Infant-and-Toddler-Development Books

I see from many of the less than stellar reviews here that people are looking for practical guides to help them get their baby to sleep. While this book does offer very practical advice in one of its final chapters, the whole approach of this writer is to stress that you do what feels right for you and your child rather than follow any prescriptions.

I am currently three months pregnant and this is the third baby-related book I've read. The first two gave me a humorous/cutesy introduction to pregnancy and I was ready to move on to something more science and research-based. While this book isn't about the same topic, I would conclude that most other baby books are written in a very populist style so the people who gave negative reviews about this book here are taken aback by this writer's reliance on research to bring her points across.

I think it is the duty of every future parent to learn of the parenting methods out there and decide for themselves what is best for their baby and their way of life. The next book I'm reading is called The New Contented Little Baby Book by Gina Ford, which advocates the complete opposite approach to what Three in a Bed is about: the former prescribes very strict discipline and turning your child into a little robot, while the latter is all about listening to your instincts and letting the child's needs dictate your parenting. I am deliberately reading both because I want to hear both sides. My heart tells me Three in a Bed is the best, because I slept with my parents when I was little and I still recall the feeling of extreme comfort and security that I had at the time.

I put into practice nearly all of the advice offered in this book and found my experience to be as positive and rewarding as the author suggests. I felt very strongly about my desire to co-sleep with my son. This book offered me the support and evidence to back up my feelings and defend them to those who thought my decision was wrong and even dangerous. So many people told me my son would never want to leave my bed. This book explained why that did not have to be the outcome of co-sleeping with him. And as the book describes, he left my bed of his own accord, proud to be a "big boy" in his own bed! I highly recommend this book to anyone who might be considering co-sleeping with their infant!

This is the book I got right after my son was born, and I was exhausted from trying to get him to sleep in his crib. I was crying every time I failed and took him into bed with me. That was the only time we slept- him next to me, nursing. But the guilt was killing me! I didn't want to answer anymore "Is he sleeping through the night?" questions and I was getting a lot of advice like: "Once you out him in your bed- you'll never get him out!" This book, and it's well researched info changed my mind forever and after reading it, we got a bedrail and slept well every night since. Now my son is 3, and sleeps in his bed most of the time, but snuggles in with us and his baby sister when he needs it. It's not always comfortable, but kids are only small for a short time and someday, they'll be too big and to independent to snuggle with us like this! USE YOUR INSTINCT!

I bought this book and havent read it completly through yet. I currently fallow the concepts of attachment parenting, so I thought a book about co-sleeping would be my next good parenting read. I could pick up a horrible feeling from the author in just a few chapters. She writes making good arguments for sleep sharing, but makes it sound like we do it because we resent our babies and just dont want to have to deal with them crying. Yes, I choose to sleep share at first becaus eme and my husband got more sleep, but its not just about us, we actually enjoy having our son with us - being able to craddle him and really love him. This book makes co sleepers look bad, like we have some horrible motive and dont really do it for the bonding time with our babies. I say if you want to do sleep sharing it wouldnt hurt to read this book, but it is not the best to make you feel good about being a parent. I have read books by Dr William and Martha Sears and they have been the best I have found. They have a wide variety of books with topics such as sleep sharing, breastfeeding and baby wearing.

I bought this book because of the adorable cover photo and my interest in the topic of co-sleeping. I was looking for practical information and perhaps some personal anecdotes, but was very disappointed when I found a philosophical, awkwardly compiled volume. I found it to be so unreadable that I could not bear to finish it. Fortunately, I also purchased a book called Good Nights by J.Gordon M.D and Maria Goodavage, which provided the practical information I was looking for in a very enjoyable manner.

This book is okay. My husband is a tattoo artist, so I bought this for one of his friends when he had a baby. It's just not quite as funny as I thought it would be. Basically they put all of the funny items in the ad, and there isn't much else.

This is such a fun baby book.
We bought one for ourselves and two more for gifts.

Any new parent with a sense of humor will think this is a great shower gift.

This is perfect for the new generation of parents! my husband and I love this book!

This would be a great gift for new parents or parents-to-be. It's really more of something to look through and have a chuckle than an actual baby book to fill in. But, like I said, it's cute.

My mom gave me Baby's First Tattoo when I had my second child. Every time I look at it I crack up laughing. For three years I waited for someone I know to have a baby, and FINALLY I got to buy this book for someone else! If you actually fill out this book, you may need family therapy. Contact Dr. Phil ASAP. Every parent needs a good laugh, which this book easily provides. Need a place to save a smear of baby's first projectile excreta? Want to record the name of your nanny's first lawyer? Her second lawyer? How about a family tree with branches for everyone from Mom and Dad to "egg donor" and "Daddy's special friend?" Look no further, this book has it all!

I bought this book because I am a great admirer of Wurman. After I read 'Information Anxiety 2' I simply wanted to buy any piece of paper that he writes on it.

The book was a bit disappointing to me and to my wife. It may be because we already have a few different (and very good) pregnancy and birth books.

I expected practical information on each topic, such as helping tips about each period of pregnancy, the birth itself, and maybe tips for the first year. There are only two or three pages for each subject, though the graphics are really good and explain a lot. This book is very theoretical; it presents some numbers and overall information about parenthood.

It may be that my expectations were poorly based, but what can I do when authors do not authorize 'Look Inside' at Amazon?

I was looking for a book that would truly help me "understand" my baby, however, this wasn't the book. This book was fun in the sense that it had intersting facts and pictures, but it was much more of a coffee table book that a reference book. Choose a "What to Expect" book or a Dr. Sears book if you are looking for USEFUL information!!

I am an expectant parent and absolutely love this book. I have been using it throughout my pregnancy for prenatal tips and am now preparing for parenthood by reading into the rest of the book including what I need to buy, healthy sleep habits, feeding, child care and more. I highly recommend it to all parents of young children.

This book is simply amazing. It's loaded with (usefull) facts and info with everything you need to know from 0-3. It's highly stylized and I understand why some people would call it a "coffee table book". It's drawn up in a way that you can learn any fact in seconds. No piece of writing ever goes beyond 3 sentences (the average is 2) but that's the beauty, it's free of "fluff" and "filler" material.

This book gives you hard facts on what you need to know, such as how much you'll spend in diapers,food,etc to percentages on what kinds of parents there are (percents of interracial couples, divorced, adopted, etc) and there is never a point where you'll feel overloaded with facts.

As a person who studios ease of use and intuitive designs I would put this book on a pillar. They make what would normally be extremely boring or useless info and repackage it in a way that makes you want to read it and takes out the useless crap often found in fact like books.

After skimming this book, I can say I would probably never need to read another book on baby finance, basic health, care, how to raise, baby phsycotherapy, etc.

This is a must have for any soon-to-be mother or father.

I love this book! With limited time for reading, I find the format so easy to use. I've gone to it again and again when looking for infromation regarding my young child. I don't think any new parent should be without this!

I really enjoy reading the quick daily logs. It is fun to see if our daughter is on track or ahead of the curve.

This was fun to read for a while and it is often interesting when she gives developmental information. Where this breaks down is when she starts giving parenting advice. A lot of it's pretty outdated and frankly bad. Not that I was using this for parenting guidance or anything, but I found myself skipping over lots of sections. It also gets very repetetive after a while - the same things are repeated over and over in slightly different ways.

You'd be much better off with either a real journal if you want to take lots of notes (this has very little writing space and is really just a book) or get a good baby book for recording milestones and memories. You can get better developmental info on the web anyway - sites like babycenter.com send you weekly newsletters the first year that are better than what you find in this book.

this journal is really cool. i loved the pregnancy journal, i used that as soon as we knew we were pregnant and i loved the format! so when i heard there was a baby one, i was excited to get it! it is a great place to take notes on your baby as he grows. a 'normal' journal just doesnt work when you are a new mother! so this is a really great item!

This Journal is the best I found! I've used the exact same one for all 3 of my kids! What I love about it is it's not a daily journal, yet not a weekly journal. You put your entries in every 4-7 days! And there's great reading in between to keep up on the social, emotional and physical developments of your baby week by week! I never felt "overwhelmed" trying to fill these journals out. The space to write varies in length from 1/4 of a page to 1/2 a page which also helps reduce the stress of having to write a FULL PAGE everytime!

This is a nice book for a first time mom in those very early weeks when she is probably very nervous and unsure and might want a neutral source to refer to instead of listening to all the advice of well-meaning friends & family. After the first few months I rarely looked at it aqain though.

This book wasn't what I thought it was. Alot of the info in here is common sense and advise, but there is plenty of useful info reguarding free stuff and crafty ideas on how not to waste money on useless things that everyone tells you you need.

This book suggests a range of ways to save money. You're sure to find ideas that fit your lifestyle. The author discusses the most frugal options, such as breastfeeding, cloth diapering, and shopping at garage sales. However, if you're planning on using formula and disposable diapers, and want brand-name clothing, the author tells you how to save on those products as well. I highly recommend this book.

My husband and I are on a tight budget right now and this book has been very helpful, especially for first-time parents. It provides lots of practical advice and while some previous reviewers may claim it is all common sense, that is just not true. They have suggestions of things I would never have dreamt of (but are creative and useful from people who have already been there and have good suggestions to share.) I choose the tips that will be most useful to me and I am sure that I will come back to this book again and again.

This book has a lot of good ideas, but the name does not exactly fit. For example, there are many safety tips included. That's helpful, but the book is supposed to be about bargains. It does name websites you can go to, and other interesting ideas and tips. It's ok, but I was hoping for a little bit more from this book.

There are many problems with this book ranging from harmless to disconcerting. If you have done your homework by reading other books/leaflets, you will probably wish that this book was entitled "Do It Yourself Baby Rearing At Your Own Risk" instead of "1000 Best Baby Bargains". Here's a short list of the most troubling aspects of the book:

1. Overpriced for something that can be quickly read in an hour or two. Especially since most of the info is available for FREE if you go to Planned Parenthood (re: WIC), your OB, or your hospital's FREE intro sessions (e.g. in California they will give you a First 5 kit with even more valuable local support resources).

2. Even many of the do-it-yourself suggestions are not novel. If you're into sewing, you couldn't possibly miss the baby sections of the pattern catalogs. If you're not already into sewing, now is probably not the time to start for most people given that there is a learning curve, shopping, raging hormones at play, and perhaps unrealistic expectations about how great the final product will look on your first try.

3. The safety suggestions lack explanation and completeness. It is even shallower than what you will find in the FREE parenting magazines at your doctor's office.

4. Some info is downright wrong. Reusing breastpumps is not recommended because some of them, like the super popular Medela Pump-In-Style is not a closed system and thus there are some parts, exposed to breastmilk, which cannot be replaced. The replacement tubing offered by some hospitals cost upward of $70 (so new but simpler pumps may be cheaper). You can find this info for FREE at retail websites or through Medela's own FREE literature that is handed out at hospitals.

5. Some of the recommendations, e.g. modifying the holes in bottle nipples runs directly contrary to the manufacturer's recommendations printed on all nipple packaging. Sure, you can try to do it carefully as the book suggests but I think your baby is worth more than the $1 or less that you will save per nipple. Certainly you'll feel like an idiot if something truly awful happens.

I didn't read the entire book but what I read would indicate that one should be reading other books... in which case, why bother with this one? Btw, I found this book at my local library for FREE.

This book has that hard-to-find balance of great explanation of theory and practical application of that theory.

I've barely been able to set it down and has already helped me understand why my sweet even-keeled 2 year-old has become irrational (I know she's 2...) and emotional. But for me, understanding why 2 year-olds are so labile and illogical helps me respond better. Responding differently has helped our day go much more smoothly.

I found this book to have great information. Not only answers the what but the why as well.

I'm studying child development, so this book has been great! Very easy to read and filled with enjoyable stories. It may not be so useful to parents though. I tried to pass it along to someone I babysit for, and I think it was too over her head. I think it's a great overview though for people who already have a strong grasp of the basics of dealing with toddlerhood.

This book has been a great resource to me. As my husband was deployed overseas I suddenly became a "single parent" to a toddler...I was dealing with "normal" toddler behaviors, as well as separation anxiety. "The Emotional Life of the Toddler" has opened my eyes, given me insight into my child's personality and helped to make me feel less stressed by knowing these behaviors are characteristic of a toddler! Grab it up if you are struggling or want to better uderstand your position as a parent of a toddler! :)

The Emotional Life of a Toddler is a good book for you if you're interested in the attachment theory or attachment parenting viewpoint of toddler psychology, and this book does read like a psychology text. It offers some insight into the whys, which will help you understand your toddler as a whirlwind of emotion and contradiction; however, the book does not offer any hows for living day-to-day with your tot. Therefore, if you are looking for practical advice and tips, skip this book and head to Toddler 411, Pocket Parent, No Cry Discipline Solution, or the dozen of other books that address toddler behavior.

a must have. so unhappy that hv it when my daughter is 5mth now. but still help!!!!very organized &easy to follow. step by step method. highly recommended!!!

I loved the book. I would suggest it to all parents. If you are too lazy to build the crawling track then I don't know why you would read the book anyways. I suggest you watch some late night paid programming that guarantees the impossible with no work.

I did not find this book to be practical or helpful at all. Better books include: Einstein Never Used Flash Cards; Baby Minds; and Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten.

Several other reviewers have already praised this book, and so at first I was not going to add to the chorus. But then I noticed a few calling it "impractical" or "cheesy," and advising readers to "take it with a grain of salt." That got my dander up, so here goes:

I am well acquainted with the Doman program for neurological stimulation, since I took my brain-injured son (then 18 months old) to their Institutes in 1986 and kept him on their Intensive Program for the next four years. During that time, he went from complete immobility to walking with perfect coordination, among other astonishing improvements. (No one who knew him then would say that this "would have happened anyway.") The same techniques discussed in this book were part of his daily regimen back then.

Late in life, I became a parent again, and this time my son was born 7 weeks early. On discharge from the hospital, we found ourselves referred to numerous public agencies that proposed to follow our baby's development, since preemies often experience delays. I recoiled from those resources, because in my earlier experience they'd proved worse than useless. My first son wasted a precious year and a half of his early life while we waited for someone to tell us what could be done. Anyway, if this new baby might need extra help, I already knew to start providing it without waiting for him to start missing milestones.

An old friend who once worked at the Institutes mentioned that this book had recentely been published. I ordered it, built the crawling track per its specs, and am now beginning to admire the results. This baby is going to surprise some people when his next assessment comes up!

The point I hope to make with all this is that a baby emphatically does not have to be disabled or at risk to benefit from the kind of stimulation recommended by the Domans. Children -- and families -- can thrive on a joyously implemented home program. Such a program will always be misunderstood by folks who have some philosophical objection to the pursuit of excellence, and I have no patience for debating with them. But if you're intrigued, do consider it. While I think most stuff marketed to eager young parents is unnecessary at best, the information in this book is vitally important. If you're expecting a baby, please read it. If you know someone who's expecting, what a gift this would be!

Few modern, working parents (the author advocates against working mothers, by the way) have the time or resources to build the variety of apparatuses required for this program. Crawling track? Neck brace? Unlikely for most of us. Our parental instinct also (wisely) makes us wary of some of the more dangerous activities promoted by the author.

The book does, however, give readers some interesting tools for evaluating their babies' reflexes and developmental responses at a depth well beyond what pediatricians assess in routine visits. And it offers a variety of activities (again, employ your parental discretion) designed to demonstrate and build upon babies' natural abilities, as well as their desire to bond with their parents.

If you pick and choose, this book offers some valuable information and interesting activities. But take it all with a grain of salt....

I recommend these books (Your ONE Year Old, Your TWO Year Old, Your THREE Year Old, Your FOUR Year Old, Your FIVE Year Old, Your SIX Year Old, Your SEVEN Year Old, Your EIGHT Year Old, Your NINE Year Old, Your TEN-to-FOURTEEN Year Old. These books were writtten by Louise Bates Ames, PhD, Fances L. Ilg, MD and Sidney M. Baker MD of the Gesell Institute of Human Development. They are NOT a "how to" book for parents -- but rather provide a perspective of life from the child's various ages. I found the books to be of such value that I purchase the entire series for new parents. Somehow I forgot to purchase these books for my niece when she started her family. She expressed some concerns about her seven year old son's behavior (that I knew from experience to be that typical of seven year olds). I purchased the books from the series that will help my niece from here on. She LOVES them! I have a feeling she will use them and pass them along to other parents. My original set are part of my permanent library. I highly recommend these books for your permanent library as well!

Developmental pediatrics in under 125 pages! Who could ask for more? This book explains where your child is developmentally and describes what is happening in the minds and bodies at a given age. You can incorporate this information in to how you parent. It has the power to change how you see parenting and your child in a very powerful way. Enjoy!

What can I say, I love reading parenting books from the 1970s. It's not just the nostalgic pictures of kids wearing loud plaid pants and boys in wide belts that remind me of my own childhood, there's more to it than that. Having a four-year-old myself, I'm trying to figure out why there seems to be such a generation gap in the parenting style of the 1970s when I was raised and the present style. I'm sure one could make a whole dissertation on the subject which isn't my intention to do here, but one thing I notice that is refreshing about these old-fashioned parenting books is that they aren't so full of guilt-inducing admonishments like many books of today are. Of course, you need to use your own good judgement and common sense when reading the advice given here. For example, the authors say that most four-year-olds can play alone outside unsupervised and can run "small errands" as long as crossing the street isn't involved. Can you imagine any book or child expert giving such advice today?

As others have said, the real value of the book is that it describes the developmental behaviors that children at age four tend to go through. It's not exactly an advice book, and I wouldn't use it as such, especially as since many people have noted much of the advice is either out-of-date (rubber pants, for example) or objectionable to many people.

So why am I giving it four stars? Besides the fact that I love the "historical" nostalgic aspect, even if I didn't agree with all of the content, it is an honest book on a child's development. And when you can understand more about why your child is doing certain behaviors, it's much easier to deal with those behaviors.

I was looking for a short, easy to read overview about 4 year olds. I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on 1-3, but when our daughter hit 4, all control and understanding was lost! Ames' book really put the age in perspective -- she does a great job describing what's normal for 4. As a result, my husband and I felt a bit less isolated, more secure, and confident as parents.

I remembered this series from its assitance in raising my "first litter" of kids, who are now in their mid and late twenties. I have just finished re-reading this title in honour of my four year old youngest.

I gave the book four stars rather than five because, as other reviewers have noted, the book is 30 years old and in some places it's obvious that it hasn't been updated since then. I was occasionally really surprised at the flashbacks I got in reading what was once the "gold standard" in child development advice and realizing how odd it soudns today. There are places, especially in the second half of the book, where observation gives way to opinion and advice that is a relic of its time. (TV is good, kids 'need' to be ghettoized in schools 'for their own developmental good', and a goodly dose of "girls behave this way and boys behave that way, and you can predict behavior based on body type [whaaa?!?!].)

But kids themselves don't change that much -- kids develop today much the same way they developed 30 years ago and 300 years ago. (Oh, their interests and our expectations have changed a lot, but kids and their development patterns haven't.)

So if you're a reader who can sort observation from the opinions based on those observations, I would still recommend this book as a really good primer on what to expect from your child's physical, emotional, and intellectual development over the course of the fourth year. She pegs the changes in the developing child very accurately -- even if her ideas about what that means are sometimes a little wierd.

This record book is wonderful! It is very pleasing to the eye as well as practical. Many of the traditional baby record books had too many categories and information to fill in, some even had a spot for EACH day of your baby's first year! This book is extremely realistic and has all of the importnant information you would expect to find and even some blank Comment and Photo pages for things you and your family may find important but are not in the book, like family traditions or favorite pictures you have collected. I loved the book so much for my three year that when she was two, I purchased 2 more for future children!

Has anyone ever given a thought to the young children who are grossly exploited in ALL of ANNE GEDDES work. This woman has made her money off exploiting babies who have had their basic human rights taken away from them. This is a significant breech of human rights.

I have purchased this as a gift for my sis and bro-in-law who are expecting their first child. This is a beautiful memory book, and I can't wait to give it to them.
The photographs are lovely, and it has room for all of the important moments to be collected, written about, and then cherished.
Excellent!

The pictures were cute, but overpowered the layout of each page. I have twins, myself, and didn't think it was necessarily conducive to twins as mentioned in another review. I ended up getting a book that allowed more room for personal photographs and far more pages to keep track of my babies' first years.

When I adopted my daughter, I was thrilled to find such a gorgeous baby book to go with my gorgeous baby! My husband is her natural father and he filled me in on all the birth details and enjoyed helping to create her memory records in this edition. I shopped for months to find the perfect book to keep her records in - I especially wanted the perfect one for her because it's difficult to put together the details of the earliest records as a mother who wasn't able to experience the earliest days of my baby's life. This is the most beautiful record book ever, and now that we are expecting our second baby, I will definitely order one of the Anne Geddes editions for the new one, too!

Numerous times I've consulted this book and been hugely disappointed. Yes, the recipes at the end look nice and creative. However, they do not mention any recommended age (by the looks of them, they are o.k. only for babies over 1 yr).
Here is why I don't recommend this book as a reference-all option: 1) There are no real recipes for babies under 1 yr of age (there are 8 pgs of "recipes" for purées, if you can call "chop vegetables, microwave, purée and mix with formula" a recipe!). (to be fair, the description does say "specifically created to wean babies from soft foods onto solid "adult" foods when they reach the toddler stage"). 2) Out of 259 content pages, only about 10 of them explain what foods are recommended at what ages and why, and the explanations are very ambiguous.
Example: pg 42.Feeding your baby 8-12 months, what foods to serve now and how much: daily recommendations: infant formula 16-32 oz in 2-3 feedings; breastmilk 3-4 feedings; baby cereal 1/2 cup dry; fruits and vegetables 1-2 cups total puréed; meat 1-4 oz. chopped, cooked, fresh, ground, or finely chopped poultry or 1/2 jar puréed meat. Your infant might also have: full-fat yogurt and hard cheeses such as cheddar and cottage cheese, cooked and mashed legumes like lentils and garbanzo beans, cooked egg yolk, combos such as macaroni and cheese or spaghetti and meat sauce (ran through food processor). HOW MUCH?
That is ALL that is written about what to feed your baby from 8-12 months!
3) (why i don't like it, cont'd) There are no tables that show food appropriateness by age anywhere in the book (no quick reference), and there are a lot of foods that are not in this book. For example, you cannot open this book and find out when you can feed your baby cherries.
4) there are about 150 pages of just boring reading. Sure, most of it is useful knowledge (e.g., wash your hands before you prepare baby food; babies need a certain amount of fat and the scientific explanation why), and all parents should probably read this information. However, not much of it is really practical as far as helping you create a plan for feeding your baby from ages 6-12 months.
5) most of the recipes involve microwave cooking, and some involve opening packets of pre-made mixes. I personally prefer knowing how to make things from scratch.
6) none of the recipes talk about how to store the food or how long it can be kept for.
What's good about this book: 1) Mostly accurate nutritional information; 2) explains why junk food is bad for toddlers; 3) has growth charts in the back; 4) a small section of "better than store-bought" recipes which unfortunately are hidden in the midst of a chapter about grocery shopping.
Sorry to say it, but I've found much more helpful info [...] See also my reviews on SO EASY BABY FOOD by Joan Ahlers, and WHAT SHOULD I FEED MY BABY by Susannah Olivier. (I bought three books because I never found just one that covered everything).

Just what I was looking for. This book referenced all of my concerns and shared a few good recipes too. Whenever I need inspiration, I pull it from the shelf.

I 100 times prefer anabel karmels cookbooks, this really was written as if for an idiot.

This book provides actual recipes and tips for getting even finicky eaters to try foods. What I love is that it spells everything out for you in a fun-to-read format. It underscores what vitamins and minerals are essential for your baby's needs and how to get aorund the most picky of eaters, of which my son is one. At least there are many options, so that if one recipe doesn't work, there are dozens more to try. I highly recommend this one.

I recently purchased The Complete Guide to Feeding your Baby and Toddler for a baby shower gift, and I wish it had been available when I was a first time mother. It is simple, well organized, and it is NOT filled with impossible to make baby foods. I especially like the supermarket section. I highly recommend this book to first time moms and for moms who have picky children.