Baby: An Owner's Manual

Rating:
Summary: Not only bad advice, but possibly harmful to infants
Review: Dr. Zukow may have 30 years experience as a pediatrician, but he obviously has not bothered to learn anything new since then. He gives off-handed advice that flies in the face of what current research shows is healthiest and safest for babies. Some examples of his advice:

Put your baby to sleep on his stomach. He will sleep longer.

Formula feeding is healthier and preferable to breastfeeding.

It is a great idea to put babies in daycare, even if you are a stay-at-home mom. Yes, babies in daycare get more ear infections, but the trade-off (of more free time for mom) is worth it.

Starting solids as early as 4 weeks is fine.

Babies should never be allowed to feed on demand. It is too exhausting for parents. If a baby wants to eat sooner than every 3 hours, let him cry or give him sugar water.

No wonder this book was in the clearance section of my local book store! Needless to say it was returned very quickly.

Rating:
Summary: This book is now in the trash
Review: Granted, I bought this book clearance, but it definitely should not still be on sale. I recognised the advice contained to be incorrect and potentially dangerous, but what if this was the only book someone bought?

If you're looking for useful basic advice about babies try Roni Jay's Babies for Beginners (don't know if it's available in the US yet, but you can get it from Amazon UK) or the Baby Whisperer.

Rating:
Summary: Stick with Dr. Spock
Review: I found much of the advice in this book to be frightening. Dr. Zukow claims to be a "parent advocate" but I can't believe that parents are served by believing that their newborn child is "manipulating" them. It would be too easy for an uncertain new parent to misinterpret his advice about leaving the baby, putting the baby on a schedule, crying it out at night, returning to work, nursing, and just about everything else. I am concerned about parents who think their baby is manipulating them reacting with a backlash of neglect. And it's hard to believe there are currently published doctors who advise putting babies to sleep on their stomachs, in light of the reduction is SIDS since we started putting our babies to sleep on their backs.