Customer Reviews

Your Child's Health: The Parents' Guide to Symptoms, Emergencies, Common Illnesses, Behavior, and School Problems

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When our oldest child was born, our pediatrician recommended this book and it has been our bible for almost nine years and two kids: we've worn out 2 copies. Addresses not just medical questions but also general parenting for all ages: best bottom- line advice I've ever seen on issues from discipline to child care to weekly allowances to freedom/responsibilities for older kids. Very practical guidelines for each illness or medical situation on when to call the doctor immediately, when to wait until office hours and when and how to treat at home. Also great in helping you organize what is important to tell your pediatrican when you call in for consult. Terrific first aid and trauma advice in clearly written, bulleted format.I've bought MANY of these as gifts and everyone has really used and relied on it. Unlike any other pediatric guide I've ever seen. A whole-hearted recommendation.

My sister is a pediatric RN, and she gave me this book as a gift when I had my first child. I had also bought 2 other books about child care.. When I have a question, I review all the books, but unquestionably this book is the best. The book is easy to read and follow. It allows you to feel comfortable and well informed about any topic you reference. I really like the guidelines on when to call the physician's office immediately, within 24 hours and what you can do at home. When I've called the my insurance company's "nurse line" , I've felt that they are referencing this book as I can follow right along.

When I had my first baby in 1997, I bought A LOT of child care/medical reference books. My purchases included work by Dr. Spock, Dr. Sears, Penelope Leach, and Dr. Brazelton. "Your Child's Health" is the only one that I still have.

First, this book is organized in a VERY useful way. For each type of issue/illness, there is a quick summary that leads you quickly to an understanding of what you probably should do for your child right now, tomorrow or at your next doctor's appointment.

This book also helps to calm nervous parents. The section about fevers is a great example of this. Barton acknowledges that fevers are scary for parents. He then provides calming words, clear facts and direction about when you really need to worry.

This book does break down when it comes to issues that I consider cultural or social in nature. I do not think that this author is an expert about family beds, breast feeding or feeding schedules. I think that he is simply expressing views that were in vogue when he was in med school. I would strongly reccomend Dr. Sears or the La Leche League for more thorough and thoughtful information on these subjects.

Despite this small weakness, I think that this is a book that every family with babies and small children MUST have.

When I was pregnant with our first child, we asked our new pediatrician to recommend a pediatric health book which would give us accessible, no-nonsense information when the inevitable symptoms occurred. He recommended this book and we've found it invaluable. Rather than make new parents hyper-aware or hyper-concerned, the effect is just the opposite.

Organized by major symptom and well indexed, you can easily and calmly determine when to call your physician immediately, during office hours, or not at all. Also offered are great home remedies and a realistic approach to the use of antibiotics and other prescription medicines.

We give this book as a present to new parents and have our own dog-eared copy ready for its next use. We consider it a must-buy!

I always find it suspect when a person, by virtue of an M.D., considers himself an expert on all sorts of things. Medical training does not necessarily make one an expert on child development (an area almost ignored by most family doctors in the exam room) or discipline (the average M.D. is probably home to administer discipline significantly less than the average mom), and it certainly doesn't qualify them as experts on breast-feeding (when did you last lactate, Dr. Schmidt?) or how to juggle the roles of a working mother.

What is very helpful about the book and has made it a well-thumbed reference in my home, is the triage approach to symptoms/illnesses. Dr. Schmidt gives clear guidelines as to what constitutes an emergency, and what can easily be handled at home, as well as how to handle it. His guidelines distinguish between varying levels of severity by saying, "Call your physician immediately if: A, B, or C. Call your physician within 24 hours if: D, E, or F. Call your physician during normal office hours if: G or H." Very helpful in letting a parent know what to be alarmed about.

I agree thoroughly with [...] who pointed out whole areas of infant/child care which are pooh-poohed in this book. Dr. Schmidt would have us believe that babies over 4 months old should not be nursed at intervals less than 4 hours, and that all co-sleeping/family bed arrangements are at best pointless and silly and cause parents to lose sleep. If your parenting philosophy coincides with this, you'll probably love the book. Otherwise, like me, you'll find the book irritating even as you find it helpful. In the meantime, trust your own instincts on such things as development and discipline or try out some of the Dr. Sears books.

I use to work on the Pediatric floor of a local hospital for over 15 years, I wish I had known about THIS book then! A few years ago I started working at an "advice" nurse line. This book was used to create some of the Pediatric guidelines. The nurses call this book the "Pediatric Bible"!

The first time I used the book was for a call about a child with a ring stuck on her finger. I told the mom what to do and it worked! From that time on, I have told parents to get this book. If you don't have access to an advice nurse line, I highly recomend you get this book. The information is easy for any parent to understand. It's straightforward information to ease any parents mind.

One of my co-workers even gives this book as part of a wonderful basket of goodies for baby showers! What a great idea!!!

As a pediatric nurse, we recommend this book to a majority of our patients. We also use this book as a reference in the clinic I work at. It's easy to find the problems you need to address and lets you know what to do....treatments at home, when to see the doctor or when it is an emergency. It answers a lot of questions without having to call a doctor or nurse.

As this book is nearly a decade old, it desperately needs updating. It makes little or no reference to attachment parenting, "child-wearing", or co-sleeping. Prescription information is woefully outdated. Current research on breast-feeding is obviously non-existent and the ear thermometer (a device available for over five years now) was, at the time of this book "not yet available for public use." In today's day and age, you should not have to risk your child's health relying on out-dated information.

I got this book before my now 2 1/2 year old boy was born, I was given several books, and this is by far the best one. I have used this book several times, and it has sure helped in notify doctors of the problem even if it is over the phone. I have had friends come over and call at all hours asking me to check certain things out in this book. I would definately recommened this to all mothers and fathers

My pediatrician-sister gave this to me when I gave birth to my first baby. That baby is now seven years old and it is still the first thing I reach for everytime something is wrong with my two kids. I have ordered another one for me because the first book is now tattered and torn from frequent use.