Rating: Summary: Nice intro Review: This is a nice introduction to attachment parenting and it gives you lots of resources to refer to. It does have a tendency to sound preachy and simplistic, though. But it is worthwhile to have in your library.
Rating: Summary: One of the best!! Review: I have a Masters degree in psychology, and have read over 80 books on parenting, children, and babies, and this is in my top three. It gives such valuable insight into many parenting practices. It provides the reader with some ideas for interacting with your child in a loving, caring, and respectful way. A way that will enable your child to develop into a wonderful human being, with healthy attachments and relationships. How many of you wish you had a better relationship with your parents? Give this book a read, and maybe you can have a better relationship with your own children.
Rating: Summary: Thank you for giving us permission to follow our instincts Review: As new parents, we were baffled by the rules and regulations regarding feeding and sleeping our beautiful baby girl. The barbaric advice we were given in relation to 'crying it out' and 4 hourly feeds (even if you have to wake the baby!) set us off to a horror start.Attachment parenting is a lot more work. But lets face it, if a parent wants to hear the patter of a little, soft, trained and convenient addition to the family, they should buy a dog. The absolutely euphoric feeling I received when, as the dad, I watched my baby play on our bed and drift off to sleep without so much as a wimper, makes me believe everyone should give it a go. Prior to this, I was looking at months of night wakings and rocking/walking the baby to sleep. No wonder all the new parents are shell shocked and suffering chronic fatigue. Just buy the book!
Rating: Summary: Much on advice for very narrow situations. Review: I'm not quite an attachment parent. This has never bothered me. My younger child cannot sleep with anyone touching her (the very same way that her father can't sleep with anyone touching him). My older child was formula fed. But I'm more or less an AP parent, and when I started running into situations I couldn't figure out, I bought this book. It was useless. Utterly and completely useless. It wasn't bad, and it would provide good perspective and some ideas for an expectant mother -- one that didn't want to work (the section on being a "working attachment parent" was pathetic), one that had plenty of support for breastfeeding and cosleeping, et cetera. I came to this book when my daughter was eleven months old and refusing to nurse at all, well beyond the nursing strike stage. I flipped through, hoping for some ideas on how to make formula feeding work with her yet still retain the affection that had always dominated our nursing sessions. Not one word on use of formula was written, unless it was to advise me I may as well be pouring rat poison down my daughter's throat. The book was far too preachy on the value of breastmilk, and breastmilk is great, but with well over 80% of American infants weaned by six months of age, you'd think it would occur to the author that a loving respectful formula feeding relationship may need to be addressed at one point or another. I continued flipping on through. Why I should never put my child in a "baby cage" (in English, a crib). Why I should never let my child have a bottle (which shows right there what happened to the "working attachment parent" section). Why I should never put my child in a stroller. This is great for preachiness, but as for actual parents who run across these situations, they are Anathema. There is no excuse for allowing your child <gasp> to sleep anywhere but with you! Or worse, allowing an artifical nipple in your baby's mouth, ever, even if you're pumping breastmilk so you can go back to work and support this baby and yourself! The horror! The author needs a grip on reality and some advice for integrating actualities of modern living into parenting for the 95% of us in the world that do not insist on perfectionism for our children. Like Sears & Sears, Mothering magazine, and many others, the self-congratulatory tone of "I did this and look how well MY children turned out" dominates, and actual useful advice to raise children with in the event that everything does not go perfectly is conspicuously absent. By nearly any standard -- babywearing, cosleeping (which did work with my older daughter), breastfeeding (until 11 months, anyway), et cetera, I'm an attachment parent. But good luck to all potential AP people out there who intend to integrate reality with parenting, because I have yet to see the book where the authors will actually offer useful advice unless everything goes Just Perfectly and On Schedule.
Rating: Summary: An Appendix to Dr. Sears' "The Baby Book" Review: This book tries very hard to convince the reader that "attachment parenting" is the best way to take care of your infant. This dogmatism proves to be somewhat problematic for both those sold on "attachment parenting" and for those who are unsure if such an approach is appropriate for them. On the one hand, this book rehashes a lot of information that William Sears has already championed in his many books (with "The Baby Book" being the best all-in-one reference) but with a more fervent tone. In fact, this book makes very frequent references to Dr. Sears' many books. For example, in discussing the art of using a baby sling, this book refers the reader to diagrams in "The Baby Book". However, this book does add a modern touch, with plenty of references to other resources at the end of every section, including web resources. Also, the authors refer quite often to evidence or research to back their recommendations, although these references frequently are not properly footnoted. Overall, this is an information-dense book. On the other hand, those who are undecided on "attachment parenting" will likely be turned off by the defensive hard-sell tone. The authors take a much less tolerant view of any other approach, which is slightly ironic considering the "trust your instincts" message which is at the center of "attachment parenting". For example, in the section on breast-feeding versus formula feeding, the authors dutifully cite the enormous evidence regarding the benefits of breast feeding. When it comes to bottle feeding (whether with formula or with pumped breast milk), the authors take a very intolerant stance, virtually discounting all possible reasons to opt for bottle feeding except for medical conditions. If the father feels a little left out, the book only supplies ways for the father to deal with it. Dr. Sears, by contrast, acknowledges the benefits of bottle feeding, including an opportunity for the father to bond during feeding, but gently urges breast feeding. This softer sell is undoubtedly more palatable for the undecided parent. For the die-hard attachment parent, this book will find a nice home next to any of Dr. Sears' books. For the casual or undecided, Dr. Sears' "The Baby Book" remains the single-volume must-have.
Rating: Summary: Good subject matter, but preachy and lacking originality Review: I really wanted to like this book. I was already an attachment parent before reading the book, and hoped it would be a good book for me to recommend to new mothers (and maybe even learn something new myself). But while I already had read a lot of attachment parenting literature and didn't expect to learn many new things, almost everything in the book was a rehash of materials already published by Dr. Sears, La Leche League, and others. In addition, I found it to be so preachy and judgmental that it was a turn off. As someone already converted to attachment parenting, if I found it too preachy, I definitely wouldn't want to recommend it to a skeptic. I'm giving it two stars just because I'm happy to have more books on the market about the subject, but this is not among the best.
Rating: Summary: amazing. Review: I recommend this for any parent waiting for their baby to be born or even parents of a new baby. This book helped me to shape how I chose to parent my baby, and how not too. I learned so much and the book really made me think. It is also a quick, easy to read book. Every pregnant girlfriend will get a copy of this book ... it's just that good.
Rating: Summary: Best parenting book I've ever read...and I've read a lot!! Review: I absolutely LOVED this book...and highly recommend it to everyone! I wish I'd read it before my first child. I bought a bunch of books on attachment parenting after I found out that's what my parenting style is now called. This one was, by far, my favorite because it covered all of the topics in depth, and was a very easy read. I finished it in 2 nights. I think this book, along with "The Continuum Concept," should be required reading for ALL humans...not just parents! There were parts of both books that made me cry when I thought back at how I allowed my daughter to cry as a baby because I'd been told I would spoil her if I picked her up every time she cried. This book allows you to see things from the baby's point of view. There's even a quote in the book, from an old man who was nursed as a toddler, and could remember with great clarity, the comfort and security and love he felt when his mother carried him in her sling and nursed him on demand. I hope my son can carry the same blissful memories with him for a lifetime. It gave me the reassurance that my parenting instincts are WAY more important than a lot of the "expert" advice floating around out there!! After reading this book, and mothering my son the way I instinctively knew I should, I now have a beautiful, healthy, 10 month old son who amazes all who meet him by how secure, content, and happy he seems to be...not just on occassion, but ALL THE TIME...thanks, IN NO SMALL PART, to the ideas presented in this book. Love those babies!! Co-sleeping, nursing on demand, babywearing, child-led weaning...all are the way to go! I not only recommend that you buy and read this book for yourself, but suggest that you buy at least one extra. As I guarantee you'll want to give one to a friend!
Rating: Summary: What a great book!!! Review: I read this book when my daughter was about 10 months old, the only thing I was disappointed about was that I didn't read it a lot sooner. Essentially, the book included a lot of what we were already doing, but after reading this book I didn't have to feel guilty about our atteachment style of parenting. Most people frown at you when you let it slip out that you sleep with your baby, or never let them "cry it out". After reading this book I realized the way we were parenting actaully had a name, and what we were doing was good for our baby and family! It reassured me that it is OK to go with my instinct, and that way of parenting is sure a whole lot easier than doing something that doesn't seem natural! I recommend this book to all new parents and grandparents. It's the antidote for that awful Babywise book!
Rating: Summary: A superb book - brilliantly written! Review: I honestly believe that this is one of the best parenting books in existence. It gives more information than anyone can absorb in a single reading, and all of it is important. There isn't anything about this book that I dislike. I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Ms. Granju at a conference, and she was just as wonderful as her book. The book starts out with a chapter explaining what attachment parenting is: Bonding with your baby, breastfeeding, responding to your baby's cues, sleeping with and carrying your baby, and respecting your baby as an individual. There is a chapter on preparing for your baby's arrival - what items you will really need, which ones you can probably live without, and planning to breastfeed. There are also chapters on why you should choose breastfeeding over bottle-feeding, all of the reasons why breastfeeding is so important, how and why you should consider sleeping with your baby, "The Working Parent's Guide to Attachment Parenting", why you should carry your baby, and much much more. Each chapter of this book includes a section with resources - other books you can read, organizations you can contact, and websites and mailing lists you can join. I found these resources very helpful and wish all books were so complete. Granju includes quotes from real families who AP, comparisons of parenting styles in different cultures, and lots of supporting medical references. This book is worth every penny and makes a great gift for new or expecting parents.
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