Gentle Baby Care : No-cry, No-fuss, No-worry--Essential Tips for Raising Your Baby [Paperback]

Elizabeth Pantley (Author), Harvey Karp (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pantley | Publication Date: September 15, 2003

From the bestselling author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution--everything parents need to know during their baby's first year

Gentle Baby Care provides immediate answers to the daily questions that arise when caring for a baby. Written by bestselling author and parenting expert Elizabeth Pantley, this valuable guide includes information and practical tips to allow readers to choose the gentle, loving solutions that best suit their parenting style and their baby. Gentle Baby Care provides more than 1,000 practical tips and solutions to the everyday issues that arise during a child's first year, including:

• Colic
• Teething
• Colds
• Sleep
• Diaper rash
• Independent play
• Traveling with baby
• Developmental milestones

“As a new mother, there were many times when I wished my babies came with an instruction manual. Now they do--in the form of Elizabeth Pantley's Gentle Baby Care, the best "baby instruction manual" I've read. Elizabeth guides the new parent through the ups and downs of baby parenthood with her usual nonjudgmental gentleness and warmth. Its easy-to-read format is great for those emergencies when you need information in a hurry. I'll be recommending this book to all of our new parents.”
--Maribeth Doerr, Editor-in-Chief, StorkNet.com

“A trusted handbook for parents. It offers practical, well researched advice on health, safety and developmental issues as well as lots of gentle support and guidance for parents on the many choices they must make during the first year with a new baby.”
--Joan K. Comeau, PhD, Director & Editor, Family Information Services

"Elizabeth Pantley has done it again...provide parents with a valuable tool to help overcome the challenges that accompany the joys of being a mom or dad. Gentle Baby Care puts everything a parent needs to know at their fingertips in an easy to use reference system. The book is organized in a way that takes you to the answers you need and refers you to additional topics related to the subject, eliminating the need for busy parents to flip back and forth from index to chapters. Every mother should have two copies of Gentle Baby Care--one for herself and one for her caregiver, mother-in-law or spouse."
-- Maria Bailey, CEO, BSM Media, Founder, BlueSuitMom.com, Smart Mom Solutions, and Host of Mom Talk Radio

"An encyclopedia of childrearing advice and information with practical tips on crying, sleep, discipline, baby milestones and much, much more. Elizabeth's soothing advice will help both new and seasoned parents relate to the newest member of the household! "
-- Betsy Gartrell-Judd, Editor, PregnancyandBaby.com

"At last, the perfect resource guide for new parents. Gentle Baby Care is informative, easy to follow, and well organized. Parenting expert Elizabeth Pantley has gathered a wealth of information and valuable resources."
-- Lori Lee Helman, mother of two and owner of Mommas Baby (mommasbaby.com)

"Gentle Baby Care is an impressive resource guide for every parent new and old! It contains in-depth information that covers baby-care basics plus unique yet equally important topics, such as handling overzealous grandparents, dealing with your baby's crying in a car seat, and keeping your baby quiet during worship services. The added tips from experienced parents are great--tried-and-true ideas from the trenches! Spread the work about this helpful and supportive new resource manual that will benefit every parent and caregiver."
-- Andrea Grace, president, Mommy and Baby Fitness, Inc., www.mommyandbabyfitness.com

“The first year of life is filled with worry for many parents, and Elizabeth Pantley offers expert advice for them in a nonjudgmental and, most important, supportive way. This book’s format also enables a new parent to quickly access vital childrearing information in their most anxious times. I highly recommend this book to new parents, and am envious that I did not have my hands on a copy during my son’s first year.”
-- Gloria Perez-Walker, Founder, Latina Mami

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

From the bestselling author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution comes a complete reference filled with loving solutions for caring for your new baby

It's often been said that babies should come with an owner's manual. Now, Gentle Baby Care fills that need for the millions of parents immersed in the most hands-on experience of their lives: caring for their newborn babies.

Organized alphabetically to help you find much-needed information within seconds, Gentle Baby Care provides immediate answers to the questions that arise daily when caring for a baby during the first year, from soothing a fussy baby to handling well-meaning yet unwanted advice with grace. Written by bestselling author and parenting expert Elizabeth Pantley, Gently Baby Care will help you become a confident, caring parent. Here you'll find hundreds of practical tips and solutions that allow you to choose the gentle, loving approach that best suits your parenting style and your baby.

Gentle Baby Care includes:

• Tips to help get your reluctant napper to sleep
• Ways to make your baby more comfortable during illness
• Guidelines to help you choose diapers, bags, strollers, and car seats
• The golden rules of babyproofing
• Advice on how to handle breastfeeding in public
• And so much more!

Whether this is your first baby or your fourth, Gentle Baby Care provides confidence-building advice to help you get through the many firsts in this tiring yet wonderfully exhilarating first year.

About the Author

Elizabeth Pantley is a parent educator and president of Better Beginnings, Inc., a family resource and education company. She is frequently quoted as a parenting expert in such magazines as Parents, Parenting, Working Mother, Woman's Day, Good Housekeeping, and Redbook.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (September 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071398856
• ISBN-13: 978-0071398855
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #703,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

When asked to define myself, the first thing that comes to mind is not the business that that brings in my paycheck, but the pursuit that occupies the majority of my days and the biggest chunk of my heart: Mother. I'm a mom of four wonderful, loveable, magical children. I've managed to create a rich and rewarding career as an author of books for parents, and as a speaker on this epic and important topic. I have the pleasure of writing about the things that bring families more peace, and the fun of chatting with people every day about our children and calling it work. I travel around the world to share what I know, and learn many new things from other parents on my journeys. I have presented at many conferences, hospital parenting programs and other events. I'm the author of nine parenting books available in 24 languages -- showing that parents are the same, no matter where in the world they live or what language they speak. My email box is filled daily with reader mail from all over the world -- my virtual pen pals. I have several new "No-Cry" parenting books in the works.

You can get more information, pictures, articles, contests, and more, at my web site: http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoughtful, reliable resource, June 11, 2004

By 

Oleanna (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gentle Baby Care : No-cry, No-fuss, No-worry--Essential Tips for Raising Your Baby (Paperback)

This helpful resource has a lot of heart and a friendly tone. Though hefty, the book's appealing format, well-organized material, supportive writing style and clarity make it inviting and accessible. Readers need only look inside to appreciate the author's positive attitude and notice how practical and thorough the information is.

Each of about 125 brief chapters uses a similar pattern designed to provide quick factual direction and encouragement for its intended audience of parents of normal infants. A wide selection of topics, from health issues to overzealous grandparents, swimming, test driving strollers, developing a read-aloud family culture, and teething, is arranged alphabetically with labels that, for the most part, make sense. The table of contents and extensive index are well-conceived. Lots of white space, attractive type, and logical layout make skimming for specific advice easy. Reading the book straight through is pleasant and informative too.

Comparative parenting philosophies are not covered. Pantley is forthright about concentrating on attachment parenting. She supports her preferences well and discusses many approaches in a broad context. Breastfeeding, for example, is assumed, yet she doesn't belittle readers who opt for formula. Curiously though, homeopathic medicine is suggested a few times with no further explanation about it. In general, Pantley speaks sensibly to hands-on, involved parents interested in natural ways to rear secure, strongly attached children safely.

Development itself is covered here only as a minor topic with lists of normal milestones. Helping parents understand particular issues and evaluate their best options is Pantley's focus, so her sound advice includes tips with developmentally appropriate variations throughout the book. She is adept also at sharing pertinent considerations for each subject without prescribing, except for certain definite procedures or emergency requirements, what choices a family should make. Her presentation of current knowledge and research is concise and responsible. She provides additional websites and resources for further interest and respectfully leaves the outcomes up to her readers' values and decisions.

Gentle Baby Care has a more developed style than Pantley's earlier Perfect Parenting. The same sensitive logic in her No-Cry Sleep Solution is in her writing here. She considers each topic thoroughly with particular awareness of safety issues, and cogently presents, with the utmost respect for parents and their babies' well-being, the practical information and thoughtful opinions they will find useful. Expectant, new and experienced parents will all find this book a handy and reliable reference.

82 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book for AP parents, January 7, 2004

By 

"mom2kyla2002" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gentle Baby Care : No-cry, No-fuss, No-worry--Essential Tips for Raising Your Baby (Paperback)

If you support the attachment parenting philosophies of Dr. Sears and Katie Allison Granju, you will love this book. If, however, you're after a book that is a little bit more mainstream, this may not be the book for you and you may wish to stick to a less AP-oriented baby book. This book assumes you will be opting for extended breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and that you will be using the night-time parenting strategies spelled out in the author's other book. If you're not making these particular parenting choices, this book may leave you feeling a bit guilty for the parenting choices you have made.

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Baby Encyclopedia, October 4, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Gentle Baby Care : No-cry, No-fuss, No-worry--Essential Tips for Raising Your Baby (Paperback)

Gentle Baby Care gives information on hundreds of topics. Each topic begins with a question, this is followed by general information in a "Learn About It" section, which is generally brief and concise. This is followed with more specific solutions, checklists, charts and such. And finishes with a list of websites and books as additional resources.

An example is the entry on "Colic". It begins, "My baby is very fussy and cries a lot, mostly at the end of the day. Does she have colic?" The Learn About It area defines colic and describes the known causes.

This is followed by "Can Colic Be Prevented?" which explains health issues that can cause crying, and also tells what is known about colic prevention.

The next part "Things That May Help Your Baby" gives a long bullet list of many ideas that may help your baby feel better and stop crying.

As is typical in the book, there is yet another section called, "Tips for Coping" which gives tips on how YOU can handle this difficult time.

Next comes, "When Should I Call the Doctor?" with a bullet list to guide you on when you should be concerned.

The last section, "For More Information" guides you to several books on the subject, if you want to get into more detail.

The layout of this book allows for a quick yet thorough examination on topics that may arise during the first two years such as Bathing, Burping, Car Seat Crying, Constipation, Diaper changing (tips, choosing diapers, and what to do when your baby doesn't want to be changed), Fever, Food allergies, Grandparents (both overzealous and reluctant), Immunizations, Massage, Milestones, Sleep (fabulous sections on this topic!), Travel, Visiting, Weaning. These are just a few examples.

I highly recommend this book as one to keep handy for the first two years.