I live in a town where we only have family physicians, no peditricians. The information in this book with regards to developmental milestones (which they are very careful to note are only guidelines with a wide range of what's normal), nursing (of which they are very supportive), how and when to start feeding solid foods, disciplining baby with heart, medical and first aid guidelines, stimulating baby to encourage development, and other areas is excellent. This book has been a real lifeline in the absense of a good pediatrician. As an overall guide, this book is truly outstanding and has been my main reference book. Additionally, there is excellent information dealing with premature infants, babies with special needs, postpartum depression, and sibbling issues, as well as other areas.

Do the authors have definite opinions on controversial issues in baby care? Yes, but they do present thorough reasoning and facts in support of their positions. And if you don't agree, you can find information that supports your position on these issues! I am well-read and quite opinionated myself, but I found the book logical and not overburdened with propoganda. It is easy to read, well-organized, and thorough. This book could easily be your only guide for parenting in the first year of your child's life, although it makes no claim to be the definitive book on baby care. Obviously, I recommend it at least as a good addition to your library of books on the subject.


Not for new-age coddlers.   July 23, 2001
 28 out of 39 found this review helpful

.... My wife and I are first-time parents, and we had several parenting guides to use during our baby's first year. This book became our primary reference, because we found the advice to be sensible, well-organized, easy to understand, and ultimately, true to life. Fact: babies sometime stop crying on their own if they are not immediately swept up into the loving busoms of their mothers. Ours did. And when she didn't, we soon went to her and consoled her. The result of all this "abuse" is that she's a healthy, loving, intelligent 15-month old.

If you're an overprotective milquetoast who thinks that any parent who would leave a child to cry for more than 10 seconds is some sort of ogre, by all means, do not bother with this barbaric book. If you think that any effort to try to shape a baby's behavior is per se child abuse, then steer clear of this horrific tripe.

If, however, you give your baby a little more credit, and if you also believe that you're capable of realizing that all written advice on parenting should be applied sensibly to your own situation, this book is an invaluable and easy-to-understand resource.


No reassurance here, part 3   January 2, 2004
 24 out of 43 found this review helpful

For some reason, some parents apparently don't understand that the baby is a part of the family, and in the 9th month, they wonder when the baby should eat with the family. What message are you giving the baby when she has to eat alone and not with the family? Yes, it might be difficult to "spoonfeed" the baby, but really, most babies are ready to start eating when they start self-feeding. Spoonfeeding is a holdover from the days of incomplete infant formulas- parents had to add solids to the baby's diet in order to ensure that she was getting decent nutrition. A breastfed baby will wisely skip spoonfeeding. Security *objects* are discussed with little worry- where there should be. Again, these are baby humans and they need *human* contact, not the substitute contact of a blanket or a bear. If a child is overly attached to a "thing", she would probably benefit from more time with her loved caregivers. When the baby is distracted at nursing, at this young age, it is suggested that the baby may be weaning. This is absolutely untrue; it is a nursing strike. Instead of telling mothers that her milk may taste bad, or that the baby's nutritional needs might be changing, mothers need to be told to contact a support person or group like La Leche League and get help getting the baby back on the breast. (www.lalecheleague.org). Weaning from the breast before a baby is one year old is counter to the AAP statement on the Use of Human Milk and is "premature weaning". If the baby is just distracted a little, make sure you take time to sit in a quiet room every day and nurse. Co-sleeping with it's attendant nightnursing are good ways to prevent premature weaning.

In the 10th month, we are really, really PUSHED into considering weaning, with more than 2 pages of how to accomplish this. Again, babies don't need or want to be weaned this early. Encouragement for long term nursing would be a lot more helpful to most mothers and babies. We learn that some babies bang their head on the wall or crib and are assured that this is normal. Again, this is NOT normal. Family bedded children never engage in this pathological behaviour because they don't need to. They are well stimulated by the love of their family nearby. Thinking about those poor babies, craving stimulation or endorphins by headbanging makes me physically ill. It shouldn't happen. The section on "discipline" is pretty unnecessary when entire good books have been written on the subject. I would read "The Discipline Book" by Wm and Martha Sears instead, later reading any of the Faber and Mazlish, or Mary Sheedy Kurchinka's books.

To celebrate the 11th month of our babies life, we are just told how to wean our babies, no "ifs and or buts". Just wean them. No reason why. Poor babies. Many moms continue to nurse happily after the first year passes, and when they hit this chapter, they realize that their baby is just a baby and still needs mother's milk. It breaks my heart to think there are mothers, fathers and pediatricians who think that weaning has to happen at this very young age. Sadly, the box on "raising a healthy heart" forgets to mention that breastfeeding is crucial in maintaining heart, and every other organ's health.

The 12th month assumes that weaning has happened and devotes a lot of ink to how to feed the baby who is now missing the most nutritious food that should have been available to her. It's asking a lot of a mother to wean the baby to worry about diet- I knew my babies were getting sound nutrition from my milk at that age, and my life was easier because of it.

This really isn't a book that mothers should be encouraged to read, and I am puzzled as to its popularity. In part, I think it's because many medical model obstetricians give the pregnancy version away to their pregnant patients, thereby endorsing the entire series. Bookstores order huge quantities of them, likely due to pricing structures. When women see the huge stacks of the books, they just "know" it's a good book so they buy it. Once it's purchased, parenting is made to seem so easy, if you just do things as the book says. OTOH, I see many of these books in thrift stores and at garage sales that appear unread, so maybe women realize that the book is pretty useless. Parents, please rely on your intuition and books that empower you like "The Baby Book" by the Sears or Katie Allison Granju's "Attachment Parenting". Don't fuel the multi-million dollar baby "thing" industry. Instead, spend time with your baby, breastfeed them and don't buy into training them to be little consumers instead of loving, caring humans!


Poor organization & dated material   May 22, 2000
 22 out of 25 found this review helpful

This book, unfortunately, is not the same quality as "What to Expect when You're Expecting". The information is okay but it has not been thoroughly updated. (Example: the current breastfeeding recommendation is 12 months, but the book says 6 months.) Moreover, it uses the month-by-month organization that the previous "What to Expect" book did. The month-by-month organization does not work when following baby's development. There is too much variability. For example, some babies will start crawling by the 4th or 5th month. Mine was almost 8 months old before she started. Example #2: Solids are covered in the 4th month chapter, however, you can start as late as 6 months.

As a result, I had to consult several chapters to get all the information on a particular subject (sleeping problems, for example). Then I had to mark the pages so I could find it again later. Sometimes I could not find what I was looking for until after a lengthy search. (Let's see, would that be in the 2nd month or the 4th? Hmmm...not here...which chapter could it be?)

It wasn't long before I looked for a new baby book. I've found "The Baby Book" by Sears & Sears to be excellent. The information is well-organized, quite current, and quite thorough. It is organized more by subject than by month, but it still has a list of suggested milestones for each month. There's also plenty of suggestions and real-life examples as experienced by the Sears and by their patients. I use it all the time and I haven't gone back to the "What to Expect the First Year" book even once!