Customer Reviews

The Attachment Parenting Book : A Commonsense Guide to Understanding and Nurturing Your Baby

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I really enjoy this book! I had never heard of attachment parenting until I ran across other Sears books on Amazon. I hesitated to buy it because some of the other Sears books had very mixed reviews and some readers felt that the Searses were biased in favor of the traditional stay at home Mom/co-sleeping/breastfeeding model of parenting. That is basically what I have been doing with my third baby (a three month old-- and the brother to a 15 year old and 22 year old!)but didn't know that I was following a parenting model. I have actually been unknowingly practicing some form of attachment parenting with all three of my boys, especially with the last two. A few reviewers of Dr. Sears books with similar subject content express feeling that the bias disregards all other parenting styles and insinuates that working mothers are not giving their all to their children. Reading the book carefully, I found this simply to be untrue. The authors are describing a model of parenting that applies to parents with many different circumstances. It is clearly expressed in the book that attachment parenting is an excellent parenting style for working mothers as well as the traditional stay at home Mom. It is strongly advised that breastfeeding is best for baby all around and that it deepens the mother-child bond. I believe that mothers should choose what is comfortable for them, but I personally have experienced a deeper bond with my second child whom I breastfed much longer that I did my first child. The principles here are flexible and flexibility is at the core of parenting. I don't find much bias in the book, and there are some wonderful ideas on how to deal with all personality types of babies. It is a good book all around, and I think a reader can take the best it has to offer and implement that with the best of other books by different authors. I am pleased with this book and would advise readers to consider it with an open mind and an open heart.

A good concise book, but you can find most of the same material in the Attachment Parenting chapter in Sears' The Baby Book, a much more comprehensive book of the same price.

This book was GREAT! I wish I would have purchased this before having the baby. Instead I purchased it 3 months after having the baby after I had read a lot of other nonsense from other "experts". This book really made a lot of sense in that it treats having a baby/child more like a LIFESTYLE (which having children is a change in lifestyle). The other books I read seemed to be treating the baby like a nuisance or inconvenience rather than a human life. This book really helped me to relax and get away from the idea of schedule or routine with the baby and go more with the flow of treating the baby like a person with her own needs rather than a dog to train to be on a schedule.

When I received this book after ordering it from Amazon.com, I was shocked at what a small, thin book it is. This book is really more like the size of a booklet or as one previous reviewer said, it is more like just a rehash of a single chapter from his bigger books. I didn't learn anything new from it that I hadn't already read in "The Baby Book" and his other books. I feel like Dr. Sears is trying to wring every last penny out of parents by repackaging his previous book *chapters* into book after book after book. I got much more out of 'Attachment Parenting' by Katy Alison Granju. It is the book I give as a baby gift to every pregnant friend and new parent.

I have just one thing to say. I wish all mainstream parents out there would read this book if for nothing else than to learn that there *are* other parenting tools and methods out there other than yelling and letting kids cry themselves to sleep and "sleep training". There are gentler, more respectful ways to parent and theis books touches on them all. Love it.

Thank you Dr. Sears! Attachment parenting has been around since the beginning of time, but we have Dr Sears to thank for bringing it to the forefront of discussion with the many books he has published, which all rally around the belief in AP. This is a must-read for first-time moms, as well as a great book for moms with children. With how our society pushes mothers to create independence in our children from the second they are born, telling us if we don't they will be clingy, whiny brats with the inability to allow us mothers to go on with our own independent lives, Dr. Sears brings us back to the importance of holding, loving and nursing our children, impressing upon us how these are CHILDREN who NEED their parents. I've read this book and now purchased it as a babyshower gift.

I've read this, as well as other Dr. Sears books, and have been a firm follower in AP (all mothers do it to an extent). My daughter has slept in our bed since she came home from the hospital (which I said I'd never do), she was breastfed until 2 1/2 (which I said I'd do for only a year) and she has been carried every chance she had. As a result (at 3 1/2), she is one of the most independent, self-disciplined, empathetic, funny and well-behaved children you will ever meet. Please go on and read Dr. Sears' books on discipline and raising a succesful child. My success as a parent has been due to Dr. Sears sharing his philsophy that "discipline" means much more than "punishment".

All I've really done is follow my instincts. However, Dr. Sears helped me to put some of my instincts to action and helped me to understand why some of the parenting advice out there, that went against my mothering instincts, was not the right option. My friends who formula fed, let their children cry it out in their cribs and spank couldn't understand why their children where having throw-down kicking and screaming fits by the time they were two. Afterall, those are practices that society tells us is best. These mothers didn't realize they weren't listening to their children. Thank you Drs. Sears!

I found The Attachment Parenting Book by Dr. and Martha Sears to be an outstanding resource, both for myself and for the "grandparents", who are a little critical of our parenting style! The tone is not at all judgemental, so that you feel comfortable taking the ideas that you like and leaving those who don't work for you, even though a convincing case is made, in my opinion, for breastfeeding, babywearing, sleep sharing and responding to baby's cries. Clearly and concisely written, this book is a must-read for all new parents, especially those interested in attachment parenting.

This book gave my husband and I the confidence to follow our hearts rather than the well-meaning albeit but misguided advice of friends and family. Prior to the birth of our son I whole heartedly agree with "crying it out" and other methods touted by baby trainers. However after his birth, we quickly realized that we could not use such heartless methods and began looking at attachment parenting. Dr. Sears encourages parents to trust their instincts which often have a biological basis. This book changed my perspective about babies and parenting. I am so glad that I read this book early on. If you are a new parent or parent-to-be I encourage to read this book and visit Dr. Sear's website (askdrsears.com).

I bought this book when I started to learn about "babywearing" your baby in a sling. I have a preterm, high-need infant that was constantly crying unless she was held (if she was held she was perfect). I didn't mind holding her all the time, but I needed to get other things done as well. She wasn't gaining weight properly due to excessive calorie loss from crying, thus started the baby wearing. I must mention that she is breasfed and also sleeps with me (hubby sleeps separatly for now) and that I'm a stay at home mom. This book encourages a very hands-on type of parenting, and I can imagine that it's not for everyone (though it should be)! Dr. Sears really understands infants needs from a physiological as well as psychological point of view, and all his reasonings made perfect sense to me. When I bought the book I was already using most of the tools he recommends for this type of parenting out of instinct, and this book provided validation to me that I was doing things "right". I had met with a lot of negative input from various family members about 'spoiling' and 'crying it out' neither of which I could really agree with. If you believe in crying it out, this book is not for you! However if you yearn for a deep connection and very strong bond with your baby I strongly recommend this book both as a mother and a nurse. My 31 week preterm baby has now gained an appropriate amount of weight and is a totally different baby from when I brought her home after a two month hospital stay and I attribute this to reading (then implementing) Attachment Parenting.

I really enjoyed reading The Attachment Parenting Book. I found it full of useful information for how to handle the first few months of my baby's life. Although I don't necessarily agree 100% with everything in the book, I found the information presented to be quite convincing and written in a way that let's you come to your own conclusions about what is best for your baby. Mrs. Sears does a great job of making you feel like you are the best judge of your baby's needs and gives you confidence to trust your insticts as mother (and father).
I recommend this book to any parent to be (or parent of a newborn).