Eat, Sleep, Poop: A Common Sense Guide to Your Baby's First Year [Paperback]

Scott W. Cohen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2010

Written during award-winning pediatrician Dr. Scott W. Cohen’s first year as a father, this book is the only one to combine two invaluable “on the job” perspectives—the doctor’s and the new parent’s.The result is a refreshingly engaging and informative guide that includes all you need to know at each age and stage of your child’s first year. Drawing on the latest medical recommendations and his experiences at home and in the office, Dr. Cohen covers everything from preparing for your baby’s arrival to introducing her to a new sibling, to those three basic functions that will come to dominate a new parent’s life. Eat, Sleep, Poop addresses questions, strategies, myths, and all aspects of your child’s development. In each instance, Dr. Cohen provides a thorough overview and a simple answer or explanation: a “common sense bottom line,” yet he doesn’t dictate. The emphasis is on doing what is medically sound and what works best for you and your baby. He also includes fact sheets, easy-to-follow diagnosis and treatment guides, and humorous daddy vs. doctor sidebars that reveal the learning curve during his fi rst year as a dad.Lively, practical, and reassuring, Eat, Sleep, Poop provides the knowledge you need to parent with confidence, to relax and enjoy baby’s fi rst year, and to raise your child with the best tool a parent can have: informed common sense.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cohen, a Beverly Hills pediatrician on the Cedars Sinai Medical Center teaching staff, penned this guide during his daughter's first year of life. Neither starchy reference tome nor sentimental diary, the book weaves useful facts and information with Cohen's often comical, personal accounts of being a regular dad who is also a pediatrician (sidebars called Daddy vs. Doctor probe such topics as sleeping through the night, Apgar scores, and birthmarks). In keeping with the book's title, Cohen maintains that three mundane activities—eating, sleeping, and defecating—make up most of baby's agenda. He devotes a good portion of his text to these three subjects, but also delves into a flurry of other concerns, such as vaccinations, why babies cry, and what to do about colic (presenting a viable theory relating to stress). For each issue, Cohen concludes with common sense bottom line summaries, advising parents to stick to the essentials, whether planning a nursery or choosing a pediatrician. Doing what works for one's individual family is what counts—for instance, he counsels moms that breast is best but not to feel guilty if they choose to bottle-feed. Cohen's practical approach is sure to pacify and entertain first-time parents who can easily become overwhelmed by both the joys and challenges of baby's first year. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Eat, Sleep, Poop should be every new parent’s bedside staple. I would have loved to have this book 3 years ago when my son was born, but I still find it very helpful now! Dr. Cohen has succeeded in bringing readers a comprehensive book of must-have baby information, tips, recommendations, and heartwarming personal stories to help parents and their babies flourish through the first year together. This is the book I will be buying for everyone I know who is about to have a baby.”

--Kim Barnouin, coauthor of The New York Times bestseller Skinny Bitch

“Dr. Scott Cohen has managed to condense everything parents need to know for their baby’s first year into a fun and readable guide. Today’s parents have more questions than ever and Dr. Cohen answers them all in this handy, readable book. I will be recommending this one to parents for years to come.” -- Dr. Jenn Berman, author of SuperBaby: 12 Ways to Give Your Child a Head Start in the First 3 Years and The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy Confident Kids

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; Original edition (March 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439117063
• ISBN-13: 978-1439117064
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Scott W. Cohen, M.D., FAAP, is the co-founder of Beverly Hills Pediatrics and an attending and active member of the teaching staff of Cedars Sinai Medical Center, where he was awarded Pediatrician of the Year in 2006 and the Physician Recognition Award in Pediatrics in 2005 and 2008. He completed his pediatric training in 2003 at the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where he was the recipient of the Victor E. Stork Award for continued excellence and future promise in the care of children. He was selected as one of the Best Doctors in America® for 2007-2008 and 2009-2010. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely GREAT!, April 1, 2010

By 

Alan Sitomer "Alan Lawrence Sitomer" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eat, Sleep, Poop: A Common Sense Guide to Your Baby's First Year (Paperback)

Dr. Scott Cohen has written one heck of a fantastic book. He's like the Dr. Spock for our generation. (The baby guy who wrote all those books 50 years ago; not Star Trek.) His common sense approach to pediatrics takes the hysteria and fear out of being a new parent. I found comfort, joy, humor and love in these pages. An absolutely informative, smart, well-written and easily understandable text that has helped me be a better, more well-informed and confident new parent. BIG THUMBS UP!!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Do You Do When Your Baby Cries Inconsolably?, June 16, 2010

By 

Frederic Woodbridge "Fred" (ID, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eat, Sleep, Poop: A Common Sense Guide to Your Baby's First Year (Paperback)

(What's this?)

First, allow me: What a great title, no?

Dr. Cohen is a pediatrician who's written what, in my humble opinion, is one of the better books on the market for new parents. He's written it with humor and common sense, but above all, with a certain gentleness that comes from not only being a doctor, but also a new father.

My son is now turning six months old. The first time my wife left me alone with him, I was petrified: what, I screamed--in my head--should I do if he suddenly erupted in a torrent of crying? How do I tell what's wrong with him? Rachael joked that if only she had a flowchart, I could follow the prompts to find out what to do in each case: diaper? Check. Hungry? Check.

Imagine my most pleasant surprise to find that the good doctor--the good man!--has done this very thing for me. That alone is worth the price! Turn to page 147 and see the wonderful "Crying at Random Times" flowchart. There are others that are invaluable to a left-brain (or is that right-brain) engineer like me.

Even reading the table of contents speaks to a calmness, a kind of lessening that parental anxiety: Chapter 1 is titled Prepare--Save the Date. Chapter 2, Welcome--Your Baby Comes Home, further distilled into `The Apgar Score' (yeah, what the heck is that anyway?), Antibiotic Eye Ointment, Cord Care. Chapter 9: Hachooo!--Common First Year Health Concerns. And so on--the chapter on vaccinations is a must-read, it certainly helped me make what I think is the proper decision to not only vaccinate my son but to do so on the suggested schedule.

Each chapter is filled with exceptional, generalized information in clear, non-medical and easily digestible prose. Every so often, there are `Common Sense Bottom Line' boxes with italicized text of information about what REALLY parents should do, from a sensible perspective with even less jargon, more straightforward information ("If your child poops ten times a day or once a week; has watery, seedy, Play-Doh or soft-serve ice cream consistency poop; has poop that smells like roses or rotten eggs; or has poop that is green or yellow or brown--it is all perfectly normal.")

The personal touches are to be found in the sections titled "Daddy vs. Doctor" in which oftentimes hilarious stories from Dr. Cohen's own experiences raising his baby daughter and dealing with new parenthood will leave you in near stitches and are definitely not to be missed.

The only section of this otherwise elevated book that I would not generally agree with is the advice on sleep--he espouses a modified Cry It Out method that I'm not 100% comfortable with however successful it's been. A bit of better advice in my opinion is The 90 Minute Baby Sleep Program by Polly Moore. In addressing colic and colicky, fussy babies, I believe an extensive coverage of the subject is provided by Harvey Karp's The Happiest Baby on the Block although Dr. Cohen does touch on the generalities of calming and soothing babies using those same techniques.

The basic and clear advice given is refreshing and above all calming. As a new dad myself, this is invaluable information but also indicative of that gentleness I wrote of before. Here's some advice I believe all new parents should take to heart, which he gives in the Afterword (but before the REALLY excellent References section):

Keep life with your baby simple. Trust your instincts and use common sense as your guide. Imagine there was no Internet. Imagine there was nobody to call in the middle of the night for advice. Imagine you lost your cable connection. Now imagine you are alone at night and your child starts to cry inconsolably. What would you do? Your natural parenting instincts would take over and you and your child would be okay. And after reading this book you have the added knowledge to handle these situations with confidence.

Well-said, doc. A definite "must-buy" recommendation from me.

By the way, if you're a new parent and own the Droid, get the ESP (Eat Sleep Poop) app--not related to this book, it just rocks!

[Update 12/16/2010: My son is now almost one year old and I continue to use Eat Sleep Poop as a ready reference. I have also changed my mind about sleep training and now agree with Dr. Cohen. Further reading of Polly Moore's book showed she also espouses a modified sleep training scheduling including a Cry It Out methodology. This book continues to be wonderful and even now recommend higher than ever!]

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A practical guide to life with a newborn, July 15, 2010

By 

Mark Klobas (Tempe, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Eat, Sleep, Poop: A Common Sense Guide to Your Baby's First Year (Paperback)

(What's this?)

For first-time parents, raising their new child can be a frightening experience, as is evidenced by the shelves groaning with how-to books on the subject. Scott Cohen's book is not just the latest addition, it is also one of the better ones thanks to his dual credentials: not only is he a pediatrician, but he also is the father of a baby daughter, which affords him with the opportunity to test longstanding medical advice against the realities of child-rearing. Aiding him in this process is a refreshing degree of humility; Cohen has no qualms about admitting that being a dad is very different from being a doctor, and that even with his training and experience he found it hard to take his own advice.

Cohen channels this knowledge and experience into eleven chapters that offer practical advice for the range of issues parents will face with their newborns. From preparing for the blessed day to dealing with the inevitable illnesses, Cohen explains to his readers what new parents can expect and how best to deal with it. To that end, he synthesizes much of his advice into handy bullet points, checklists, and charts that can aid parents as a quick reference when dealing with these issues. For the most pat he adopts a relaxed approach, explaining when concern is warranted and when a parent's worries can be overblown. All of this is conveyed in a friendly tone aided by a light touch of humor, usually offered at his expense. Such jokes convey what is perhaps the best point Cohen has to offer - that even the best-prepared of us can expect to make mistakes, yet babies are perfectly capable of surviving our occasional mistakes to grow into happy children. It is a lesson I expect I will be reminding myself of as I embark upon fatherhood, and which alone made this book worth reading.