What to Expect the Toddler Years (Paperback)

by Heidi Murkoff (Author)
Key Phrases: keeping your toddler safe, expose your toddler, toddler serving equals, Sesame Street, Best-Odds Toddler Diet, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Since the extended family no longer lives nearby, new parents often turn to books for advice on child care. These two new sources, although different in format and scope, provide useful information to parents with young children. The first volume of The Disney Encyclopedia of Baby and Child Care covers development from birth through age six, describing milestones and explaining care techniques. Boxes highlight important information. There are also sections on basic first aid and the common symptoms of childhood diseases. Volume 2 is an alphabetically arranged encyclopedia of child health and illness issues, with short entries on conditions and behaviors (e.g., aggression, toeing in, worms). A referral list of relevant organizations is included. The authors are pediatricians who provide current, high-quality information, but the material provided is at a ready-reference level. Readers seeking depth will need other sources, and this set lacks a bibliography. The authors of the successful "What To Expect" series offer a volume on the second and third years of life. This book contains 900 pages of useful information divided into four sections. Like the Disney set, the first part concerns development, milestones, pediatric checkups, and parental concerns, but the authors add valuable material on what parents should know and what they should teach toddlers. Part 2 on health and safety covers general care, nutrition, home safety, first aid, toilet training, and caring for children with special needs. Part 3 offers important information on the toddler in the family, including issues such as sibling rivalry, parenting techniques, working parents, child care, adoption, divorce, and death?topics not discussed in the Disney work. Part 4 is a ready-reference source offering activity suggestions, recipes, home remedies, the symptoms and treatment of common illnesses, and forms for charting growth, health history, and memorable moments. This is an outstanding source written by and for parents. Easy to use, affordable, and reassuring, it encourages parents to enjoy their children. More illustrations and first aid information and a bibliography would have been useful, but What To Expect: The Toddler Years belongs in all parenting collections. The Disney Encyclopedia of Baby and Child Care is a good complementary source that provides additional medical information. Although less detailed than The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Complete Guide to Early Child Care (Crown, 1990), it is a useful ready-reference source.?Barbara M. Bibel, Oakland P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review
Parents of toddlers will find this a refreshingly well detailed, comprehensive presentation on what to expect during the second and third years of a child's life. From toilet training and tantrums to providing the proper learning experiences, parents receive insights on the child's mind at this age, and on how they can improve a child's learning curve. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 928 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761152148
• ISBN-13: 978-0761152149
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (148 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,010 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY , May 8, 2006

By	Toddler mom "California mom" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What to Expect the Toddler Years (Paperback)

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. There are many, many other books out there that will provide sound advice for raising your toddler. This book is awful. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. It is poorly organized and extremely difficult to find particular issues of interest if you are seeking advice on a specific subject. If you do find it in the index, the issue is probably discussed on 10 different pages so you have to flip around from one section to another in the hope that at least one of those pages will address the point on which you need guidance.

2. It is WAY TOO LONG. Don't be fooled that the weight of this book or number of pages means you will be getting more information than other books. Every single "question" topic begins with a wordy and pointless paragraph that doesn't provide any insight or advice before even attempting to start getting to the point. Only about 10% of this book actually provides useful, substantive information. As a parent of a toddler, I don't have time to search through the authors' ramblings in the hope they will ultimately get to the point. It is extremely frustrating.

3. The authors feel the need to "preach" their particular political position on various issues over and over and over again. Even if you agree with them, it's totally unnecessary. For example, they include discussions about the importance of teaching your child to recycle and respect the earth. OK, fine. But they then raise this point over and over when it is a totally unnecessary (NAGGING) aside - like when talking about placing a cover on the floor so your child can enjoy a messy art project, they mention newspaper as a possible cover but can't resist adding "(you can recycle it later)." It is annoying.

4. Almost 100% of the advice they give is worthless because they always add caveats. For example, they will say something like "be sure to praise your child so he will develop good self esteem" only to follow shortly thereafter by saying "but don't praise him too much or he'll think your opinion is meaningless or will develop an inflated ego." Another exmple, "set limits for your child so she will be less likely to have tantrums" followed by "don't set too many limits or your child will feel stifled." You spend hours reading the book, and are still left as clueless as you were before you started.

5. Much of the "advice" is ridiculously self-evident. Do you really need to be told that physical affection is important for a toddler?

6. Some of the advice is contradictory. For example, they recommend against any television for young children, but then talk about ways of distracting them from a tantrum by acting out a favorite TV character's voice or a song from a TV show.

7. The authors expect you to be an absolutely perfect parent and always say and do the right thing and never lose patience with your toddler's fifth tantrum of the day. You need realistic advice to deal with the real world.

Don't waste your money here. Find a book written by authors who are not so self indulgent and who are more interested in giving you direct and useful advice without all of the meaningless blabber.

59 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars it's okay, January 2, 2006

By	H. Pagliughi "hpagliughi" (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: What to Expect the Toddler Years (Paperback)

I have the whole 'series' and while I found the pregnancy and 1st year books helpful, I hardly ever used this book. The month by month format is helpful for babies/pregnancy, but toddlers don't really change month by month as drastically, so I disliked the organization. I agree with another reviewer that there is a bias/agenda to wean by 1 year and if you are into attachment parenting, this book doesn't fall in line with that at all. I just find it too broad and it hardly ever gave me the answers I wanted.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars How disappointing, May 17, 2006

By	S. Kennedy "Shmokenn" (Luling, LA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: What to Expect the Toddler Years (Paperback)

I was very eager to read this book, but was left disappointed after just 10 minutes of reading. The authors' views seem obviously self-serving and painfully narrow-minded. I wanted something that had more of an inclusive approach to parenting. As a mother who still breastfeeds her daughter, who is 13 months old, this book has absolutely nothing encouraging or useful for me. Heaven forbid if your child doesn't sleep through the night. You are a complete loser - at least in this book's opinion - if your child has any night wakings and you attend to them. As one of the questions reads: "Our toddler is still waking up in the middle of the night. We've been cowardly about letting her cry it out up until now...." Cowardly! This was the last straw for me. I wanted real testimonials from parents who've experienced the full spectrum of problems from sleeping to eating and how they solved these issues. This book gives lazy answers that leave you not only in the dark, but annoyed that you wasted your time with this book.