Customer Reviews

What to Expect the First Year

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(29)
1 star:		(62)

 

 

I was suprised how much I liked this book, since I didn't like the What to Expect pregnancy guide. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, with three sibilings I helped take care of and a I was a Red Cross certified babysitter for years. But, when I had my own baby, I realized how much I had forgotten or simply didn't know. What is the normal body temperature for an infant? How many times a day should he have a bowel movement or a wet diaper, and why is that something important to know to keep track of baby's health? When is it okay to begin feeding your baby rice cereal? When is it okay to start on solids? When can you begin giving him those "risk of allergy" foods, such as strawberries, nuts and wheat? I found this book a wonderful resource of imformation, since the doctor's office is not open at 3 a.m., but I'm up taking care of the baby, wondering these things.
There are some very sensitive childraising issues which they present in this book. One of which is breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding. This book presents a non-biased view of the reasons behind each choice. If you are bottlefeeding, it contains information on how to do it safely and with love. If you are breastfeeding, you will need more information than is presented here, and I suggest you read up on books specifically covering breastfeeding and join the la leche league for support and to answer your questions.
The other huge issue in this book, is laying your baby down to "cry it out" and training your baby to sleep through the night. If you are a supporter of the family bed, just ignore the information on sleeping through the night and make use of the rest of the advice in the book.
This book DOES NOT accuse your baby of being manipulative, or accuse you of spoiling your baby by picking him up and holding him. This book also does not demand that you put your baby on a rigid schedule to supress their little will. A matter of fact, the book states specifically that you cannot spoil a baby by holding them, and tells you that it is medically necessary for the baby to wake you up in the middle of the night to eat during the first three months of life. What the authors are talking about when they talk about "crying it out" is that, babies will cry because they are tired or overstimulated, in which case they NEED to just lay down for 10 to 15 minutes so that he/she can go to sleep. If you believe differently, fine. You should raise your baby how you believe is right, not how ANY book tells you to. But, dismissing this book in entirety means missing out on a very useful informative source.

First, I would like to tell that despite one objection I have against this book, I loved it and my husband loves it and we use it frequently.

This book will give you insight about various child-care issues (from first bath, through first feeding of solids, to the home safety issues parents of a baby need to be aware of), it will answer numerous questions new mothers have (sometimes even those you might be ashamed to ask because they seem like something you should know without asking), it will show you basics of baby CPR, help you decide when to call doctor (and how to select one). You will find there overview of basic baby illnesses as well as various recipes for your baby's newly found taste for solids. It will show you how to stimulate your baby's development and how to make the time you spend with your baby the "quality time". It will encourage you to hug and cuddle with your baby as well as gently teach your baby some basic behavioral lessons. The best thing is that it never makes a pressure (or guilt) on you as to which course of action to take when raising your baby; it leaves the decision up to you.

Readers should remember though, that they need to read the authors' notes about the book and they should also check on any information they disagree with (in any book, website, or flier) instead of blindly taking for granted everything that's on the paper. This would ease the frustration of many readers that doubted the worth of this book.

I've read the Sear's Baby Book that many readers liked so much, and I must say that it is not really reasonable to follow for a family with average income and average work-schedule. I tried to follow advice in Sear's book and only ended up exhausted, guilt-ridden (I could never do enough) with fussy baby. Then I switched to "What to expect..." and I'm still with this book. It's great resource. My only one objection about this book as well as explanation why some readers might not have enjoyed it too much follows.

My only dislike about this book is the opinion that breastfeeding should be stopped at nine months. Few years ago, APA recommended that mothers should try breastfeed at least one year. This book needs new reviewed edition that reflects this recommendation.

About people's comments: * First, realize that this book is not and can not be the "know-it-all-be-always-right" book about babies. The topic here is so broad that that you will for sure find yourself disagreeing on some items while liking other ones. Authors themselves say that there is not one "right" parenting style; you have to decide which parenting style you like and which one is therefore right for you. The style described in this book works for me great though -- I spend lots of time with my baby, but I still manage the household tasks and help my husband pay the bills with my part-time job.

*Second, read and remember authors' notes saying that babies develop in their own pace and the monthly-development guidelines are only approximate. I found this especially true. One big lesson parents get is that babies do new things when THEY are ready (gosh, it was hard to master concept though); you can help them, but at the end, it's them who decides that it's the right time. This book tries to teach you that. Therefore, do not get influenced by those readers that complain about the month-to-month develompment guidelines, they probably missed the note under those guidelines. Also, the books advises you to check with pediatrician when you are uncertain about your baby's development -- great advice that can save you lots of worries (and unfortunatelly, many baby books do not really try to work with pediatricians).

*Third, the question/answer format of references is great WHEN you use index in the back of the book (as is logical for book that offers such an amount of information about such wide topic). I easily found answer for most of my questions in this book and it saved me numerous trips to my doctor.

*Fourth, the "crying it out" concept is an option/suggestion from authors of the book. They do not say you have to do that, it is advice for somebody who is interested in opinion. If you are not interested in opinion, or if it frustrates you, do not read it and do not follow it. There can't be right answer for everyone. As authors mention, there are many parenting styles and almost none of them are wrong. It's up to you which one you choose. And whatever you choose, it's right. Many critical comments about this book failed to see this principle and failed to be tolerant to other people's parenting styles.

*Fifth, you should not taky any book as you exclusive source of information. Always talk to your pediatrition about your concerns, search the internet, talk to other mothers. Pick what you think is best. It may be something else than this or other book says, but hey, if you think it's the best, it probably is.

Overall, this book is great resource and I recommend it to everybody.

This book, unfortunately, is not the same quality as "What to Expect when You're Expecting". The information is okay but it has not been thoroughly updated. (Example: the current breastfeeding recommendation is 12 months, but the book says 6 months.) Moreover, it uses the month-by-month organization that the previous "What to Expect" book did. The month-by-month organization does not work when following baby's development. There is too much variability. For example, some babies will start crawling by the 4th or 5th month. Mine was almost 8 months old before she started. Example #2: Solids are covered in the 4th month chapter, however, you can start as late as 6 months.

As a result, I had to consult several chapters to get all the information on a particular subject (sleeping problems, for example). Then I had to mark the pages so I could find it again later. Sometimes I could not find what I was looking for until after a lengthy search. (Let's see, would that be in the 2nd month or the 4th? Hmmm...not here...which chapter could it be?)

It wasn't long before I looked for a new baby book. I've found "The Baby Book" by Sears & Sears to be excellent. The information is well-organized, quite current, and quite thorough. It is organized more by subject than by month, but it still has a list of suggested milestones for each month. There's also plenty of suggestions and real-life examples as experienced by the Sears and by their patients. I use it all the time and I haven't gone back to the "What to Expect the First Year" book even once!

Good Grief! After reading some of the other reviews of this book, you would think the authors are advocating child abuse or something. I just reviewed the section on diapers and I don't get where the reviewer is coming from who says the authors think cloth is the "worst thing you can do for your child." Looks to me like they are offering pros/cons of BOTH cloth and disposable (yes, disposables have some advantages!) and letting parents make an INFORMED decision. Yes, they discuss weaning from the breast at one year--guess what, some mothers are ready to wean by then and don't need a guilt trip for their choice! If you're not ready to wean by then, don't. Its that simple. I appreciated the way they gave BOTH sides of issues, acknowledging that every child/parent is different and what works for one may not work for another. Unlike Dr. Sears, who implies that if you let your child sleep in a crib, alone (gasp!) you must be a cold, unfeeling parent. Bottom line--take what you find useful from this book, ignore the rest. USE YOUR COMMON SENSE!!!!

This book has great monthly "what to expect" lists that tell you what most babies at that age are doing, or learning. It covers the typical issues for a certain month of age and gives lots of tips. The index is complete so you can find what you're looking for. One warning! If you are a breastfeeding, co-sleeping, slinging type of family you'll need to read this with caution as much of the advice is not supportive of these things. I'd recommend you also look at Gentle Baby Care by Elizabeth Pantley for a more supportive read in these areas.

I too was absolutely flabbergasted at the number of people (or is it one person posting several times?) who dismissed this 800 page encyclopedia because of two small and unimportant sections on breast-feeding and "cry-it-out." You're not going to agree with everything in here. But the authors never intend that. Instead, they offer an invaluable reference book for parents. Want to know what that red blotch on your kid's arm is? This is the only book that will tell you. (It's probably a strawberry birthmark, very common, rarely lasts beyond age 10, etc.) The Q&A style is great, it leaves you feeling that you're not the only one who has these questions. And 99% of the book's content is pretty straightforward (why is my baby fascinated by mirrors? why are her eyes that weird bluish-brown color?)We found the authors' pregnancy book invaluable for the same reason-- it was a bit too treacly about pregnancy (e.g. "If you're feeling nauseous knit a sweater") but provided a wonderful, factual guide to what was going on with both fetus and mother.Parenting is 99% instinct. You can't rely on a book to tell you WHAT to do. This book is great in that it explains WHY things are happening.We find the Sears to be unrealistic and believe that people who fanatically follow their advice run the risk of losing any sense of self, which is way more harmful than the occasional bottle of formula, since babies rarely thrive with parents who resent them.A good supplement to this book (What to Expect) is Vicki Iovine's "Girlfriend's Guide To The First Year." It's hilarious and guaranteed to make you feel that you're a pretty good parent after all.Use this book to answer all the "why" questions you have. It'll cut down on the number of calls you make to the pediatrician (or at the very least make you feel a little more knowledgeable when you do.)

A very good book for quick reference. It seems like every question that my husband and I have had, has been found pretty quickly in the book. A lot of the following give terrible reviews especially when it comes to breastfeeding. I certainly don't agree with them. I breastfed my first for 1 year and I'm planning on breastfeeding by 10 1/2 month old for another couple of months. Believe me, I agree whole-heartedly that breastfeeding is the absolute best for your baby, and I did not find this book opposed to it at all. Don't read this book from cover to cover while your pregnant.. it will scare you.. but read it month by month as your baby grows. Or, just get it off the shelf when a question comes up.. you're sure to find the answer. This book is not a bible, but it sure is a helpful guide. I would highly recommend it for any new mother! Have fun and welcome to the most precious honor ever to be given.. motherhood!

I loved "What to Expect When You're Expecting" - an invaluable and helpful guide for the pregnant mother- so of course I thought that this book would be helpful. If I could do it over I wouldn't have purchased this book! Have a question? You probably won't find an answer in this book! Any information you CAN find is very biased. The Question/Answer format is not split up logically and finding information is difficult and you may need to jump from chapter to chapter just to attempt to get an answer to one simple question! I didn't find the "When to call your doctor" section at all helpful, in fact, it is confusing as many of the symptoms listed are normal for most infants. This book is enough to make any first time mom paranoid!

I don't usually review things that I don't like, but in this case I make an exception. I really had a hard time with this book. As others have mentioned, there are a lot of inconsistencies. I wouldn't have such a problem with that if there was some evidence or research to back up one of the assertions, but this book has many statements that have nothing to back it up. When I turned to the Web to research a couple of the recommendations (such as the weaning at 9-10 months), I found a lot of research that went against the recommendations in this book.

No parenting book can tell you everything you need to know, of course. But some books are better than others. If you do buy this book, temper what you read with your own research from other sources (such as AAP/WHO and other sources that back their statements with research). But even still, use that research to help you make your own parenting decisions. Blanket statements that "this is the only way" usually are a sign that they are not.

I really didn't like the parts in this book about baby carriers, crying it out and co sleeping. Some of the medical advice conflicts what is given in other books written by doctors. I also found this with "What to Expect when You're Expecting." The Q&A format was not easy for me to follow at all. There is some good stuff in this book but after reading their comments about the above things, I wondered whether their advice was accurate or not.