Product Description

The "baby bible" of the post-Dr. Spock generation, already embraced by hundreds of thousands of American parents, has now been revised, expanded, and brought thoroughly up-to-date -- with the latest information on everything from diapering to day care, from midwifery to hospital birthing rooms, from postpartum nutrition to infant development. Dr. Bill and Martha Sears draw from their vast experience both as medical professionals and as the parents of eight children to provide comprehensive information on virtually every aspect of infant care. Working for the first time with their sons Dr. Bob and Dr. Jim, both pediatric specialists in their own right, the Searses have produced a completely updated guide that is unrivaled in its scope and authority. The Baby Book focuses on the essential needs of babies -- cating, sleeping, development, health, and comfort -- as it addresses the questions of greatest concern to today's parents. The Baby Book presents a practical, contemporary approach to parenting that reflects the way we live today. The Searses acknowledge that there is no one way to parent a baby, and they offer the basic guidance and inspiration you need to develop the parenting style that best suits you and your child. The Baby Book is a rich and invaluable resource that will help you get the most out of parenting -- for your child, for yourself, and for your entire family.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #533 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 769 pages

From Amazon.com
In their excellent (and hefty) resource guide, The Baby Book, attachment parenting specialists William Sears and Martha Sears have provided new parents with their approach to every aspect of baby care basics, from newborns to toddlers. Attachment parenting is a gentle, reasonable approach to parenting that stresses bonding with your baby, responding to her cues, breastfeeding, "wearing" your baby, and sharing sleep with your child. For those parents who worry about negative effects of this attention, the Sears say, "Spoiling is what happens when you leave something (or some person) alone on the shelf--it spoils."

From Publishers Weekly
William and Martha Sears, a pediatrician and a registered nurse respectively, team up with two of their doctor sons to update their 1993 guide to "attachment parenting." Advocating a "high-touch style of parenting to balance the high-tech life of the new millennium," the authors teach new parents how to bond with their babies through seven fundamental behaviors, including breastfeeding, "babywearing" and setting proper boundaries. When parents keep close to their babies by bringing them into bed at night and picking them up when they cry, the infants develop better, the authors argue; rather than becoming spoiled, they become more healthy and independent. From tips for a healthy birth, getting your baby to sleep and feeding him the "right fats," to information about early health concerns, the major steps in infant development and troublesome but typical toddler behavior, the authors of this comprehensive volume (who share their own parenting experiences along the way) are assured and reassuring experts.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
A pediatrician and an RN/childbirth educator have prepared a comprehensive guide for new parents. The authors encourage and describe "attachment parenting," a high-touch style that involves bonding, reading and responding to babies' cues, breastfeeding, and sharing the bed. Topics discussed range from birth and feeding to child safety and basic medical care. The discussion of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome includes 1992 research results and recommendations. This is the first title to discuss high-touch/attachment parenting in such detail, although Fitzhugh Dodson and Ann Alexander's Your Child: Birth to Age 6 ( LJ 11/1/86) covers many of the same topics. Because of its size and the need to refer to it frequently, the book would probably be most useful in parents' personal libraries. Recommended for public libraries and patient education collections.
- Mary J. Jarvis, Methodist Hosp. Medical Lib., Lubbock, Tex.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

WOHM who supplemented with formula loves this book
I think this book is full of very interesting and useful advice. Granted, I took the advice that applied to my situation and left the rest behind. I can't understand why some reviewers seem to think that they can only recommend books that completely agree with their views.

Unfortunately, I didn't buy this book until after my first child was born and I was having problems breastfeeding and getting him to sleep in his crib (and getting no rest myself in the process). I believe that if I had I read this book before my son was born, I would have had a much easier first couple of months. I used much of the advice in the book when my daughter was born and can say that her infancy brought us much more enjoyment and relaxation.

Yes, Dr. Sears is a breastfeeding, cosleeping, and attachment parenting advocate, but I consider him in expert in these areas. I much preferred the helpful breastfeeding advice in this book to the damaging breastfeeding advice I found in the What to Expect books. I welcomed Dr. Sears' comments that letting my child sleep with me wouldn't cause the psychological harm and bad habits that the What to Expect books lectured me about.

No, I'm not an attachment parent or a stay-at-home mom. I've used more formula than I'd like to admit. However, I found this book useful and informative and not at all "preachy."

I've given this book to several expectant mothers and have always been sincerely thanked.

Mixed review.
I think that this book is hands down the best medical source for parents of all the baby books I've gone through, and I've gone through plenty. However, I think that Dr. Sears greatly undersimplifies children's behavior, which I found very irritating. It just seems like the answer to EVERY behavioral problem is AP! And that just isn't the case. Children are more complex than that, and you don't even have to be a doctor to know that. For example, he talks about how much better babies sleep in "the family bed." My baby never ever wanted to be anywhere but his own crib, and to this day will ONLY sleep there.

Another thing that bothers me, and I know some here disagree, but Sears takes the hard-line on nursing, childbirth, attachment parenting and nutrition, but I feel that he wimps out when it comes to forming an opinion on daycare vs. at-home mothers. If you're going to express your opinion on everything else, why not this? (By the way, many mothers who stay at home do it because they believe it's the right thing for their child, and end up scrimping and saving, and NOT because they have loads of cash from their husbands' income!)

This is the bottom line: my advice is actually to buy this book. For me, the medical information was and is invaluable. Unlike a lot of these other reviewers, however, I never felt like a "bad parent" for not doing everything Dr. Sears recommended. I feel extremely secure in my abilities and instincts as a mother, so I really didn't care if I got the feeling that Sears would think I was doing my child a disservice just because he always slept in his own crib. If you can ignore this kind of thing too, I think you will find this book to be a great resource in other ways. One thing he says in this book is absoultely true, even applied to his own advice: if it doesn't feel right, DON'T DO IT! Remember that when you read this book, and don't be intimidated by the AP style if it's not for you.

They have done an amazing job!
Dr. Bill and his wife Martha have written a very helpful book for new parents and the "hot" topics every new parent faces regarding sleeping, breast feeding, and "spoiling". It reaffirms the instincts that most parents come fully equiped with but don't quite trust because of well meaning advice regarding "spoiling" Trust your instincts!
I have had the pleasure of knowing one of their sons, who is currently a second year resident. The proof is in the pudding. Obviously, their method of child rearing has been very successful. Their son is a kind, generous, and unassuming man. He will make an excellent doctor.
I urge new parents to read Dr. Sears and his wife's books. They have clearly practiced what they preach.