be one of the most happy, well-adjusted and non-clingy babies we or anyone else has ever seen. She's constantly complimented on her wonderful demeanor and we attribute this in large part to the gentle, common-sensical advice of Dr. Sears. I read a lot of parenting and baby books before and after my daughter was born and this is by far the most comforting, reassuring, and useful one out there. I chucked the others in favor of Dr. Sears. His methods work!
Rating:
Summary: A comprehensive reference
Review: I bought this book shortly after my daughter was born (she just turned two). I have several other child-care books, but whenever I was curious about my daughter's behavior, or was worried about an illness, this book was consistently the first book I turned to. I found that it gave practical advice on how to deal with specific situations that range from diaper rash to biting, and everything in between. It is, admittedly, biased towards attachment parenting, but despite not being as into it as the Sears' are, I found the information about it useful. This is not a book for people who are anti-attachment, but you definitely don't have to be totally committed to it to find this book extremely interesting and useful. I particularly found the developmental stages chart helpful - I used it to figure out what activities I should be encouraging.
Rating:
Summary: Useful Tools for Parenting
Review: I agree with some of the other reviewers in that it is an excellent reference. You need to take what feels right to use,and disregard the rest. I did not ever think that the book was "preachy"...we don't cosleep with our baby (she was too much of a wiggleworm) although she had a bedside cosleeper for the first six months till she was ready for a crib....I didn't wear my baby much (because she was too much of a wiggleworm)..but she got to sleep the way she needed to, and the book gave good suggestions on how to accomplish that goal. That didn't involve a lot of sleep for the first three months for us, but some of the books out there on 'crying it out' just did'nt hit home with me - I never expected to have a "convenient child" or I never would have had one. This book also has excellent medical references and good how to's (it helped us identify croup so we could get our daughter to the ER). As with any reference book, take what you need to be the best parent to allow your child to thrive!
Rating: 
Summary: Be sure to pick and choose from this book
Review: This book has very good advice, but it can also lead you desperately astray. Much of the advice seems to come from a liberal view of parenting. One that may not fit with your personal beliefs. If that is the case, then don't listen to that section of the book. After four months of following this book closely, we realized that our son was beginning to manipulate us with his protest crying. We knew that he should have been sleeping better than he was. After several weeks of using advice from Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth our child was sleeping through the night. Following this book, he probably would not be sleeping through the night yet. In addition, by following this book we probably prolonged the crying that we had using Weissbluth's advice.
Rating:
Summary: A classic -- take from it what works for you.
Review: This classic and ground-breaking book is comprehensive and reassuring, although the tone can become a tad self-righteous. Take from it only what works for you -- and that having been said, there is a lot here to work with.
Rating:
Summary: Great reference for new parents
Review: You know...I read some of these other reviews and it makes me kindof mad...People are bad mouthing this book because it advocates "attachment"...So what if it does...What's wrong with being attached to your kid...More parents should be... What I use this book for is a reference...I am a first time parent and as such I am pretty much flying by the seat of my pants. So when my son, Arlo, had his first bout with diaherra I checked the book...It told me what I needed to do...My wife still wanted to go to the Dr, which we did, and guess what...He told us the same thing the book did...Same goes for our first 104 degree fever...And pretty much every other "emergency" we have had... It's nice to have a resource besides the ER at 4 o'clock in the morning when you have no idea what to do...There is some great stuff in this book, and this is the third copy I have purchased (the first was for us, the second for my niece due in June and this third is for my best friend who had a baby last week...) Buy this book..It will give you somewhere to turn in the middle of the night, and believe me you will need it!
Rating:
Summary: Best Book
Review: I read the book before delivery, and I reread the book after I had my baby. I had a very hard time breastfeeding for two months... this book helped so much with my problems with breastfeeding. Also, as a first time mom, I haven't yet needed to call my doctor for any questions since I can find the answers in this book. Finally I found a book written about what it feels natural to raise my baby.
| 
