Customer Reviews

How to Have a Smarter Baby: The Infant Stimulation Program For Enhancing Your Baby's Natural Development

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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!)

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 I give this book a "two" because it contains dangerously outdated information about what is appropriate or healthy stimulation for children.

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.

I first bought this book (1985 version) at a flea market for 50 cents. I was extremly happy with the first half of the book so I decided to purchase the new version. The store that I bought from had it in a sealed package with a cute baby toy. I suspect part of the reason for the tightly sealed book is that it would be hard to sell a book in this field that is over 12 years old. New discoveries are made every day. Would you buy a book written 12 years ago on computers? The book contains a lot of useful information about helping to develop the mind of your child. The basic premise of the book (well directed involment with your child will offer great stimulation) still has value, but I want to buy one that contains theories back-uped with more research. Half of my friends say that it is "hog-wash." I won't know for at least several years (maybe never) if the ideas work, but it is worth a try. Nothing in the book is harmful. The only question one could have is can an infant comprehend/gain anything from this stimulation? I am sure that a child will learn from the suggestions in the book and therefore increase his mental ability. I would rather heed the advice of this book and discover in 20 years that I was wrong and wasted some of my time than to find out that the book was right and I didn't do all that was possible for my child.

In general, I enjoy reading the book although I find some of the tips were dated and extremely dangerous. For example, the Berman's Protein Shake contains a raw egg that can be dangerous to the baby since it may contain salmonella bacteria. Since we all know that all babies are extremely sensitive to fragrance--a petrochemical additive, and other additives are processed foods, I don't believe it is a good idea to put perfume on the baby toy. Read this book with caution!!!

As with all books you read, half of what you read you may or may not agree. However I read this book when I was pregnant in '97 and had my baby in '98. My little guy was a pleasure because I was able to read and interpret his actions such as knowing when he is receptive to learning and when he needs quiet time to just be himself. It also taught how to respond so that he calmed down because I reacted so calmly to his crying or cooing. I definitely will reread for my second pregnancy.

I love this book. It has age apropriate games to play w/ your baby from birth to 6 months. I especially like the information it gives on the fetus and it's capabilities. It is awesome information. I read this book while I was pregnant in 98. It really opened my eyes on the magnificents of it all. My baby is seven months old now and I believe she is advanced because of the infant stimulation in this book, thank you!

I read HOW TO HAVE A SMARTER BABY in 1985, the year my daughter was born. Did everything the book recommended, from pre-natal music to development of all of the infant's primary senses. Everything came easily to this daughter -- who is now High Honors in high school, and by class ranking, one of the smartest children in her high school class. She learned the alphabet by the time she was 2, could read by the time she was 4, has always had a spectacular memory and is headed towards an ivy league college. In large part, I am sure, HOW TO HAVE A SMARTER BABY played a role in her scholastic success.

Fully applying the information in this book relies heavily upon making your own stimulating toys for baby and following a "schedule" outlined in the book. It's not a reference book. It's a PROGRAM.

I expected the book to inform me, in general terms, ways to help my baby grown and develop. Instead, most of the time in the book is devoted to describing in great detail toys that are to be made or purchased and precisely how and when to use them to teach baby, including the duration of time for activities. For example, you are instructed to make toys that have fabrics of different colors and textures or how to craft a mobile for the baby's crib. (The toys for purchase list seems quite out of date so to follow it you pretty well have to make what you need.)

There were some useful things that I gleaned from the book, such as giving my baby objects in different sizes (spoons) or teaching her to smell different items. However, I did not find the book very valuable because I've learned that I have and have had pretty good sensibilities about how to accomplish this as I go about my day preparing meals, sorting laundry, and running errands at the grocery store.

In the end I found it far easier to let my baby smell spices as I prepare meals and to show my baby colors and textures in the produce section of the supermarket and in the family's clean laundry. The alternative was to read this book almost daily, run around to craft stores, hardware stores, and fabric shops with a young infant, burn through precious nap time to scavenge for hard to find items, sew, saw, paint, glue, and complete projects in time to use them before she reached the next stage. Gasp. Huff. Puff. Phew.

My advice is to save your money and get this outdated book at the library just to peruse it. Take time to involve baby in your activities from a young age. Talk to her every step of the way. Let her watch you work and play. Explain everything whether you think she understands or not. Provide lots of experiences for each of her senses. Put some cinnamon in her applesauce (smell that? mmmm!), let her stick her fingers in your bread (squishy), butter (slippery), syrup (sticky), and then give her a bath (wet)!

As for nap time? Use it to nurture yourself - exercise, prepare nutritious meals, do crafts only if you like to, read things to expand YOUR mind so you'll have even more to teach baby as she grows. (What she learns from a tender age about how you spend your time is nearly as important as the rest.)

OR buy this book 2 years before you plan to get pregnant so you can complete all the projects and familiarize yourself with the program. Then you might have a shot of implementing it with your child.

If you can get past the horrible writing style (a lot of sentences begin with "So..." or "Now..." and end with exclamation points!!) you'll find dangerously out-of-date information like including raw eggs in your protein shake, placing newborns on their tummies to sleep, recommending crib bumpers, ets. The product guide should be updated to include current books, prices and web sites for purchases. And why do I need 300 pages to tell me to talk to the baby in utereo and cuddle and hold her when she is a newborn? Aren't these infant stimulation techniques obviously helpful for bonding and development? Haven't people always known this stuff?
I can't believe this book is still available.