The Fussy Baby Book: Parenting Your High-Need Child From Birth to Age Five [Paperback]

William Sears (Author), Martha Sears (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996

Describes the characteristics of a "high-need" baby, suggests ways to soothe a fussy child, and discusses nutrition, discipline, and communication.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"High-need" babies crave touch and motion, can't self-soothe, have difficulty sleeping, nurse often and well into their toddler years and are intense, draining and demanding, say pediatrician Sears and his RN wife, parents of eight children and authors of The Birth Book and 12 other parenting titles. Informed by their experience with a high-need daughter and by observations of patients, the Searses outline how to handle such fussy babies, rehashing their theory of "attachment parenting"?carrying the baby in a sling, nursing on demand, sharing the family bed and responding rather than letting the baby "cry it out," etc. Parents are encouraged to focus on the positive: a high-need baby, the authors say, "cries impressively" and "values being with you"; he or she isn't a "difficult sleeper" or "clingy." Desperate parents will be grateful for the many tips and the mommy-burnout survival list. But veteran moms and pops may have trouble swallowing some suggestions (bounce gently on a trampoline with baby). Readers may also yearn for substantiation of claims that fussers grow up to be confident, expressive, responsible teens and adults. Still, the authors' warm-fuzzy "You're okay, baby's okay" outlook may be just the right medicine for many anxious parents of demanding children.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

William and Martha Sears, a pediatrician and a nurse, respectively, have written this book to provide guidance and support for parents of children who have high needs for comfort, feeding, and the like from birth. The authors cite both their own family experience and the stories of their patients and others. The guidance they provide flies in the face of parenting advice of the last several decades, but the positive results of high-touch, intensive, attachment parenting?a concept the authors first introduced in Baby Book (LJ 2/1/93)?are evident. This well-organized book will most likely appeal to educated baby-boomer, baby-buster parents. Recommended for consumer health collections.?Mary J. Jarvis, Methodist Hosp. Medical Lib., Lubbock, Tex.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316779164
• ISBN-13: 978-0316779166
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 61 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "How to turn a fussy baby into a wonderful child!" October 20, 2000

By Kelly TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Our daughter was THE "poster child" for colicky, fussy babies. She had colic so severe [crying 10-12 hours a DAY for first 12 weeks!] that our Pediatrician told us "This isn't colic, she just has a bad disposition." [UGH - we don't use him any more needless to say - and the crying stopped abruptly at 12 weeks]. After the colic passed, she continued to be a VERY "hands on, high need" baby. She was quite a challenge to parent that first year.

Thank goodness I found this book! I can still remember the first time I read it - the sigh of relief that I wasn't alone and the wonder at all the great ideas and suggestions in the book. We put these suggestions to work in our parenting and followed Dr. Sears' advice to the letter. Now we have an angelic two year old - she's a joy to be around. She is now the easiest kid in the world to parent - the most easy going, friendly, and sweet kid you could imagine. Now my friends all say how lucky I am to have such an easy toddler! I think it is due in great part to Dr. William and Martha Sears and their wonderful insight and advice - their suggestions certainly worked for us!

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The ONLY book that helped me! December 28, 2000

By Ellina B.

Format:Paperback

I have gathered a vast collection of child care books, and none of them were as helpful as this one. It was frustrating when my friends/family just didn't understand how it was that I simply "couldn't put my daughter down" until she was about 7 months old... how it was possible that she didn't like to be touched, but had to be held all the time... how she simply didn't nap... I was told that I was only making it worse by indulging her ("let her cry a bit!", "teach her to be patient!", etc.) Well, when I read this book, I felt an enormous sense of relief that my baby wasn't the only one like this. I was also thrilled to learn about concrete ways to care for my not-so-ordinary baby. We have ended up with a happier child and happier mom, too! This is THE book for parents of high-maintenance, high-sensitivity, high-needs babies.

49 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's my son in print! October 13, 2000

By Ms J. A. Heirtzler

Format:Paperback

During the first few weeks of my son's life, I would have gone utterly out of my mind without this book! Before he was born, I thought fussy babies happened only to other people -- those who didn't see a midwife, have a homebirth, live simply, plan to attachment parent... you get the idea :) I have been humbled completely by his personality... and this book sooo helped me to realize that his fussiness wan't anyone's fault; he was just born wired that way. And it has been an excellent reference for us to work with his needs instead of against them, and realize that his traits, so annoying at times when he was littler (he's now four months old), will help him out as an adult. [It's funny now, watching video of us when he was a newborn; we speak as though we're in the midst of a hostage crisis, counting the days since his birth. We didn't think we'd have another, but are now already considering it in a couple of years. It started out tough, but he's now a very energetic, serious, hyper-interested baby, and we love him dearly.]