Infant-and-Toddler-Development Books

Hi! I live in Japan and am a children's language school owner. This book is a must read and important reference to anyone serious and committed to teaching children, particularly children as a life's work. I'm still working through the book (even on the train!) and I am now have a great new reference written from an expert in the field. It's like having a licensed co-worker along side with me! Thank you Dr. Charlesworth for your jewels of information, particularly over here in Japan!

Tim Dickens
Owner of Tim's Kids

Charlesworth, the jack-of-all-trades early childhood writer, gives her version of a child development text, and resultingly produces a gold star effort namely because of her super-extreme focus on details.

She begins with a "how-to" perspective on understanding development then proceeds from prenatal development to the culminating whole child. Lots of pictures, lots of charts, lots of side articles...and PLENTY of research citations for further study and scrutiny.

Get it.

So I read a lot of Amazon reviews on controversial books. Reviews regarding books on politics, religion, philosophy, evolution, and music (particularly anything that tries to call itself punk) all have their share of condescension and bad blood, but I have never encountered the venom and vitriol as I have when reading reviews of baby books. I read parts of or skimmed most of the popular ones on a range of positions on the attachment-schedule continuum and each seemed to have strengths. So, while I really don't believe any method is perfect for all children, I can report that Weissbluth knows my little girl better than I do when it comes to sleep.

We did not have to try very hard to get on this schedule after the first couple months. The key insight for me was that the earlier you put your infant to bed the better (and later) they will sleep. Our daughter was regularly sleeping for twelve hours each night by 3 months. It seemed like each time we ran into problems we went to this text to read on the life stage and usually fond that it was a problem that Weissbluth had anticipated and offered advice for. I am sure this will not be the case for all kids. I am only offering you anecdotal evidence. But if your child is anything like ours, I highly recommend this book.

Another benefit of this book is that it actually includes graphs and statistics. I was completely flummoxed that a `science' as important as raising your child would be passed on to us the masses in such a completely unsubstantiated way. I can not believe that there are not many other parents out there that require empirical warrant for the positions they take on this subject. So while Weissbluth did not even come close to providing the kind of data I was looking for, he at least included some, which puts him in a class of his own.

This book sometimes gets a bad rap for being too harsh in its methods. Not every parent agrees with the extinction method (also known as letting your baby "cry it out"). Letting your baby cry is hard, that's for sure, but IT WORKS. My sister got me this book when I was pregnant with my daughter, who was born in 2005. She is now 3 and a champion sleeper, thanks our adherence to the recommendations and methods in this book. My son, who is 8 months old, was a great sleeper from the day he was born, but developed the habit of getting up every 2 hours to nurse at night after his 6 month growth spurt. After two months of exhaustion (and one cranky, overtired baby), I finally got around to reading Dr. Weissbluth's chapter on Months Five to Twelve, especially the section on correcting sleep problems. Although I've read the whole book many times in the past 3 1/2 years, it was still helpful to review Dr. Weissbluth's ideas.
I realized that I was reinforcing my son's bad habit by getting up to feed him every time he made a sound at night. The first night of the extinction method, my son cried for TWO AND A HALF HOURS (from midnight to 2:30am). It was agonizing not to get up to comfort him. [This is the part where you need your spouse to be committed to this 100% because when you are ready to get up and go to your baby, you need your significant other to grab your hand and reassure you and remind you why you're doing this in the first place (or even to physically restrain you).]
The second night, my son slept for 10 hours straight (and so did I, without even getting up once to make sure he was okay, if that tells you how tired I was). IT WAS AMAZING.
It might take more than one night (Dr. Weissbluth says that the average is about 3 days/nights to reset the sleep schedule), but trust me, it really works. You have to steel yourself for a few difficult nights, but it's really worth it in the long run.
This book has been my bible whenever we encounter a sleep problem!

I love this book for toddlers (one year plus). We co-slept with our daughter until that age, then moved her into her own crib. I'm not sure we could have done it without this book. This book is excellent for sleep problems with toddlers, absolutely amazing.

Our daughter refused to stay in her big girl bed until we established a system of sleep rules and rewards. The sleep rules we have chosen are: 1. stay in bed 2. be quiet 3. close your eyes 4. go to sleep. Our daughter gets a cookie every morning if she followed the sleep rules. Same deal (an additional small treat) if she stays in her bed until morning.

I would not use this book for infants unless you are prepared to let your baby cry it our for hours.

I could not have lived with out discovering this book with my first child and I am glad that I kept it around for my second child. OUR LIVES REVOLVE AROUND THIS BOOK!!! I get one for all my friends that get pregnant and they also love it.

Dr. Weissbluth saved my life! After 9 months of my son not sleeping, I thought I was going to lose my mind. Dr. Weissbluth's advice got him sleeping through the night almost immediately and pretty painlessly. I had tried everything else, and had read every sleep book, but nothing else worked. It's the combination of things that Dr. Weissbluth suggests that works. I highly recommend this book!

Don't waste your money on a bunch of baby books ... this one is encyclopedic and contains everything you need to know.

A friend of mine just lent me this book because she said everything I did with my 2 1/2 year old is in the book, which I had never read. I had the What to Expect books that someone had bought for me, but I didn't really like them and I did my own thing. I didn't realize it was called attachment parenting, I thought it was just common sense. I had a natural homebirth from the beginning with my husband and midwives. Sure, we were scared when they left us without an instruction manual, but we just figured it out. I nursed and slept and was on her schedule, which worked out for us. We coslept with our baby and I carried her in my kangaroo pouch wherever we went. Intimacy was not a problem, because we don't have the "night time only rule" in our house. We have a pretty laid back kid who loves to travel via airplane and car. She's never had a schedule, she's too busy having fun. We know friends who are tied down to schedules and their kids seem to cry an awful lot. Who wants to hear a kid cry all the time? Not us.

The Baby Book is the perfect gift for a first-time mom, pregnant friend, or any new family. It is written with a light, gentle and positive tone, but is eye-opening at the same time. On the surface, it seems to be a "baby guide" like so many others on the market, but The Baby Book is different.

Dr. Sears and his family coined the term "Attachment Parenting," which is a philosophy of parenting that embraces instinctual bonding behaviors like breastfeeding, babywearing and cosleeping. If these terms are foreign or even off-putting to you, that's okay. The Baby Book contains all the fun facts to prepare and guide moms and dads with new babies. It just adds another dimension, empowering parents to care for their children with respect, and encouraging them to develop a deep relationship that can carry them through countless tough decisions in a lifetime.

Rather than parroting the tired mantra of "check with your doctor," The Baby Book presents the data you need to make informed choices on your child's behalf, or tells you where to find it if you want to know more. And you will want to know more after you read this book. It will give you the sense that it's okay to question the status quo and make your own way as a parent.

If you think you are the type of parent who likes to take charge of your child's health and well-being, rather than leave it up to an "expert" who hardly knows him (aka the pediatrician), I would also recommend reading Healing Our Children: Because Your New Baby Matters! Sacred Wisdom for Preconception, Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting (ages 0-6) by Ramiel Nagel.

This IS the best baby book you could ever get yourself. With kid #2 it's still my bible. If you want to be an informed parent and are willing to choose the very best approach to child rearing (not always the easiest!), but the most mindful approach of the very best interest of your child, then this will be your favorite baby book too. And Dr. Sears doesn't disregard an individual's choice (dictated often by life's challenges and circumstances). He provides a wealth of information and support to everyone no matter what path your on despite his obvious promotion of what he, as an experienced physician and father, believes is the healthiest (body, mind, and soul!)approach to child rearing for the whole family.

I love this book! It is informative and down to earth. I read it cover to cover with my first child, and now I am re-reading it with my second child. I give this book as a gift to my friends who are new Moms. I have found this book to be a most useful resource!

My son and his wife have included me in the adventure of their first baby by telling me about this great idea/book. This book gives clear instructions and pictures so we can all be on the same page, pun intended, to help their son learn how to communicate with us before he has language. What a super idea!!!!

Heard from a friend about baby signing, didn't think that it worked until I tried it. This book gives you the basic idea of what, when and how. Good book easy to understand.

After reading a lot of good reviews on this book, I decided to buy. Unfortunately, after getting it and reading it, I realized that it's not as good as I thought. Doesn't provide much photos or pictures. The content is alright just too little visuals. Disappointed with the purchase.

I have learned sign language and I don't understand the reviews that say this isn't pure enough sign language. The signs that they give in the guide are almost entirely pure sign language signs and they point out the instances where the signs they are giving aren't true ASL. I think a lot of the beauty of this program is that you DON'T have to be fluent in ASL to be able to use it. The program they are suggesting is very simple and very effective. Who wouldn't want to be able to communicate better with their baby?

We are going to try using baby sign language with our daughter when she's old enough. The deciding factor was my one-year-old niece that can wave bye-bye and blow kisses but gets frustrated when she can't express something that she wants or when we don't understand her. She's obviously ready to learn to use signs since she knows 2 already and her parents weren't even trying. The Baby Sign book is an easy read with good suggestions and a glossary in the back- we can't wait to start teaching our little girl!

The title of this book is what got my attention. I was very pregnant and extremely exhausted when I found it and I was not looking forward to potty training my very difficult 3 1/2 year old son. I picked up the book thinking I'd use it after the new baby had arrived and things had settled down, but that was not to be. My MIL called wanting to know how the potty training was going and that was it. We knew she wasn't going to let up.

Soooo, I started planning our potty party, fully expecting to fail miserably. We couldn't find the peeing doll, improvised on the dolly underwear by cutting off the toes of my husband's old socks and snipping each corner off for the dolls legs to fit through and we weren't able to get everyone out of the house during the day, but other than that, we stuck to the book as closely as we could.

The day came for my son's Lightning McQueen party and despite my husband's awesome decorating job that he pulled off BY HIMSELF while the rest of us were sleeping, things didn't start off too great. When it came time to pop the videos in, the first couple bombed and I was ready to give up. However it came time to try a video again, we slipped Potty Power - For Boys & Girls into the player and even though my son tried to resist, it was futile. He couldn't stop himself from singing along with the various potty songs which just happened to correspond quite nicely with Teri Crane's book.

By the end of the day, my son was throwing away his diapers and putting forth a real effort to get to the potty on time. Within a week or two he was dry all day.

He did continue to have accidents at night, but once we figured out he had a gluten intolerance and cut dairy, wheat, corn and peanut butter out of his diet, he stopped wetting the bed!

I think this book and Potty Power were the perfect combination for my son's needs.

This method really works. I bought several books to give away in my church to young mothers wanting to make money by offering potty training services.

I read 3 other potty training books by so called "experts" and none of them worked. This is hands down the best book I read, and more importantly, it worked. If you take the time to read and implement, you will get the results you desire.

Men's Health magazine wrote a 3 page article on this book in their Sept. '08 issue.

I was so desperate to finally try a book that really worked! Too many of the potty training books out on the market today all rehash the same "old" tired toilet training tips. Teri Crane's book is unique in its ideas and a great read. Her secret is to throw a potty party. And if you think about it--what child doesn't love to play and pretend. With a few decorations that my son Nicolas loved, he became putty my instructional hands. And the best part--I didn't have to spend a lot of money. My son was having such a blast during our potty party--he didn't even realize he was being toilet trained.

I read a few of the unfavorable reviews for this book and am really glad I kept an open mind. You can make this whole experience as lavish or economical as you wish. We probably spent about $40 on the entire party. Trust me, $40 is nothing compared to the $800 or more we were spending on disposables every year!

The whole idea of making potty training "fun", is simply brilliant! As a Dad, I can honestly say I was dreading the whole idea of potty training. But this book actually made it a great bonding experience with me and my little guy.

I was so impressed with Teri Crane's book on how to "Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day" that I read it twice just to make sure I didn't miss anything. Her techniques work ! I highly recommend her method to anyone who has reached this milestone in his or her child's life. I hope Teri is in the process of writing another insightful book for us.

Sincerely,
M. P. Sullivan

I am writing this for my daughter who had a colicky baby even though she was totally breastfed. Life was miserable for months. Vicki purchased the Dr. Sears colic sling and tried all of the other suggestions. Within a week, peace was restored! We now have a happy baby and happy parents. Symptoms are almost gone. They were all so stressed and exhausted, they were in a vicious cycle...like a dog chasing it's tail! Thank God for William & Martha Sears!

After reading this book I was a little disappointed. Yes it talks about how to work with a "high need child" The Book should probably been titled more like that. I have a fussy baby, but after reading the book, I realize he is not a "high need baby". The problem is due to earlier medical issues and now problems with finding a good formula and introducing foods. The chapter that they said would cover this topic was mostly centered around breastfeeding issues, and very little on formula fed babies and feeding solids. I know that once my son "feels" better than he is not fussy. I have taken him to the doctor and they have said he is just "colicky" and thats that. I am looking for other things to try and more solutions...turning to this book I had hoped to find it and was disappointed. It is not for a "fussy" baby its for a "high need Baby".

I would tell anyone with a fussy baby to read this book. From cover to cover Dr. Sears nailed the definition of a "high-needs" baby. I felt as if he wrote the book about me and my baby. It was so encouraging to know that there wasn't anything "wrong" with my baby or with the feelings I had about her being so fussy-which is a big deal to parents of a high-needs child; most people just don't "get it". I still (my baby is now 9 months) pull this book out when we are going through a rough patch; it's very reasurring to me and reminds me that I am doing the right things for my baby.

My daughter was "colicky" for exactly 4 months and 9 days. Yes, you may not believe it when people say stuff like that, but it literally disappeared overnight. During these 4 months I was tired, stressed out, and confused as to why she was so unhappy all of the time.

Unfortunately, "The Fussy Baby Book" was the first book I read to try and find some answers and help. I couldn't even finish the book because by three-quarters of the way through I felt so guilty that my instincts seemed to differ so much from what the Sears' were describing. I needed a book that would tell me that this was just a phase that would eventually pass and I would get through it a stronger person, but instead I was told that my "high needs" baby was always going to be this way and I better learn to deal with it. Talk about a feeling of hopelessness!

There is a lot of good information in the book as well, which is why I gave it 3 stars, but most of that information I found during internet searches before I ever bought the book anyway. The overall feelings of guilt and hopelessness that I got from this book stuck with me a lot longer than any of it's good information did.

If you read this book and do not find it to be the answer, please be sure to check out these books:
1) "Your Fussy Baby" by Marc Weissbluth (Scattered writing, repeats himself a lot, and not so good as a reference, but he's really onto something with his sleep research and it will probably make you feel better about your overall situation because you will probably be able to relate to a lot of what he says - and a big point he makes is IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT AND THIS WILL END, which is definitely what I needed to hear after reading "The Fussy Baby Book"!)

2) "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Harvey Karp (I rented the DVD, which is probably the better way to go since you can actually watch him using his techniques. They really are amazing and although they don't always work with a colicky newborn unless you practice A LOT, the basics are good and we still use some of them to this day - and my daughter is 14 months old now!)

3) "Good Night, Sleep Tight" by Kim West (We didn't use this book until my daughter was 6 months old, but it was such a miracle that I wonder what would have happened if we tried out the "Sleep Lady" methods when she was going through her colicky phase! Definitely useful to have around as it is a quick read and it covers sleep issues from birth to age 5 and for the most part is adaptable to most parenting styles.)

Good luck!

"High Needs" and "Colic" are very different.

If you are going to buy this book, understand that colic babies get over their colic and then they are usually "normal" babies.

High Needs babies usually don't have colic, they are just needy ALL the time. Mine hated the swing, the stroller, the car seat, the crib, everything that wasn't me holding him ~ facing out so he can see the world. I wondered if he was in pain, I wondered why no one else's baby seemed as needy as mine, I wondered what I was doing wrong. The doctors would just shrug at me, my friends didn't understand life with this kind of baby, and I was exhausted trying to keep my baby happy.

In my heart I knew that he was like a 2 year old trapped in a baby's body. Now he's a very perceptive 9 year old and that needy behavior has turned into a deep, loving, sensitive, and happy little boy who still prefers time with mom over anything in the world ~ in confident and secure way, not needy anymore. I'm so glad I didn't try and turn him into what I thought a "normal" baby should be ~ he wasn't wired that way. He needed me, I was there, and now we are still so very very bonded.

My 2nd child was a "normal" baby, and I didn't need Dr. Sear's book ~ she ate, slept, and smiled just as I expected a baby to do. She also had colic ~ once 4pm started she was a crying mess for hours every night. That was different, it was colic. She was a good baby the rest of the time and by 4 months the colic was over. She's 5 now and still sleeps, eats, and everything else like a typical little girl, thank God, because I didn't have much left of me after the first year of my High Needs baby.

This was a GREAT book that I highly recommend!! Be sure and read his intro that describes how he learned about "High Needs".

Amy Siefker
amyskis@yahoo.com

This is a great book if you are having twins. I read it cover to cover & then certain sections a second time. I really love the "Roundtable Talk" where parents of twins discuss a topic. There's nothing like hearing helpful hints & advice from people who have actually have twins. I also found the resource guide in the back of the book very helpful.

This is a great book for an overview of what to expect when you're expecting twins. We've bought other books and this one has been spot on about symptoms and development. It is posative and upbeat and really covers alot of concerns one may have. I bought the La Leche Leagues guide on twins and it mostly covers breast feeding, we bought another book that was too vague, this one is great and gives you an idea of what's to come, questions to ask your care provider and more. In a nutshell, this was a really good book for those expecting twins.

I didn't much care for this book. I found it to be a compilation of all the generic advice found in the non-multiples books. For example, the recommendations on weight gain tell you how much to gain by trimester, while the Barbara Luke book recommends weight gain by week according to starting BMI. I was also frustrated on several occasions to read what I felt were opinionated statement later on in the book about what not to do during an earlier stage (for example, I remember something along the lines of "whatever you do, don't announce your twin pregnancy before week 13" far along in the book, rather than early on- not only is this the author's strong opinion, it also came a bit late if you didn't do as they recommend).

I found this book to be full of very good information for my twin pregnancy. I really enjoyed the roundtable discussions at the end of every chapter.

I am not sure if there is any good book out there to prepare you for twins but if I had to choose one of the 3 books I picked I would choose this one as the best. It had lots of good info that I needed before I had the twins but after the twins came I found that What to Expect the 1st year was the best.

I did not like this book at all. I hated the authors style of wrting, her personal views & found it very diffcult to read. Don't waste your time. Instead, try "Twins!" By: Connie Agnew, Alan Klein & Jill Ganon - it was a GREAT book if you are having twins!

My daughter is the proud mom of twin girls and found this book to have a lot of helpful and down to earth information on twin pregnancy and raising twins.

While on bed rest, I read many books in preparation for the birth of my twins, and Cheryl Lage's "Twinspiration" was by far the most helpful and most enjoyable book in the bunch. Lage writes in an informal tone, offering practical advice--with a bit of light-hearted humor--as she shares her personal experience as a mom of twins.

The chapters on breastfeeding are particularly useful, as this is a real challenge with twins. She talks about the different holds, the importance of working with a lactation consultant, mastitis, and many other issues that any mom interested in breastfeeding should know.

Aside from lots of good tips on the logistics of life with twins (how to get twins on a schedule, how to pack a diaper bag, how to maneuver a double stroller, etc), Lage emphasizes the amazing gift it is to be the mother of two precious babies at once and reminds readers to enjoy it, because it goes so quickly.

I highly recommend that twin-moms-to-be read this book BEFORE the babies arrive, as it is a good foundation for that first year (and who has time to read after the twins come home?). An excellent book!

This book was awesome! I received it as a gift at my shower...and read the entire book within a week! I would recommend this book to anyone who's pregnant with twins!

Twinspiration is a fantastic book for individuals looking for a personal and pragmatic approach to managing the birth and care of twins. Ms. Lage has written from the heart about her own experiences as a mother of twins and offers guidance resulting from those experiences. Her book is packed with relevant information about how to prepare for twins (from pregnancy to what you'll need before you bring them home), how to manage the needs of two babies simultaneously and how to manage your life post twin birth. She leaves no stone unturned. The majority of the book addresses the nitty-gritty reality of having twins at home. Some examples include: holding and feeding two babies at one time, coping when both infants need you at once, managing two baby carriers, grocery shopping and maneuvering a double stroller. Believe me, these are things that will matter, particularly if you've never had children before. She also thoroughly addresses concerns, considerations and other practical matters during pregnancy.
When you read Twinspiration, expect a book that will prepare, encourage, reassure and make you laugh. I found it to be invaluable.

Wow what a page turner! The beging starts out slow but then it gets really good. This book does a good job of explaining why to do certain things backed up by good research. I'd call this an importent book for parents to read. Wish the author would add to this a toddler book. Worth every penny!

This book is amazing, showing us, the parents, just what our babies really can do! The authors empasize on the importance of the childs emotions, how to connect with your baby in a way that will not only teach your baby but give them a loving relationship to bond with their parents. This book is an excellant choice for anyone who wants to look beyond their childs outerbeing and really understand so much more.

Mother of 4

I loved Baby Minds. While browsing for "games" books for my future first child, I stumbled upon this one and decided to buy it. Although there aren't many brain-building games, there are quite enough for a great start. What I especially liked are the explanations before the activities. I really felt like the authors researched a lot for this book and they made me understand that babies have a lot of potential we can help them reach with simple activities. Most people keep saying that babies don't do anything for months and I now realize that maybe they're the ones not doing anything. Well worth my time and money!

..most of the practical advice is stuff anyone who keeps up with the popular press is already aware of -- e.g. reading to your child is good, etc...the underlying purpose of the book, I suspect, shows up in chapter five where the authors excitedly announce "Parents wowed by babies' sign language"...of course, the authors started "Baby Signs" and sell "baby Signs" stuff by the truckload...but I guess that doesn't affect their opinion...

One of the other reviewers noted that this book has a deceptive title, and I completely agree. There are very few games in this book, and most of them aren't really games--they're more like tricks. The book is about how babies learn and how their brains develop, not about games that you can play to help them grow.

If you want to know about child development, then it's a fine book. But if you want a book with ideas for games to play with your baby, you don't want this book.

Every year or so I pull out this book and reread it.
The first time I thought it was fluff and gave up on it (when my first child was 1 year old).
With each passing year I reread it and I find the book gets better.
Now with a 5 year old and another who is 18 months, on my 4th rereading I'm finally getting the Zen of the book. The book hasn't changed, it's just taken me this long to get it. Thank goodness I was able to cut through the paradigm fog.
This isn't a how-to-solve-a-parenting-problem book (say, like "Positive Discipline" or "What to Expect"); it's more a how-to-BE-a-parent book.
As I wisened up as a parent, this book improved, too.

The format is lots of short self-contained chapters which make for thoughtful but easy reading (well-crafted as opposed to substance free) for parents who have a hard time finding more than 15 minutes of peace to read.

Other reviewers have said the same, but I have to put my two cents in. While this book seems like it would be just up my alley (interested in "simplifying" childhood for my young'uns), instead it served to frustrate and annoy me. Do these people have more than one children? Comments like "never leave the baby in a carseat unless you're in a car" are ridiculous. And to insist that babies are never "bored"? Even babies like a change of scenery occasionally. These authors would have you leave them laying on the floor on their backs all the time. Nice theory until they start to fuss...and are perhaps happy in a seat or exersaucer for a few minutes! Some of the stories and comments are interesting, and I found myself unable to give up the book even though it raised my blood pressure as I read it but frankly, I'm glad I took it from the library instead of paying good money for it. If you're in for a guilt trip, read this. Otherwise, you might just skip it. (Oh, and DON'T buy this gift for a new mom. No new mom should have to feel guilty about giving her kid a pacifier or using the carseat as a nice cosy place to nap.)

I was very optomistic about this book, thinking that it placed an emphasis on how to interact with babies and kids without the unnecessary overlays of too much technology and toys. This book basically regurgiates the philosophy of RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers by Magda Gerber). This way on interacting with children is all about respecting them as individuals. However, the belief system is not based on well researched concepts such as that children need boundaries and are not always ready for excessive verbal diatribes on why it is wrong to hit others. Additionally, this book flies in the face of an abundance of research on attachment theory. The authors often note that babies need private time and should "self soothe". Babies need private time about as much as LA needs more plastic surgeons. Babies need touch ,responsive parenting, and lots of affection and unconditional love. Self soothing is clearly not beneficial for babies as studies show that babies who are well responded to are more well adjusted children, are more independent, and more able to be flexible. This book was truly disapointing and beyond that, could really do some damage. There were one or two decent (albeit somewhat obvious) chapters regarding how kids need unrestricted and unstructured play time, and on the need to not expose young kids to so much media.

I'm a stay-at-home mom, and my favorite part about this book was that the chapters tended to be short--mostly about 3 to 5 pages, I'd say. This happens to correspond pretty well to my son's attention span at 5 months.

I think that if you agree that simplicity, not commercialism, is the key to raising a successful, happy child these days, you will enjoy this book. I found the writing to be encouraging at least, inspirational at best.

As other reviewers have commented, this is not a how-to book full of ideas of simple ways to raise a child. It's more like a series of meditations, which may inspire ideas of your own.

Furthermore, while I generally agree with theh authors' stance that babies don't need all these expensive bavy toys, I disagree that these toys are bad. I happen to own a jumperoo and keep an exersaucer at my parents' house. I feel that neither of these toys "trap" my sn, as the book suggests. Likewise, we have a play gym. I chose the kind with repositional bars, so that my son can play beside the hanging toys instead of being trapped under them. In my experience, babies will not amuse themselves for long periods of time lying on their backs staring at the ceiling, and when I need a few minutes to prepare something on the stove, I find these toys invaluable. In this regard, I found the book extremely preachy and condescending.

However, these moments were few and far between, and I definitely recommend the book if the main principal appeals to you and you are looking for a source of confirmation and reinforcement.

I found this book while actually looking for another one. Although it is a relatively short book, it contains a treasure of information. The book is divided into very short chapters, and each is dealing with a different aspect of child rearing (TV, potty training, etc.). It is written with tremendous respect to the body and soul of the growing child, without neglecting the parent and his/her needs. I was amazed with how intricate and deep can a few-pages-long chapter be. And it was.
Any parent who is close to the views of this book will find a valuable companion to the (sometime impossible) life task of raising a child in a complex world. Enjoy it.