Customer Reviews

Your One-Year-Old: The Fun-Loving, Fussy 12-To 24-Month-Old

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This was a regrettably late addition to our library of first-time parent books. I cannot begin to tell you what a FANTASTIC book this was...it dares to avoid categorizing your child into a particular style (i.e., Brazelton, Sears, etc.) and instead offers sound, practical advice on how to deal with a variety of toddlers. We found the breakdown of the year into 3 distinct stages to be especially insightful. Best of all, my husband, who found that many of our other books alienated or ignored the dad, read the whole thing cover to cover. Don't be fooled by the fact it's been around a few years--its advice is still sound. And as soon as I get down writing this review, I'm placing my order for "Your Two Year Old"

I had purchased Your Two Year Old for my eldest child, so knew that I liked the format and writing style of this series- many anecdotes mixed with summarizing generalizations, yet still respecting the individuality of the child. Thought I would have no trouble rearing my second one to that point, but boy was I wrong. At 19 months, I wondered what had become of the tender child I had given birth to! This book helped calm my fears and keep me sane in the knowledge that my second born daughter was perfectly normal- my elder daughter was simply a very easy child. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has the bad habit of comparing their child to others, as this book will easily ease your fears.

No offense to the venerated Dr. Spock and his devoted readers or to other authors of child rearing books, but this series ought to be required reading for all parents.

As an only child and the mother of a wonderful (now 15 year old) only child, I was at a loss of the changes that my daughter went through during her growing years.

A kindergarden teacher recommended this book and I was hooked! I read the whole series and by understanding the _developmental_ changes of my daughter, I was able to raise her in a calm and loving manner. I emphasize the word 'developmental' because that is the key to all child development and in the raising of a happy and healthy human being. I came here today looking for the book for a friend who just had a baby. I HIGHLY recommend it!

This series is wonderful. I relied on it heavily in raising my children after being raised myself in a way I did not want to imulate. My now grown children comment fondly on their childhoods, and are both compassionate, interesting people with good family and career goals of their own.

These books helped me figure out what "the small stuff" was, so, I could identify "normal" behavior and relax. If you are determined to raise your children in a nurturing, supportive way, without a lot of criticism and policing, this series will help you. Knowing what developmental stage your child is in really helps keep the anxiety level low.

Be forewarned, though, no matter how relaxed you are as a parent, teenagers probably never are completely "normal." Some are only mildly wacky. Some are very wacky. We had one at each end of the spectrum. The key with them must be to remember they are still a work in progress. Humans take a long time to get "done." Set standards, hold your breath, pray a lot,and wait--never give up.

I must disagree with the above reviewer who complained that the book is 15 years old and is therefore outdated. That criticism would be more vaild if it concerned a book about teenagers or pre-teens, since our culture has changed so much in just 15 years. However, one-year-old children have behaved in similar fashion since the beginning of time. They learn to stand, to totter, they grab ahold of everything in sight. This book is short, easy to read, and packed with a lot of insight. I especially like the suggested toys section--old magazines, blocks, plastic play hammer, old purse, etc. One-year-olds are fascinated by everything, so concentrate on simple, unbreakable items instead of spending hundreds on smashable toys. Good read!

Readable, mostly sensible, but with some attitudes that make me cringe.

A parent writes that she's afraid her son will become a homosexual because he seeks comfort from dad all the time. Does anybody really think that anymore? And the answer, which is that the son will "probably" turn out "normal" is both dated and biased. Then there's the cigarette thing. And a mother whose friends think a baby gate is horrid. Just old, old stuff.

But the four stars are for the sensible and compassionate approach to understanding that your baby is an individual, is experimenting with how to act, and needs your help and loving care. There's a lot of good material in here; be judicious and you'll find it's worth reading.

I recently took an Education Psychology class at a local university. I was asking the teacher if there was a book that related the same information that we covered in class in simpler terms. (I was looking for a book that I could give to my friends.) My teacher recommended this book. All the information in the book is based upon years and years of research. All ideas are from proven research that really work. I am a first time mom and trying to learn and do the best I can. I found all of the information in this book extremely helpful in understanding my child's behavior. I now buy this book and pass it along to my friends. I had many books for my child to help me through the first year. However I thought this was the best one. I have read it cover to cover several times. I used it on my first child and am now using it on my second. I would recomend this book to you.

This book definitely needs updating. Though it has some good information, it's mostly intuitive and I found quite a bit of bad advice. The "Stories from Real Life" are clearly out of date as one references "sleeping medicine" for a baby prescribed from a doctor and many more reference spanking and slapping an 18 month old's hands. This book was not for me!

I would highly recommend this book. I have read it twice-- first when my daughter turned 1, and a second time just now, now that my daughter is 20 months old. I have found it to be just as useful the second time around, since she has changed so much and I have seen so much more that I can relate to in this book.

This book has a really loving tone to it-- it reads like a knowing friend or relative who has raised many kids and is sharing her knowledge of one year olds that she has gathered over the years, through general observation and interaction. This book is even better than a knowing friend, though, because it has the scientific study behind it. I liked how it discussed 12-15 months, 18 months, 21 months-- the different phases of a one year old's life. Obviously each phase is a generalization, since no kid is going to develop at the same time, but it's nice to have a benchmark of what is average and normal.

I found myself almost shouting aloud at each chapter, because the book described so many things that I recognized in my daughter. I thought the book was describing my daughter personally! Things that, being a first time mom, I did not know was just a part of common child development. It was enlightening to find out that the behaviors I observed in my daughter-- the good and the bad, and all those cute little things she does-- are common in all kids this age. This is a fascinating book that has reinforced for me how wonderful children are, and how amazing child development is.

This book does a great job of describing what goes through a one-year old's head. What are they thinking about? What do they think is happening when they do something? It's really helped me to understand my daughter much better, and helps me to be much more empathetic, and I think a better parent, because I'm not unwittingly trying to push my daughter to behave beyond her age.

Make no mistake that this book was published a really long time ago, so you will find phrases or advice that is behind the times. The last chapter of the book, a Q&A of parents asking doctors for advice, is super out-of-date for anyone living in today's world. I don't feel that this section detracts from the overall quality of the book, though. I read through this chapter quickly just because I was curious, but I didn't take the information in the last chapter to heart, and anyone who enjoys the previous chapters could easily just skip this part and not feel that they are missing anything.

One really nice surprise about this book is that it is not about pushing a certain "philosophy" of parenting. I've read my fair share of parenting books and none of them appealed to me since too often they had one mindset, and everything in the book was about supporting that mindset. What if you just want to be regular parent, and not attach a label to yourself, like a Sears or a Brazleton or Harvey Karp? This book presents the information out there just regular, plain-spoken and non-judgmental, just plain ol' facts that they've gathered over the years, and we as the parent are left to do with the knowledge what we will.

The strength of this book is in its loving description of a child's mind, a child's normal development in terms of physical skills, and the thoughtful explanations of a child's motivations behind a behavior. One year olds don't go out-of-date, so the knowledge in this book is timeless.

This book was "okay". Simply stated, if you are looking for validation about your childs' behavior, get this book. It's just a commentary on observations of behaviors vs. in depth explainations about why they behave the way they do and how to truly cope. It was a bit too superficial for me as I was looking for strategies to help with the behaviors not just an overview of what a child of this age does. I found the most useful part the personal stories at the end.