How to Have a Smarter Baby: The Infant Stimulation Program For Enhancing Your Baby's Natural Development [Mass Market Paperback]

Susan Ludington-Hoe (Author), Susan K. Golant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1987

15 MINUTES A DAY TO A HEALTHIER, HAPPIER, SMARTER BABY

Dr. Susan Ludington-Hoe’s internationally acclaimed Infant Stimulation Program has shown thousands of parents how to have healthier, happier, and smarter babies. In this important book, Dr. Ludington-Hoe shares with you the remarkable techniques and learning toys she developed and tested—with dramatic results—with parents and children. Stressing the development of a close and loving relationship between you and your child, she shows you what to do at every stage—during pregnancy, the first days after birth and the crucial first six months—to expand your joys in parenting and maximize your baby’s physical and mental potential. You’ll learn how to:

∑ Plan a pregnancy diet to promote your baby’s brain growth
∑ Design a nursery that will stimulate mental and physical development
∑ Make and/or buy inexpensive toys to accelerate muscular and eye coordination
∑ Tailor your program to your infant’s needs
∑ Talk to baby in captivating ways that will encourage language development
∑ Include father to bond the whole family in a relaxed, nurturing, and loving environment

“…an extremely clear treatise on infant development and the use of various toys and techniques designed for each stage.”—Los Angeles Times

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; later printing edition (May 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553265415
• ISBN-13: 978-0553265415
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.9 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #447,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Parenting & Families > Parenting > Babies & Toddlers > General
  • #47 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Parenting & Families > Parenting > Babies & Toddlers > Child Development
  • #63 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Personal Health > Women's Health > Pregnancy & Childbirth

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Neat activities...but boy is it an old book!, November 19, 2000

By 

"trailertrashgrrl" - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Have a Smarter Baby: The Infant Stimulation Program For Enhancing Your Baby's Natural Development (Mass Market Paperback)

I was so excited when I saw this book! I bought it and read it and enjoyed most of the activities. However, I have to agree with a previous reviewer that the book was published in the 70's...and I'd really like to see this book updated. After all...so much time has passed...I'm sure some of the activities could be updated and changed. What worries me about this book is the nutrition section. They recommend having a protein shake every day for the baby's brain development. The shake recipe calls for a raw egg. Now, correct me if I'm wrong...but raw eggs are considered a no-no if you are pregnant. And they recommend that you have this shake EVERY DAY! I think this information is dangerous and puts the woman who follows that information at risk for foodborne illness. So, if you plan to buy this book...PLEASE take what you read with a grain of salt. Use your common sense and consult your doctor (especially about the egg thing!)

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dangerous "smell games" in Smarter Baby Book, February 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Have a Smarter Baby: The Infant Stimulation Program For Enhancing Your Baby's Natural Development (Mass Market Paperback)

Since 1987,when this book was written, there has been muchresearch on the toxicity of ingredients in modern fragrances andfragrant products. On page 189, under "Smell Games," Dr. Ludington-Hoe advocates using "mommy's perfume" and "daddy's aftershave" to stimulate baby's sense of smell. Unfortunately, fragrances and aftershave contain many chemicals that are not adequately tested for health effects, both chronic and acute. Many fragrance chemicals are neurotoxic, carcinogenic, disrupt endocrine function, cause respiratory and skin, eye and ear irritation (think of all those infant ear infections and the extraordinary increase in childhood and adult asthma cases and fatalities in the last ten-fifteen years!), and even central nervous system disruption and liver and kidney damage. Infants and children are much more susceptible to the effects of toxic chemicals. Holding toxic mixtures like this under a baby's nose is far more likely to kill brain cells than to nourish them. Modern parents should be much more saavy about indoor air pollution, its causes and its effect on child and family health. I give this book a "two" because it contains dangerously outdated information about what is appropriate or healthy stimulation for children.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Info is timeless, not dated-- Good for new parents, April 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Have a Smarter Baby: The Infant Stimulation Program For Enhancing Your Baby's Natural Development (Mass Market Paperback)

I think this is a good book for new parents who want to learn more about how to interact with their new baby. As a first-time mom, I appreciated reviewing the activities in the book and using them as opportunities to spend quality/learning time with my baby. I only skimmed the text of the book to get to the activities the first time I read it; reading the actual text of the book only increases its value, as there are lots of good tips on how to make your baby comfortable from birth on-- Acclimating him to his new home, being aware of his needs, etc.

My baby loves the mobiles and stimulating images that I made for him from the book-- Made with paper plates, copy paper, black and red pens, they're simple, inexpensive, and effective. There are a couple exercises out of the dozens in the book that refer to stimulating baby's sense of smell with perfume-- But that shouldn't condemn the book as a whole. Any parent who objects to subjecting his/her baby to perfume doesn't need to do the exercise. There are other smell games that involve smelling an orange, various spices, your dinner-- Clearly less ostensibly harmful than smelling perfume. The activities are "mix and match" so you don't have to have your baby smell perfume.

The book is so inexpensive, yet filled with good information. It doesn't matter that the book is old-- The information in it is really timeless. This can't be compared to the "Baby Plus" system, which from what I've read, doesn't really factor in the value of a parent spending quality, interactive time with her child. This book is about helping your baby experience the world, not snap more synapses.

If you want to learn about how you can spend more quality time with your baby and help him learn new things by experiencing things around him, get this book. Just because the book was written in the 1980s doesn't mean the information is outdated. Are the laws of gravity outdated? I did give it 4, not 5 stars because some of the information on resources/ purchasing toys is outdated (the oft-mentioned "Cookie Monster Crawl-Along" infant skateboard does not exist), but this is a minor flaw compared to the other values stored up in this book.