Infant-and-Toddler-Health Books

I think this book is very helpful for moms. It has a great breakdown of what foods you should introduce with every month, and how much the baby should be taking. (It's always best to double check with your physician though to make sure they're in agreement.) The recipes are also broken down by the baby's age which is very helpful. The recipes are also easy to make and understand. Unlike other baby cookbooks that made me feel guilty if I wasn't making my cereal from scratch this book is upbeat, helpful and easy to read. I've already bought three copies for myself, my mom (my daytime caregiver) and a friend, and plan to buy more copies for friends who are having babies. It also discusses the importance of organic and all-natural food for babies.

This cookbook is great. Its an ideal starting point for cooking for your baby. I really liked learning about using soy to help your baby get protein so you dont need to rely on meats. Soy is such a great and easy as well as cost effective protein source. I would esp recommend this book if the baby is vegetarian or has a restrictive diet.

I found this book to be very informative and containing all of the information I was looking for. I don't want to only feed my baby rice cereal and single ingredient fruits and vegetables for the 6th - 12th months. This book gives quite a variety of ideas for blending grains, beans, fruit, vegetables, pastas and yes - meats as well as tofu type options. I was thrilled to find recipes for teething biscuits and graham crackers. I made one of the recipes for blended cereal with beans, brown rice, sesame seeds, and few other things. After I cooked it I had to leave, so I stuck it in the fridge. When I came home it had really thickened up, much like slow cook oatmeal does after it sits. Instead of thinning it with more water, I rolled bits of it into pea-sized balls and gave those to my son as finger food. He ate them right up! I didn't have to sweeten it or blend with fruit or anything.

The recipes are not broken down by age, but by meal category instead. The appropriate ages are listed very clearly at the bottom of each recipe. Some reviewers complain that there are few recipes for 6-8 months old. Shouldn't you be going through new foods one at a time during those two months to determine food sensitivities anyway? Eggs are an ingredient in some of the bread recipes. Citrus, milk, and honey are also ingredients for 10 months and up, but since they are cooked in the recipe, they hold no health threat like the raw forms do. Besides, it's recomended that milk not be given as a beverage for children under 1 year because of the propensity for children to choose the cow's milk over breast milk or formula and thus not getting the proper nutrition out of it. Eggs are cautioned against because of the allergenic properties in the whites, not the yolk. So use you own judgement with those recipes. Finally, yes, some of the recipes call for butter and spices, but don't most parents start giving their children food off their own plate containing these itmes as their children's teeth start coming in?

This book really is a great resource for those who desire to give their children the best food they possibly can without the boredom and unhealthy additives that most pre-packaged baby foods contain. Perhaps some of those who gave negative reviews need to start using some common sense and think for themselves for a change.

This book is divided into breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack etc sections. Throughout the sections are ideas for babies 8 months and up and 10 months and up. Very few recipes are for babies 6-8 months. Flipping through the book to find age appropriate recipes is very frustrating since they are divided by meals instead of age. The book also introduces foods for babies 8-12 months that my pediatrician recommended waiting to introduce until after the first year. The book includes recipes for citrus fruits and eggs. The authors include soy and tofu recipes rather than many meat recipes. So for those planning to introduce their baby to meats around 9 months or older, this is not the book for you. I found some of the recipes overly simple--ones that I could have thought up myself-such as apples and apricots (simply steaming and then blending the two fruits). Other recipes seemed to complicated and two advanced for the age group recommended such as the wild mushroom soup made with onion and olive oil--for ages 8 months and up. This book does have some fun recipe ideas but many of them can be made if you are simply creative in trying fruit, veggie, and meat blends.

I bought this book based on others' reviews and because I wanted to make healthy food for my 6 month old. Right off, I realized this isn't the book I wanted. They only have about 2 maybe 3 recipes for 6 months olds, so this book is better for older babies and toddlers. The authors talk about introducing egg yolk at 7 months. My pediatrician told us to wait until a year old for eggs. Also, they have recipes for citrus fruit for 8 months, which we were also told to wait until a year. The authors talk about a vegan lifestyle and how to get your baby started on that. My husband and I are not vegetarian, so if your like us, I would not recommend this book. If you are, maybe you would like it. They also talk about soy and tofu, which I don't plan on giving my baby.

Bottom line, I really didn't like this book. I would highly recommend Blender Baby Food (see review).

Not only did it help to speed up the toilet training process it's also a great bonding book for moms and sons. At the end of the book, Grover-mom tells Grover-son what a big boy he is and how proud she is that he goes all by himself. Well, my son just loves that part and when we get to that page, I repeat the same words to him and substitute his name for Grover. He has been going potty for several months now but still likes to read this book.

In this book all of the various sesame street characters are young children such as little Grover and Little Ernie. Grover is out playing and suddenly realizes he has to go to the potty. He gets up and begins running home. The other characters see him and invite him to play but he keeps telling them "I have to go" leaving them wondering where it is he is going to. Finally he gets home and tells his mother he has to go and she helps him off with his suspenders so he can go to the potty. The main complaint seems to be that Grover never says he is going to the potty until right at the very end. I don't see a major problem with that. I don't view the book as something to help me potty train as much as a book that makes going to the potty fun and I think it succeeds in doing just that.

My 2 year kids really like this book and it is motivating. They love seeing their muppet characters learning to go potty too. As a parent, I didn't like that you didn't find out where he has to go until the end. My kids are unable to read so I change it as I read so that each time grover is saying "I have to go to the bathroom." instead of just "I have to go."

This is a cute book, especially if you like Sesame Street and Grover. However, the book is essentially useless for potty trainers. The entire book is just Elmo telling people he has to go, he has to go. He doesn't explain that he has to go potty. When he gets home he sits on the potty for one page and his mommy hugs him. This might be nice if you have a bunch of potty training books that can be instructional already, but it doesn't have enough info to help your child potty train.

My son asks me to read this over-and-over. It's a good story about taking a potty break when you are playing.

This book is very helpful for all mothers. It shows where to get discounts for baby products, free recipies and promotional offers for products that make mom feel good (beauty supplies, chocolate, clothes, etc). The book also gives OUTSTANDING tips on ways to save time, energy and resources after the baby arrives and shares recipies for making your own all natural baby products. This is a great investment for women who are pregnant, planning to get pregnant or have young children. Sue Hannah's book is a nice gift for a baby shower!

This book was wonderful. Before our first child was born, we picked up this book hoping for a few "freebies" and ended up with HUGE amounts of stuff. Not just free products but also a lot of free resources that we otherwise would not have known about. Being from Canada, we loved the fact that the author wrote what was available in Canada and in the US! It is a must for all new parents ... that is if you like freebies!!

Free Stuff for baby was not only a fun read for me but brought me directly to sites without hours of searching the web. Plus, I also received free stuff in the mail and I discovered lots of new sites to brouse through. The one thing I liked best about this book is that it has Canadian information and websites along with the American ones. She also tells you what offers are available in Canada and what offers are not.

I couldn't get enough of this book!! I found websites on everything I needed: diaper needs, parenting ideas, safety information, educational materials, budgeting for baby! I really feel that I got more than what I paid for and am still using the book as a reference guide for websites.

This book was So-So. I found that many of the things were outdated. Also, it is great for someone who lives in Canada as half of the things in the book are for Canadians. Also, it is great for parents of multiples. Almost every company gives something for multiples but not necessarily one baby. Buy it used.

I do not get enough time to follow all the methods, but I still did few things as per book. My son stands by himself at eactly 7 months. He started climbing stairs at 7 month. I put him on the floor more often. This book is surely helpful.
Only thing is it's difficult to make things like dowel between doors, track. They should sell those items too as part of the kit.

if you want your child(hopefully the child will want it too)to be the next huge baseball,football,soccer or olympic star,then this is the book for you.
it is packed with information on how to 'grow' your childs physical development so that by age 2.5 to 3(and maybe sooner)he or she will have the physical developmental skills of an average 6yr old achieved in half the time it takes a 6 year old to do this.
it takes time and patience,not to mention equipment,but i feel that it is worth it.
also,this is the book to help your child avoid the problems of childhood obesity that is a huge problem in europe and america now.
team this book with 'teach your baby to swim' and also 'how smart is your baby?'also by the domans and youll most likely see your kids name in lights one day.
your child will thank you for it someday.

I feel compelled to write a stern warning about this book. I was excited to order it to help out my twin daughters - born 2 months premature. My jaw hit the floor when I read the very dangerous misinformation in the first couple of chapters. The author begins with a criticism of hospitals' handling of newborns. He states that nurseries should be made more like the womb to comfort babies, kept moist and at 90 degrees. He then states that the only reason that babies are put on their backs is so that nurses can tell if they are still breathing, and recommends that babies sleep on their stomachs.

This is all good advice if you want your baby to be at significant risk of death from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome(SIDS). First, the only safe position for babies to sleep on is their back. The author seems to believe that SIDS is only caused babies smothering themselves with blankets - this is not (although smothering is always a risk. Current reccomendations are to keep healthy babies' environments on the cool side (68 deg F.). One of the major causes of SIDS is apnea due to immaturity in the brain stem. Current sleep reccomenadtions are designed to alleviate this.

Not even incubators are kept at 90 degrees. When babies are born, they go through physical changes - such as separation from the placenta. They have the largest dose of hormones running through their bodies that they will ever have in their lifetime. Very quickly, healthy babies are able to regulate their own temperature - they are mammals and not snakes after all.

Infants in intensive care units are sometimes put to sleep on their stomachs - but they are connected to heart and respiration monitors that alarm when they stop breathing or their heart-rate drops.

I am completley shocked that someone billed as a child development expert has absolutely no knowledge of the risk of SIDS. Granted, back-sleeping is not the best thing for physical development, which is where there are exercise programs to compensate for this. Tummy time is important while baby is awake and supervised.

Please do not follow the newborn advice in this book. I can't get past this, and maybe there's good advice in the rest of the book.

This book will give you a greater insight into the physical development of your child and what to do to fulfill its potential, instead of letting your child grow "by accident."

I was somewhat disappointed with this book. It has one simple tip, keep your child on the stomach as much as possible. Ok, so thats great, the child will grow faster physically, maybe grow faster mentally also, as per what he says.

But I expected the book to be much more comprehensive. There are not that many exercises. Its largely a single point agenda on keeping the child on stomach. I can tell you that in one line.

This book had great ideas if you were going to have the shower in someones home, but if you are having the shower at a restaurant or reception place it may not be so useful.

I was a little disappointed with the book. It has all the basics, but nothing unusual or innovative. (I also bought "Themed Baby Showers", and found it more interesting and helpful. It was only $8.00, had some simple illustrations.) The Ultimate Baby Shower Guide had no illustrations, other than photos of the author's friends' children. It does contain scriptures, which were a nice touch, but I was disappointed the book wasn't more creative. I had hoped for something really unusual.

This book is certainly not for everyone. The basic party how to's were very basic-nothing new. The recipes are hardly "international"-unless you are someone unfamiliar with salsa. There are a lot of games, but again, nothing new. just your basic count the jelly beans kind of things. There's a weird section with a bunch of poems written by baby and the last chapter tells you how to get salvation through jesus christ.

I thought this book was great. It was easy to understand and I wasn't overwhelmed by too much information. It has a lot of great ideas but also helps you come up with ideas of your own so your shower will be personalized for the guest of honor. I liked it! It was worth the money!!

I sent this book to a friend of mine whose friends are starting the journey towards motherhood, thinking it would be useful over the next few years. While it seems that the book contains lots of helpful hints and information, readers should be aware that there are also many religious overtones in the book. The author repeatedly praises and refers to God and offers religious quotes/stories. I was a little surprised to see this in a book about baby showers, especially there is not indication from the book's description that there is such a religious slant. Regardless, seems like a helpful guide.

The emotional realities of life in the NICU are as important as the medical realities. This book doesn't do a good job of recognizing the importance of emotional support, and has tone that is authoritative but not warm or encouraging on an emotional level.

When my ten week early preemie came back to the hospital of his birth, the nurses loaned me this book, as well as one on Kangaroo Care. This is a good REFERENCE book, meaning that it gives clear information on different things to expect from infants born within certain gestational periods, but does not seem to have a supportive emotional tone. Frankly, I am glad I read the loaner on Kangaroo Care first. It was informative as well as comforting during this very stressful time. I am thankful that my hospital not only loaned both books, but strongly advocates Kangaroo Care. I would recommend this reference book be used in ADDITION to an emotionally uplifting book, which would cover all the bases for parents.

This book was an absolute godsend. My baby was born 6 weeks premature after a very long and difficult pregnancy. I spent the last 4 weeks of my pregnancy on complete hospital bedrest with preeclampsia, and my daughter was born via emergency c-section due to a severe drop in heart rate. She was placed on a ventilator, had central lines, and I couldn't even hold her until she was three days old. It was terrifying. However, while I was in the hospital, my neonatology group gave this book to me (we knew I wouldn't be able to carry her much longer due to my severe preeclampsia) and I began reading it a week before she was born. While the experience was very frightening and stressful, I really felt like I knew what was going on, and I didn't have so many nagging questions. If I thought of something during the night or while the doctors weren't around, I picked this book up and the answer was almost always there. Dr. Frank Manginello (the book's author) was my daughter's attending neonatologist while she was in the NICU, and I can't begin to tell you how amazing this man is. He's a brilliant physician and wonderfully compassionate. When meeting with him, he would encourage us to ask questions. When he finished answering one question, he would say, "Ok, what else?" We never felt rushed, and he cared for our daughter with love, compassion, and an absolute mastery of neonatal skills. His book is a reflection of his work. Our daughter went home 8 days after she was born, in time for her first Christmas! She is doing beautifully! I really feel this book helped me through the whole situation, and I thoroughly recommend it to any mom who has the prospect of having a preemie. It is really written for parents (like me!) who don't know anything about neonatal medicine and want the truth broken down simply step by step. This book is even broken into chapters regarding how premature the baby is. If you're researching this book, good luck to you, and I recommend it highly!

I just want to add that this book is not meant to be for emotional support, or a breastfeeding resource. That is the job of the NICU staff! Dr. Manginello was VERY encouraging and supportive of my decision to breastfeed my baby! This book is meant to be a resource to help answer questions you have about what happens to preemies, not an emotional resource! I don't think any book could effectively give the emotional support needed to get through this time. It just makes your experience easier when you know what's going on.

My son was born at 28 wks-while this book gave me all the med info-tech support I could have asked for, ultimately it felt 'hands off'. I am a huge advocate of kangaroo care for preemies, if you have a preemie PLEASE find a compassionate medical provider that understands and supports this kind of mother/child care! If you wish to breastfeed DO NOT GIVE UP! PUMP! It's not fun, but it can work. -DON'T SLEEP WITH YOUR CHILD IN YOUR BED?! At 16 mnths my son is just leaving our bed-it's been sweet, it's been HEALTHY. PLEASE read the Sears' 'The Baby Book' for emotional and common sense back-up, not geared specificly towards preemies, this book espouses the kind of HANDS ON parenting our children really need-especially our preemies. My '28-wkr' is healthy, bright and sweet-I credit kangaroo care and 'The Baby Book' for alot of it! I wish you the best.

This was a wonderful book. After getting home each night from the NICU I'd read up on what they told me about my son (born at 33 weeks). It is very important to read ONLY the sections that apply to your baby. Otherwise you'll worry about things that do not apply. I do not agree with Jenny William's review above. Sometimes while baby is NICU it CANNOT breast feed because sometimes preemies need special formula due to digestive problems. And many (as mine did) have alot of trouble learning to suck and need to be tube fed for awhile. This book covers the NICU from soup to nuts in a manner that the parent can understand.

I am curious about the reviews in which plagiarism is mentioned especially where there don't appear to be any bad reviews concerning plagiarism. This leads me to believe there have been other known instances in which Ms. Larson has used others' copyrighted material. The good reviews here at Amazon are suspect and sound as if they were written by Linda Larson herself. (the 'author'). Do your research, and investigate Ms. Larson's claims on her websites because I am personally aware of copyright infringement in the case of another book she claimed to have written. If others are aware of plagiarism on the part of the 'author' in any other published books please feel free to contact me.

I bought this as a gift for my boss. I thought the subject was very interesting and bought it based on the positive reviews of other readers. When I received it, I was very disappointed by the quality of the printing. It looked like someone photo-copied it. I expected a $12 paperback to have a more professional look. Needless to say, I won't be giving it as a gift.

Mind you, I am not judging the quality of the writing. Since I know nothing about children or accupressure, I am not qualified to rate that.

I have used the information in this book and it is truly great and very helpful to new mothers with infants. I am devastated of what another reviewer has to say about Ms Larson's book. This sounds almost like petty jealousy and no where did I read that Ms Larson was proclaiming to be a doctor. Her techniques and methods are proven and very good. I did not see anywhere in her book which I own,falsehoods at all. I am sorry, this is a great book and every new mother should have it in her home.

This book has wonderful information on Chinese "TUINA" Acupressure and Aromatherapy. The author studied in China, and the valuable information taken from both Chinese Medicine Doctors and a very well known Registered Nurse Jane Buckle, author of "Clinical Aromatherapy in Nursing" of whom wrote the foreword in this book. There is much credible information in the book, great for new mothers and for those who simply want to use acupressure to help their children! Sincerely, LOVED THE BOOK!! AMTA (AMERICAN MASSAGE THERAPY JOURNAL IS DOING A FRONT COVER ARTICLE ON THIS BOOK SPRING 2001. A NATIONAL MEDICAL ORGANIZATION, BOOK REVIEW WILL FOLLOW IN SEPTEMBER 2001 ISSUE OF THE MASSAGE THERAPY JOURNAL.

I think this book offers much advice and help on the baby massage. I beleive the other person who wrote the other review is jealous and petty. No where in her book does Ms. Larson proclaim to be a medical doctor nor have I found any plagerism in the book. This book is of great help to all new mothers with their infants and from I have experience from the book helps greatly. I would give this book a high 5 star rating no matter what any other reviewer says. I have this book and use it and I would not be without it. I did not think she talked as though she had a medical license. This book is a must for all new mothers with infants. To accuse someone of what this other reviewer has done is duly unjust and unprofessional.

Marcie Jones has done it again, with a well-written and easy-to-read book that helps parents navigate the maze of their baby's early life. A great resource.

I loved the Great Expectations pregnancy book so much that I bought this one also. I highly recommend the pregnacy one. Unfourtnately I wish I had my money back for this one. This book contains pages upon pages of repetitive information from the pregnancy book and gave me very little information on my sons development which was my main interest. The free development updates I get from the baby sites online are more entertaining. Buy this book if you don't have the pregnancy book.

I read the first book while pregnant and really liked it. It's real info without making you paranoid like the What To Expect books. This book gives great info for every step of the first year. Great book...can't recommend it enough! I want to get it for my friend's who are expecting.

This book is a valuable resource and updated with details you will not find anywhere else.Well written and carefully researched it complements author's earlier books and adds to the important resources every new parent should have. Kudos to authors.

While this book has many merits in several sections, the part about putting a baby down to sleep is dangerously wrong. The American Academy of Pediatrics has revised its recommendations to avoid Sudden Infant Death syndrome (SIDS) and now recommends putting babies down to sleep only on their backs, not their sides, as this book suggests. The AAP also strongly discourages the use of blankets or soft bedding to avoid smothering, particularly with newborns and infants, and this book tells readers to cover the baby with "a variable number of light blankets."
This author/publisher really should revise this book in future editions; it's negligent to market this as reliable medical advice.

This book is extremely helpful, especially for first time parents. The illustrations are great and this book really answers a lot of questions about parenting a newborn. This is very worthwhile and I do recommend it.

I really liked this little, spiral bound book. First of all, the cover is built so that it will prop the book up at an angle that allows you to see the pages while you "work" on the baby. While this book doesn't go into extreme depth on subjects, it gives step-by-step guides to normal baby care. The pictures are wonderful and there are lots of them, so you'll know what they're talking about in the instructions. I really liked it!

There are a lot of books out there that talk about child development and what to expect for new parents. This book really does not give you any specific things to look out for. Basically it is written like a self help book with not much in the way of guidance. For child development get the book called "Baby Steps" by Claire B Kopp, PHD. In addition, the stuff in this book is made into an applicable 5 step process for calming your baby in the DVD and book called " the happiest baby on the block".
The Dr. Spock books dont go into depth in any one area. I suggest finding specific topic books on the areas of interest to you. A lot of things in this book are things that once I had the baby did nothing for me. In addition, when you leave the hospital , the nurses and pediatrician seeing your child at the hospital go over this with you prior to being discharged.
Don't waste your money on this book.

This is a very thorough, well organized resource for baby/child questions and issues from birth (even pre-birth) on up. I tend not to think any one book is a complete all in one - but this is pretty darn close. We also like that the advice and opinion offered is not as tense as some other books, as in "you MUST do this and be SURE you DON'T do this", rather, it offers examples and reasons behind the tried and true and stresses no one is a perfect parent - no two babies are exactly the same.
I plan to purchase several copies for my friends that are currently expecting.

Guys,this book really help us expect what is not expected, and prepare us for each detail and baby development needs.