Customer Reviews

Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, Revised Edition: Birth to Age 5 (Shelov, Caring for your Baby and Young Child, Birth to Age 5)

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This utterly reliable book is to be lauded for its non-moralistic, non-idealistic attitude towards work-outside-of-home mothers. No nonsense, anti-alarmist, non-sexist. Excellent editing and indexing. We use only this as our guide.

In my last trimester, it started to dawn on me that I was now an expert on pregnancy (having read every pregnancy book I could get my hands on), but I hadn't the foggiest idea of what to do when we brought the baby home! I started scrambling to find a guide to those stressful first weeks, and I came upon this book after reading through countless others. This is truly the best guide out there. Why?

- It's written by the experts -- the pediatricians themselves. It's the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics, the authors/editors of this volume) that people tend to quote whenever "standards" are cited (e.g., "They say that...." The AAP is most often the "they.").

- It includes the standards (the primary sources) themselves. Throughout the book you will find copies of the tables and charts from the AAP's own guidelines, as well as a discussion of these guidelines in the main text.

- It has many, many simple illustrations to show you exactly what to do (how to diaper, how to burp, how to express breast milk, etc.).

- It includes "Where We Stand" insets in each chapter, highlighting the AAP's official position on a variety of critical issues (such as breastfeeding). However, none of this is presented in a heavy-handed way, making clear all the options available, any dis/advantages of such options, and an acknowledgment of less-than-perfect AAP consensus on certain issues, encouraging parents to make informed, personal decisions.

- There is very little "fluff" in this volume. It's a large book, but it covers issues infant and child care through age five. That means I only had to read about 175 pages to make me feel equipped to bring our baby home and handle her care for the first month. It also means that I don't have to keep running out and buying a new book for each year/phase. I can read ahead, as appropriate/necessary.

- The format is easy to read, and the writing is straightforward -- neither too complex, nor too "dumbed-down". Honestly, I found the "What to Expect..." series a bit patronizing in its tone, and too choppy in its format.

Hope this helps! Happy baby care to all the new parents out there!

The authors of this book were clearly looking to find consensus on childrearing. You won't find any unusual philosophies or theories. When the book does wander into more subjective advice, the label "Where We Stand" clearly indicates such.

What you will find is easy-to-read, basic child care information. The sidebars on special problems and diseases were particularly helpful. When a new mom like me frantically wonders, "Is my baby hearing well?" she can easily find the sidebar and go through the list of things to look for. This was very reassuring on more than one occasion.

This book was recommended by my sister-in-law, along with T. Berry Brazelton's "Touchpoints." She is a school psychologist and mother of three and has been an incredible support to me as a new parent. Together, the books provide the core texts needed by any new parent creating a personal library on baby's development. The AAP provides the standard reference for your baby from before pregnancy until age 5. The layout and illustrations are very well done, making the information very easy to read, find, and remember. The two books would also be a great gift idea for friends that are expecting a new baby.

I really like this book mostly because it presents the information in a concise manner without being preachy. The information is comprehensive, up-to-date, and relatively non-biased. Part I of the book is structured around basic child care. The first two chapters (first 40 pages) cover the basics for preparing for the baby (prenatal health, newborn basics to buy, how to look for safe furniture, a pediatrician, etc.) and routine hospital procedures and care at birth. The rest of the chapters (pages 41 through 469) covers basic infant care from diapering to immunizing, bottle and breast feeding, watching that your baby is healthy (eating, common infections, sleeping, etc.), growth and development milestones from birth through age 5 (over several chapters). Part II (pages 473 through 733) is a reference guide for recognition, treatment, and prevention of common infections and injuries. The book also devotes time to recognizing and coping with developmental and congenital problems, chronic diseases and conditions, divorce, single parenting, etc. Throughout the book there are illustrations and boxes highlighting everything from milestones to sample menus for a one year old to evaluating child caregivers. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a solid, comprehensive reference guide on child care and health.

Just an FYI - If you call you local State Farm Agency they will send you this book for free. We found it hard to believe when we were told this, but my husband called and about a week later the book came in the mail!

I bought the "Caring for your Baby:Birth to One" when our son was born and referred to it all the time, so was pleased to find a similar book to take me through the Toddler years. The book is informative, gives practical advice and very useful information about common ailments and how to keep your child safe.

If you have one reference book on caring for your child I would recommend this one.

I read this and "The Baby Book" by Dr. Sears quite often those first 2 years. I still refer to both of them when my son gets sick. The Dr. Sears' book only has developmental info up to 2 years but this one has physical, emotional, cognitive, language and social development information up till 5 years. It provides a handy reference point to make sure your child is on track and what you may need to watch out for. I much preferred these two books to the "What to Expect" series.

The illness information is probably my favorite part of the book. But, I think this book has another benefit. If you come from a family with a very opinionated mom, mother in law, aunt, sister, etc., you can refer them to a pretty official source (the AAP). So, when they say that a healthy baby should be eating solids at 2 weeks (or whatever out dated idea they have)you can hand them this book and show them why the experts disagree with that recommendation now. (Or you can just feel confident in shrugging off their advice because you know better having read this book.)

Peek in at the AAP's website every 2-3 months just to see what the newest recommendations are. They come out with new policy guidelines and revisions that are good to read (most recently is a very good breastfeeding one that reommends no soilds till 6 months for the breastfed baby vs the previous 4-6 months). That site also has some good older ones on topics like circumcision, juice and vaccines (though it doesn't give a very good pro/ con on vaccines but then again you probably would expect some bias from them). They can't publish books fast enough to keep up with the research so you have to keep an eye out on your own.

I think the book provides good safety information. Those chapters are very important reads for all parents.

It is outdated in their product guide so you would be much better off reading "Baby Bargains" if you need information on choosing good, safe baby products like cribs and car seats.

It is good, basic, mainstream guide to have around. Our pediatrican recommended it to us and I am glad that we bought it. You will need a better book on breastfeeding and possibly sleep. But, for general care this book is reliable and easy to read.

This huge book is packed with reassuring, detailed information about everything to do with children under age 5. This is a wonderful resource for parents. It covers safety, childcare, emergencies, behavior, immunizations, diseases and ailments, in addition to entire chapters devoted to each stage of your child's life:

Your Baby's First Days; The First Month; Age 1 Month Through 3 Months; Age 4 Months to 7 Months; Age 8 months to 12 Months; The 2nd Year; Age 2 to 3 Years; and Age 3 to 5 Years (which is divided into 2 sections: 3-4 yrs and 4-5 years.

Each of these chapters has "Growth and Development," "Safety Check," and "Basic Care" sections, which are very interesting.

This is a must-have book for all parents. It has been incredibly useful for me with my now almost 3-year-old son. I highly recommend this one.

This book is filled with good, scientifically-researched advice on your baby's health. It does, however, read like a reference book, and it is often as exciting as reading a dictionary.

My personal preference was to read Baby 411 as sort of an overall guide, then refer to this book as issues pop up. In other words, use it just like a dictionary!