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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I can't believe I paid for this book!, January 14, 1998
By A Customer
I was so offended by things I read in this book, that I dog eared pages so I could share them with my husband. Unfortunately, I can no longer return the book. I have now given MY money to this man. He seems to feel breastfeeding is a cult practice regardless of what all the other literature says. He also feels a baby is better off in daycare than with his or her own mother. If we followed his logic, we would send our babies to boarding school when they are six weeks old in preparation for them leaving home when they are grown. Spoiled and manipulative children are created by over-attentive parents within the first week of life. Circumcision is painful, but since Dr. Zukow toughed it out, so can all male babies... even though there are ways available to minimize the discomfort. He is willing to spit in the face of contemporary Sudden Infant Death Syndrome theory and lay his patients on their stomachs to sleep. "Breastfeeding is strictly for nourishment. It should be a choice, but in recent years it has become a cult." Certainly there are those that are fanatic about breastfeeding, but what about research demonstrating less child abuse in families in which the child is breastfed? This is apparently due to the bonding that occurs between mother and child. Not to mention that there are fewer allergy problems, less colic and decreased frequency of upper rspiratory tract infections (colds, ear infections, sinus infections)."Why not have people promote bottle-feeding as easier, healthier, less time-consuming, and definitely quicker to get the newborn on schedule?" I believe there are such people, namely the formula manufacturers. "Come on, it's unfair for anybody to make mom's choice". On this point I agree with Dr. Zukow. Each mother, and family, needs to decide which method of feeding will best work for that family and infant. Breastmilk is unequivocably more physiologic than formula. Financial, social and cultural factors are all factors in the decision of how to feed an infant. However, it's as unjust to malign breastfeeders as it is to heap guilt upon those who choose to bottle feed. / /"Statistics show that not too many women can stay home and be fulltime mothers. But remember one thing. Very soon that baby will be going to school six hours a day. Both of you need to be prepared for that degree of separation. I think day care is a very good way to start." Yes, many families must utilize daycare. There is nothing wrong with this. We do what we must to support our families. But it is my contention that many people would keep their children home if they could afford to do so. And though the demands of being a stay-at-home parent are many, the rewards for doing so far exceed that of electively putting a child in daycare just to get away from him or her. Yes, separation is painful. But there are transitions of separation. Stepping out of sight, putting the child to bed at night, leaving the room, leaving the child with a babysitter for an occasional date. But putting an infant in daycare just to get the separation issue over with as soon as possible smacks of insensitivity. And neither I nor my pediatrician thinks it works. / /"You can spoil them forever if you're not aware that you're spoiling." Well, yes, I guess there is some truth in that. However, holding, loving, kissing, hugging, cooing, singing and giving all the other warm fuzzies I can muster is how my child has learned I love him. An iron and aluminum machine could feed and change him. But I can love him. Spoiled? No. He wasn't spoiled. But my husband and I required our own education. Our son can put himself to sleep. Our son can entertain himself. He can wait the few minutes it takes for us to prepare his meals. And he is only nine months old. And I didn't put him down for the first four months and he continues to be smothered with love. If that's spoiled, so be it. / /In his book, Dr. Zukow is asked if circumcision hurts. His reply is "Yes. But we all survive." They amputated limbs without anesthetic and frequently without sedation during the Civil War. A substantial number of those patients survived. Is Dr. Zukow a proponent of orthopedic surgery without anesthesia? If so, managed care companies must absolutely love him. / /Dr. Zukow state "I will not recommend that a baby sleep on her back until someone will take responsibility for when that child spits up and chokes. Period." First, I would be interested to see Dr. Zukow's documentation of any significant injury being suffered by an otherwise healthy child who spits up in her sleep. The American Academy of Pediatrics, on the other hand, has made an attempt to determine which position minimizes the risk of SIDS. Their recommendations are based on statistical analysis. I am much more comfortable trusting the fate of my child to the judgment of a professional organization trying to make a scientific recemmendation than that of a single physician basing his practice on his experience alone. / /I am Dr. Zukow's worst nightmare. I am a stay-at-home, breastfeeding mother who is raising a well-adjusted, top-of-the-growth-curve and happy nine-month old. I was hoping his book would teach me how to transition my son from baby food to table food. Instead, I learned that anyone can get a book published.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Stick with Dr. Spock, October 26, 2000
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.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too Bad babies Don't Come With Their Own Instruction Manual, April 11, 2008
A Kid's Review
Baby: An Owner's Manual is a reference guide for new parents that is intended to serve as simple book to find answers that parent's often have about their newborn children. The book presents random questions and answers and with 365 total questions, many different subjects are approached at least once, with some topics receiving more attention than others.
Every new parent worries about their parenting skills with a newborn and with this book, the concerned parent is presented with a book that attempts to offer answers to many different types of questions and in the process, it makes some good points. However, not all of the pieces of advice are written at the level I expected. Some of the questions presented in this book are really too complicated to answer in such a short amount of space. Like the question about selecting the right day care. There is no way anyone can answer a question like that in 250 words or less, but the author tries anyway. I think it would have been best to leave out questions like this. On the other extreme, there are some very basic questions with very short answers that don't really say much at all. The book would have been better if some of these were left out. Even though the questions are basic and do not require a lengthy response, they seem out of place. It would have been better to stick with more important concerns.
The inconsistency of the answers is one flaw with this book, but by far the greatest problem I have with Baby: An Owner's Manual is that it offers almost no organization! There are no chapters to separate the Q&A into categories. There is no order to the Q&A. You just have to start reading and hope you find what you want, or check the index in the back to lookup a specific topic. The only hint of any organization is with certain sets of questions. For example, there are several consecutive Q&A about breastfeeding and teething. This is better than nothing and at least if I want to look up an answer on a topic like this I can find answers to related questions on the same page. But the lack of any chapter organization is inexcusable.
Another questionable aspect of this book is the open advice given by the author. Zukow seems to want to leave most of the choices to you, the parent, and he leaves many questions wide open. Ordinarily, I am in total favor of adults making their own decisions but in this instance, I think a little more guidance would have helped. This is, after all, a book about babies and it is supposed to eliminate stress and uncertainty by providing direct answers to questions. If I was young parent of a newborn and had no other kids, I would want some definite answers to my serious questions. Leaving the issue wide open would make me feel frustrated. I would likely toss the book aside and seek another source for my answer.
Overall, Baby: An Owner's Manual is a slightly below average reference guide for new parents and I can think of several books that offer better advice and better organization. There are some helpful words of advice among the 365 questions and answers, but I cannot forgive the sloppy organization and I don't like the fact that so many questions are left wide open, which is certain to frustrate parents who want definite answers. It's an okay book, but not one I can recommend.
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