Customer Reviews

Baby and Child Care Handbook

5 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
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A WONDERFUL book. I was first exposed to this book back in South Africa in 1990 when my son was born 2 months prematurely. Not having had children before and with my mother living many hundreds of kilometres away, I needed some guidance and something that I could rely on every day. This book had the answers to everything. Easy to read, easy to find things and most importantly, the advice given in the book was perfect every time. There are no photographs which I find unnecessary and detracting at times, but words of wisdom. The contents pages and index are very useful and one can find anything easily. The book is also written in plain English, no unnecessary medical jargon which one would need a medical dictionary to understand most books of this kind!!!! I have now had my second child, a daughter also born 2 months prematurely, some ten years later, my mother now thousands of kilometres away, and Marina has been there again to help me through the good and bad times of being a new mother. I have just received my Millennium Edition direct from Marina in South Africa and have read it through from cover to cover. It has taught me all the things that one forgets after ten years!!!! I would recommend this book to every expectant mother, new parent and longstanding parents, it will give you the sound advice that nobody else can give you. I also wish to take this opportunity of thanking Marina for such a wonderful book - keep up the good work. I also wish to congratulate her daughter, Chryssa, on the wonderful line drawings they are a pleasure to see when paging through the book.

When I was looking for a book on child care while pregnant, I became frustrated because all the books were so mushy and filled with unnecessary information. I'm a practical person who is busy enough that I don't want to spend time having to read through pages of unnecessary information just to find what I need. This book was recommended to me by my sister-in-law and I ordered it to be delivered to California. The book was helpful in that it has concrete suggestions on what to buy, how to prepare for the baby (like stock up your freezer), clear advice on breastfeeding, practical advice on sleeping patterns, etc. There are some things in the book, however, that are questionable - like when to start feeding your baby solids and other things. I stopped consulting this book after the first months because it just wasn't helpful - I much prefer What to Expect the First Year. I know this book is one of the most popular in South Africa, but frankly I personally feel it needs to be updated and maybe more research should be done.