Your Amazing Newborn [Hardcover]

Phyllis H. Klaus (Author), Marshall H. Klaus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 1998

Your Amazing Newborn celebrates a baby’s extraordinary abilities in the first hours and days of life. Marshall and Phyllis Klaus take parents and all those who care for new families into this freshly charted world, one they have been exploring for decades. The results of their fascinating research are illuminated by over 120 exquisite photographs, all of babies less than two weeks old.Your Amazing Newborn begins before birth with images of fetuses actually comforting themselves in the womb. We then see newborns less than one hour old crawling unassisted to the breast, recognizing the voices of their parents, and shutting our unwanted sights and sounds. Parents will learn how to discover an infant’s clear preferences for certain shapes, smells, tastes, and tones of voice. They will be delighted by the ways babies seem to be able to ensure their own survival, and they will be amazed that within days after birth, newborns can engage in an intimate and reciprocal choreography, and nestle into a parent’s embrace as though they had practiced for years. Your Amazing Newborn is a must for parents-to-be, grandparents, siblings, and caregivers; through its stunning photographs we see the first reach, the first mutual gaze—and most wonderful of all—the first spark of recognition that ignites a lifetime bond.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Only 30 minutes old, and a baby stares at her mother's face, then begins maneuvering downward toward mom's nipple. A few days old, and she can track a ball, and "dialogue" with her limbs. Newborns are extraordinary beings, with innate abilities far beyond what is commonly believed. In Your Amazing Newborn, authors Marshall and Phyllis Klaus, renowned experts and authors in the field of newborns (Bonding and Mothering the Mother), combine information gained from decades of research with clear explanations geared toward new parents. The authors begin with the fetus. Through descriptions and ultrasound photography, they discuss the dialogue between mother and fetus and demonstrate the development of touch and hearing. Klaus and Klaus then explore the first minutes of life (the quiet, alert state immediately after birth) and the first few days, including descriptions of the newborn's innate senses and the ability to imitate, reach towards a parent, and enjoy sound and smell. Later chapters focus on adoption, fathering, grandparenting, and sibling responses to a new baby. Enhanced by black-and-white photographs capturing a newborn's remarkable abilities, this beautiful book is for anyone enchanted by babies. For new parents and parents-to-be, it provides insight and useful information about associating with and loving a newborn, and introducing him to the world. --Ericka Lutz

From Publishers Weekly

Marshall Klaus, a neonatologist, and Phyllis Klaus, a psychotherapist (coauthors of Bonding and Mothering the Mother), join efforts again to create an insightful book about the newborn. Incorporating information from an earlier collaboration (The Amazing Newborn, 1985), this newest presents the latest research on how babies behave in the first weeks of life. Notably, the Klauses describe new studies?with more than 100 remarkable photographs?indicating the newborn's abilities to reach and, in the right circumstances, to crawl to the mother's breast and begin to nurse without help. Also described are the six states of the newborn's consciousness: quiet alert, active alert, crying, drowsy, quiet sleep and active sleep. The authors underline the importance of maintaining the sanctity of the first moment of life (they warn against loud noise, and suggest that immediate washing after birth removes important chemical signals between infant and mother). A thoughtful chapter on adoption discusses how infants and adoptive parents bond. A wonderful primer for new parents, this attractive volume pays homage to the "mysterious, shifting world of the infant," explaining how and why babies behave the way they do. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; 2nd edition (October 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738200131
• ISBN-13: 978-0738200132
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,070,601 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a must have resource for every parent to be, September 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Your Amazing Newborn (Hardcover)

This is an amazing book! It contains some fascinating facts about newborns that are not widely known. It is absolutely staggering what these little people are actually capable of! I read it when my son was a few weeks old, but I wish that I had read it before his birth. I would have gotten so much more out of those first few days. I am buying this for my niece who is expecting and I plan to use this book as my standard baby shower gift.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars really wonderful--refreshing change, May 8, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Your Amazing Newborn (Paperback)

While other baby books (e.g., What to Expect...) focus on all the things that can go wrong with a baby and all the practical concerns, which are important, this book offers such a wonderfully different perspective: the title sums it up...it's about how amazing newborns are and all they can do at the moment they are born. I read it just before and again just after my newborn came along and the just-after reading made all the difference in the world: made me see not just how important it all was but how amazing this little person was. I wish more people would read this book; I give it to everyone I know who has a baby.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite nice. An easy, relaxing, and interesting look infants, October 30, 2002

By 

Quickhappy "quickhappy" (Big city, big country) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Amazing Newborn (Paperback)

(I read the 1st edition, which seemed out of date--I trust that this edition is more current.) With our due date just days away, I enjoyed this quick read about infants. Their capabilities will surprise most readers--it's not just that they can smell, listen, and look, it's that they can learn, think, and respond! Truly, the hardwired talents of the littlest humans goes far beyond what most of us suspected, and give us a new outlook on what it means to be human.