Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Excellent and Incredible, is how me and my wife would sum this book up. Absolutely hands down the best book we found for new expecting parents. An excellent reference book and very thorough on many subjects. The pictures and explanations are clear and conscise and turns you from being nervous or unsure about how to handle your new child, to giving you the utmost confidence, although of course your family and friends who already have kids would be an excellent reference too, with this book you will seem like you raised several children already! All i can say is it is a delight and we love it and know any other new parents or new parents to be would be ecstatic with it, worth every penny and its weight in gold for what it will show and teach you.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect for first time parents!
Review: For all of you first time parents ... this is the best book because of all of the illustrations. And it explains the photographs. If you don't have much experience with babies this is perfect for you. My husband and I used this book repeatedly the first 9 months of my daughters life. It gave us comfort knowing that we were doing things the right way and keeping our baby safe and comfortable. This is a must have book for new parents! My sister gave it to me as a gift because this is the book she used with her first child too.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST FOR 1ST TIME PARENTS!!!!!
Review: My bestfriend gave me this book while I was pregnant with twins. My girls are almost 2 years old now and I still refer to it. It covers everything from illness to injury, including sleep patterns and feeding guidelines and suggestions. This book helps with every aspect of pregnancy, childbirth and after. However I think my slightly older version is better than the newer printing. The copy I have is basically the same except the pregnant lady is easier to relate to than the model/blonde they have in there now. I hope the publishers consider going back to the brunette version. But either way this is a wonderful book that every 1st time parent should have. It makes an excellent gift.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST for parents
Review: My husband bought this book for me for Christmas when I was pregnant with our first...she is almost 10. Our book literally FELL APART! As we went through subsequent pregnancies our older children loved looking through the book to see "how big is the baby now?" It was great right at the beginning...the book explains that the baby is the size of a seed...then a grape...then a strawberry...perfect for young minds to comprehend. We still find the first aid and illness section helpful. The photos are just what you need when you are looking at a rash at 2am and wondering what to do. I am buying another copy right now for some friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Essential for inexperienced parents!
Review: The overall content of The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Pregnancy and Baby Care is fundamental, and contains essential advice for inexperienced parents. It includes step-by-step instructions on the basics: how to dress your baby, bath your baby, change your baby's diaper and so forth. Beautiful photographs accompany the step-by-step instructions, which are helpful. The book is compiled into three chapters: Pregnancy and Birth, Baby Care, and Health Care. The chapter on Pregnancy and Birth incorporates valuable information even for the second or third time mother, which in my opinion is the best part of this book. The photographs are apropos, and modest considering the subjects, which are more valuable than line drawings. I found the Baby Care chapter annoying. For the most part these types of books are not read from cover to cover. They are used as reference guides, and are generally consulted when a question or problem arises. This chapter covers topics such as feeding, and sleeping, which are major subjects when it comes to caring for an infant. This chapter organizes each topic in its entirety rather than dividing the text by age. It is considerably more efficient to reference a book such as this by age, as one continues to read all that apply to that particular age group, rather than jumping around as this book does. Moreover, growth and developmental milestones vary by age. For more in-depth guidance on feeding and sleeping, I found Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, by Tracy Hogg and Babywise, by Gary Ezzo to be invaluable.
The Health Care chapter is handy, but I discovered Caring for Your Baby & Young Child : Birth to Age 5, by the American Academy of Pediatrics to be more comprehensive on the health care subject, although the photographs in the Good Housekeeping book are impressive. Some of the information in this book is outdated, Copyright 1990, and not all of the advice is recommend by the American Academy of Pediatrics. This is not a "complete" guide as suggested in the editorial. There are no growth and developmental markers, guidelines on cognitive development, or discussions on attachment parenting to name a few. I am a first-time mother and forgot I had this book because it was so basic that I did not give it a second thought. I just came across it as I was searching my library for advice on disciplining now that my son is 11 months old. I recommend this book for neophyte parents who have never been exposed to babies, whatsoever.
Rating:
Summary: Essential for inexperienced parents!
Review: The overall content of The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Pregnancy and Baby Care is fundamental, and contains essential advice for inexperienced parents. It includes step-by-step instructions on the basics: how to dress your baby, bath your baby, change your baby's diaper and so forth. Beautiful photographs accompany the step-by-step instructions, which are helpful. The book is compiled into three chapters: Pregnancy and Birth, Baby Care, and Health Care. The chapter on Pregnancy and Birth incorporates valuable information even for the second or third time mother, which in my opinion is the best part of this book. The photographs are apropos, and modest considering the subjects, which are more valuable than line drawings. I found the Baby Care chapter annoying. For the most part these types of books are not read from cover to cover. They are used as reference guides, and are generally consulted when a question or problem arises. This chapter covers topics such as feeding, and sleeping, which are major subjects when it comes to caring for an infant. This chapter organizes each topic in its entirety rather than dividing the text by age. It is considerably more efficient to reference a book such as this by age, as one continues to read all that apply to that particular age group, rather than jumping around as this book does. Moreover, growth and developmental milestones vary by age. For more in-depth guidance on feeding and sleeping, I found Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, by Tracy Hogg and Babywise, by Gary Ezzo to be invaluable.
The Health Care chapter is handy, but I discovered Caring for Your Baby & Young Child : Birth to Age 5, by the American Academy of Pediatrics to be more comprehensive on the health care subject, although the photographs in the Good Housekeeping book are impressive. Some of the information in this book is outdated, Copyright 1990, and not all of the advice is recommend by the American Academy of Pediatrics. This is not a "complete" guide as suggested in the editorial. There are no growth and developmental markers, guidelines on cognitive development, or discussions on attachment parenting to name a few. I am a first-time mother and forgot I had this book because it was so basic that I did not give it a second thought. I just came across it as I was searching my library for advice on disciplining now that my son is 11 months old. I recommend this book for neophyte parents who have never been exposed to babies, whatsoever.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Text Fabulous Pictures
Review: This book has everything you need to know about pregnancy and baby care. It is precise and Consice and gives you practical information and doable tips!
This book has been my guide during all nine months of pregnancy and continues to be so in raising my baby.
I wouldn't trade it with any other book!
Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous pictures -- Painful text!
Review: This is not a book for parents interested in Attachment Parenting. Statements such as babies cannot be breast-fed immediately after birth, don't allow the baby in your bed, and the gut-wrenching "cry-it-out" philosophy all made me cringe. Beautiful pictures throughout however, showing step-by-step instructions for tasks of daily care (bathing, dressing) as well as excellent first-aid and illness section. However, they show month-by-month pictures of a pregnant woman -- she gains 26 pounds, perfect clear skin, no stretch marks, no cellulite, in short, perfect. Hard to live up to in real life. As a Registered Nurse I would recommend the pictures and health care section, especially for new parents. Very helpful. But don't read the text! The Sears Parenting books are so much better. Trust your instincts!
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous pictures -- Painful text!
Review: This is not a book for parents interested in Attachment Parenting. Statements such as babies cannot be breast-fed immediately after birth, don't allow the baby in your bed, and the gut-wrenching "cry-it-out" philosophy all made me cringe. Beautiful pictures throughout however, showing step-by-step instructions for tasks of daily care (bathing, dressing) as well as excellent first-aid and illness section. However, they show month-by-month pictures of a pregnant woman -- she gains 26 pounds, perfect clear skin, no stretch marks, no cellulite, in short, perfect. Hard to live up to in real life. As a Registered Nurse I would recommend the pictures and health care section, especially for new parents. Very helpful. But don't read the text! The Sears Parenting books are so much better. Trust your instincts!
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Book for First-Time Parents
Review: This is one of many pregnancy and baby books I have bought, and it's definitely one of my favorites. My husband and I are going to start trying to have a baby (our first) in about 5 months, so I'm reading all I possibly can right now. I've never been around infants, and I know absolutely nothing about how to take care of them. (I know- it's a scary thought me wanting to have one!!!) But this book has given me a lot of confidence, mainly because it's so detailed.
My favorite part of the book is the section on baby care- detailed steps of how to change a diaper, how to bathe the baby, how to dress the baby, etc. with very helpful (and beautiful) pictures. The section on pregnancy actually isn't very helpful- not very many details about the developing baby or changes in the mother; but it does give a basic overview and again, the pictures are beautiful. However, it does contain an excellent section on nutrition- spelling out (and showing) exactly what foods have what necessary nutrients for the pregnant woman, which I found very helpful. There's also a section on what to expect at each prenatal doctor's visit, which is very interesting.
All in all, this is a wonderful book with lots of good information and adorable pictures. If this isn't going to be your first baby, I don't think this book will be very helpful to you because you obviously know first-hand how to care for a baby already! However, it might be a good book for older siblings to look at (maybe age 10 and over)- so they can know what changes to expect and how they can help with the new baby. (There are pictures of the mother's naked body as it changes each month and of how to use a breast pump, so use discretion.) If you are expecting your first (or planning to be expecting soon, like me!!!) this book will be very helpful in teaching you the basics of caring for your baby.
P.S. My husband hasn't read any of my pregnancy/baby books, but he too liked the pictures in this one.
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