Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: I loved this book! I was very disappointed to read all the bad reviews about this book. Both my husband and I read this book weekly and found it very informative. The only major difference I found in this book was weight and length at the beginning of each week was very different from my daughers actual size. But in week 1 this book states its growth changes are based on a baby weighing 7 pounds and 20 inches long at birth. My daughter was almost 9 pounds and 22.5 inches long at birth! If you can get past the fact that your babys weight and lengh might be different than what the book states this book is a must! It has a lot of great information on health, development and lots of ideas to help your baby learn through playing.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative, but nothing new...
Review: I purchased this book with many others during the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I was looking at narrowing down the list to those that gave me ALL the info I wanted to read about my new baby all wrapped up into one book. This one was very informative, but also very precise. Nothing above and beyond here. I would like to think that babies have a range of developing, but this book was very specific when refering to age and weight and height. I think that they should go by age, or size for development, but not both. I understand that you read within a range of your child, but this book was just very specific to name their chapters after a child's age and what they should weigh. Lastly, in my "what to expect" book there were many extras such as illness tips and help, and diet suggestions. I don't remember reading much else than the skinny on what my child should be doing (or may be doing) at such-and-such an age. I got more info in other books that I would reccomend instead of this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Great idea, terrible execution
Review: I thought this book sounded like a fun one, and I picked it up without reading too carefully. I figured it would be developmentally focussed and wouldn't contain too much opinion or misinformation on other matters.Boy, was I wrong. I almost didn't make it past the first chapter. As other reviewers have mentioned, the book contains serious misinformation about the care of uncircumcised boys -- retraction of the prepuce is painful, unncecessary, and can be dangerous. The opinion laden discussion of feeding and diapering (in a developmental book? Oh please!) was couched in "informational" terms, but was extremely biased in favour of disposable diapers and artificial baby milk. Having persevered, there is some interesting information here, but rather than pass this book along, I will be throwing it away.The misinformation far outweighs the good stuff -- all of which is available elsewhere. To pediatric writers: this concept is still wide open for development! Please?!?!
Rating:
Summary: Good all around book
Review: I thought this book was a very nice book to have to use as a reference & also just for fun. It states clearly in the book that your baby may be doing things sooner or later than the weeks that it talks about it in the book. However, it is still nice to have a bit of a reference. Especially for first time parents.
I've really enjoyed the book personally.
Rating:
Summary: Useful Guide for parent
Review: I thought this book was very handy and it gave you an idea of where you child is as far as his or her development. It gives suggestions on assisting with their development and is also an easy and organzized read.
Rating:
Summary: Great Overview Book
Review: I thought this was a great overview book. It gives enough information to understand the baby's development over the first year, yet is not overwhelming with detail. Great for new grandparents who are not up-to-date with the latest techniques for raising a baby. It is easy to read and understand, but should not be construed as a detailed medical guide to caring for a baby.
Rating: 
Summary: nervous first time mom
Review: I went to the bookstore to check out the different baby reference books. I have a couple, but they are only ok. My intention was to purchase the "What to Expect the First Year", but after looking and comparing the two, I chose this book. I am so glad I did. The information is laid out nicely and has a lot of great tips throughout. I was surprised to see some negative reviews because I love this book and it provides me with some confidence and reassurance as a first time mom. If I had read the reviews before I bought this book I wouldn't have purchased it, which would have been a mistake.
Rating:
Summary: I like this book a lot
Review: I wonder if some of the people who have criticized this book
actually own or have read it?? I have it and refer to it every
week. I have found it quite accurate (more than "what to expect") for what my baby is doing at a given age. There is also a disclaimer that every baby is different and develops at his/her own pace, so again I do not understand the criticism.
The information re: feeding and diapering is constantly given
for both breast/bottle and cloth/disposable. I really like to see what my baby should be doing/eating/sleeping/playing
each week and like the confirmation I get from this book as
my 5 month old daughter is consistantly displaying the behavior
discussed. Ignore the criticism, this is a great book for gifts, first time parents, and for anyone who wonders how what
their child is doing compares to "norms".
Rating:
Summary: For HORRIBLE advice it's a must read!
Review: I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone! Several of their recommendations are not only against the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization, they would be detrimental to the physical and emotional development of a baby. Examples:
1. They mention introducing foods to babies at 4 months
2. They suggest that at 5 months moms may want to switch the baby over from breastmilk to formula
3. They downplay breastfeeding throughout the book
4. They give the Ferber method as a way of training a baby to sleep
Not to mention they give ridiculous timetables for babies' development. I usually "recycle" books I read by selling them on amazon.com, giving them to libraries, or giving them to women's shelters, but in good conscience I can't let this book be read again, so it's going in the trash.
If you're looking for a good baby development book, read Penelope Leach's "Your Baby and Child"--it's wonderful and she gives solid advice and encouragement.
Rating:
Summary: Almost totally worthless
Review: I'm sure there is plenty of good, accurate information in this book. However, after reading some statements and passages which were blatantly wrong or very badly stated, I cannot give the rest of the book any real credibility. First and most importantly, the one piece of advice from this book which made me nearly swoon with shock and horror: The advice regarding uncircumcised boys to "gently retract the foreskin" to clean beneath it. As other reviewers have stated, this is out-and-out WRONG and could be dangerous to a baby! As any medical professional (at least one writing a book on baby care) SHOULD know by now, the foreskin is not MEANT to retract from the glans until the child is about 4-5 years old. Attempting to manually retract a baby's foreskin can lead to injury, including scar tissue which may eventually make circumcision medically necessary because the foreskin will no longer be able to retract on its own. Before encountering this absurdly terrible piece of advice, I had already become irritated by the "discussion" of disposable diapers vs. cloth, which at first glance appears to give a reasonable "pro vs. con" treatment but does no such thing and leaves one with the impression that there are NO cons to disposable diapers and NO pros to cloth diapers, which is inexplicable to me. Because of the destruction of its credibility with blatantly wrong advice, I will not be wasting any further time on this book, and in fact I will not even be attempting to sell it used - it's going to the trash where at least this copy won't spread any further damaging advice.
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