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The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (Revised and Updated Edition) | 
 enlarge | Authors: William Sears, Martha Sears, Robert Sears, James Sears
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $21.99
Buy Used: $6.45
You Save: $15.54 (71%)
New (35) Used (47) from $6.45
Rating:  839 reviews
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Pages: 769
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.6 x 1.8
ISBN: 0316778001
Dewey Decimal Number: 649.122
EAN: 9780316778008
Publication Date: March 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Ships within 24-hours, Monday-Friday. Your satisfaction guaranteed.
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Amazon.com Review
In their excellent (and hefty) resource guide, The Baby Book, attachment parenting specialists William Sears and Martha Sears have provided new parents with their approach to every aspect of baby care basics, from newborns to toddlers. Attachment parenting is a gentle, reasonable approach to parenting that stresses bonding with your baby, responding to her cues, breastfeeding, "wearing" your baby, and sharing sleep with your child. For those parents who worry about negative effects of this attention, the Sears say, "Spoiling is what happens when you leave something (or some person) alone on the shelf--it spoils."
Product Description
Brought thoroughly up-to-date-with the latest information on everything from diapering to daycare, from midwifery to hospital "birthing rooms," from postpartum nutrition to infant development-THE BABY BOOK remains the one must-have resource for today's new parents.In this perennially bestselling and encyclopedic guide, Dr. Bill and Martha Sears draw from their vast experience both as medical professionals and as parents to provide authoritative, comprehensive information on virtually every aspect of infant care. THE BABY BOOK focuses on the essential needs of babies-eating, sleeping, development, health, and comfort-as it addresses the questions of greatest concern to parents today.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 834 more reviews...
 Wonderful book January 6, 2009
Claire M. (Shrewsbury, MA)
This is a wonderful book for complete baby care. I bought it a month before my due date and I wish I had read it before my baby was born (it would have saved a lot of heartaches in the early months). I thought I can reference to it whenever I need, but little did I know there's simply no time for any reading. Now after 10 months, I start to read it and there are so many things I wish I had done differently. The only thing is it's so big and bulky, but with all the information, I guess you just can't make it compact.
 Lots of Info, Heavy on the guilt January 3, 2009
Gypsy November (Southern USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First I will say that Dr. Sears sincerely loves kids (he has 8, I think) and that I really believe that he and his wife think they are giving the best advice available. And, no one can deny that they have a lot of usful information in their books...everything from feeding your infant/toddler, to nighttime issues, to medical issues, and beyond. They also cover the birthing process to a point (and make it clear that they feel anything but a natural birth is bad parenting).
They are heavy on Attachment Parenting (in fact, I think they may have been the first to call it that). In fact, I follow I myself follow many of the philosophies of Attachment Parenting (baby-wearing, co-sleeping, holding when crying, etc.)But just because I parent that way doesn't mean the rest of the world will fail at being parents if they don't. Unforunately, while the book does talk about 'other ways' to raise your child, they leave no doubt that they think anyone who does something differently then they preach is doing wrong. I think crying-it-out is a dangerous practise, but, things like babywearing and co-sleeping shouldn't be pushed as they are in this book. I do them, but I do them because they work for me and my little one, I don't do them because of the guilt trip Sears puts you on.
I get, literally, panicky every time I pick up the book, because all too often my baby isn't quite on track with what they say she should be doing, and because I was unable (and I mean unable) to breastfeed. They make it sound like I should understand every whimper and every look from my baby...and I don't. We are very close, but I don't always know why she's crying, and they make you feel as if you are a bad parents for that. Also, parents of special-needs babies beware...according to the Sears if your baby has to spend time in the NICU (as mine did) you are loosing bonding time that you will never be able to replace. This is not so. My little girl and I are very, very close, even though her first week was spent hooked up to machines and being cared for by nurses. (I was in the NICU as much as allowed).
Another problem was pointed out by my husband, who is a very invovled and caring father...the Sears make it sound like the father's job is primarily looking after the mother, and don't leave much room for him to bond with his baby, because they want the mother to do all that. Yes, I am the primary nurturer of our baby, but my husband is far more invovled then the book suggested. I think that father invovlment is very important!
They mean well, but unless you are prepared to be served a huge helping of guilt with a side of impossible standards for parents, I wouldn't get this book...or, at least, I would get it with the thought in mind that you are going to do your best, but realize that your best is all that you can do.
Like I said, I certainly don't believe in crying it out or anything like that, but the Sears make it sound like you will cause severe damage if you don't allow your child to swallow up your being in their cause. I agree that breastfeeding is best, that crying-it-out is unhealthy, and that the baby should be loved on as much as possible...I also know as a mother of a four month old that there is nothing wrong with taking pain meds while in labor (I mean, come on, how many women have died because they didn't have that option?), occasionally taking a break, that bottlefeeding is not going to kill your child (mine is thriving and not overweight), and that not sleeping with your child isn't going to cause them to think you don't care. Anyway, there are good things, but be careful if you tend to take baby-care books seriously.
finally i'm a "good mother" January 2, 2009
Mark Slonsky (Kanagawa -Ayase-Shi, JAPAN)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
(wife of Mark)I swear by this book. When I brought my little girl home from the hospital the only way she would sleep was on my chest. (I had a c-section, so I wanted to bond the best I could, and I did not hesitate to let her sleep there). After reading plenty of other books on how to get my girl to sleep on her own, and being called an "accidental parent, by relying on other vices" to get her to sleep, I felt despressed. Every book told me I was not a good mother for letting her rely on me, and "mechanical mothers" aka swings and bouncies to sleep soundly. I finally gave up and let her sleep with me in my bed. When I picked up this book and started reading the sleep section I felt relieved! It advocated cosleeping. It did NOT say it was the only way, just that it was encouraged, and perfectly fine to do so. I also had trouble understanding why my daughter wanted to nurse so often. other book told me I was crfeating a bad habit by allowing her to "graze". Sears says it is natural and necessary to be comforted by nursing, not just for food. Basically this book helps you understand that natural instincts are natural for a reason. Gives information on everything baby related, with a positive, understanding attitude. deffinitely a must buy, especially for new mothers and fathers
 CAUTION NEW PARENTS December 28, 2008
ceg595 (FL)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was very excited about this book when I first bought it and followed Dr. Sears' advice to the letter. It presents a warm and fuzzy, loving parenting style that greatly appealed to me and echoed many of the tenets of parenting that I believe in. I found the chapters on Developmental Milestones and Nutrition/Introducing Solid Foods to be very valuable and the sketches to be beautiful and hilariously lifelike (hence the 2 stars). The primary complaint that I came across from other user reviews was the amount of time that was required and the difficulties of trying to fit this parenting method into a working lifestyle; but since I chose to take a year off from work to be with my baby I didn't feel like this concern applied to us.
It is now six months later, and I would like to hurl this enormous book at Dr. Sears. My daughter was sleeping through the night by 6 weeks, with a rather easy-going personality, aside from one fussy phase in the evenings just before bed. But over time, by following Dr. Sears' parenting techniques, she has gradually developed into what he calls a "high-need" baby. I wonder, how many of these high-need babies were made and not born? How many of Dr. Sears' parent-clients are "blessed" (to use his word) with these children in comparison to other pediatricians' clients?
Thanks to the babywearing, she wants to be held ALL of the time, and throws screaming tantrum fits if put down for even a second. And although I exercise respect for baby's cries (as he admonishes) and attempt to differentiate between the cries of frustration that she is capable of working through on her own and the hysterical cries of a baby in need, she has quickly learned to bypass the small cries and jump straight into hysterical screaming in an attempt to get what she wants. Forget going to the bathroom, fixing dinner, cleaning the house, etc. Despite the beautiful, happy sketches in the book showing parents accomplishing every household task while wearing baby in a sling, there are plenty of activities that cannot (or should not) be accomplished while wearing a baby. For example, who cooks dinner with simply a bowl and a wooden spoon as demonstrated in the picture? From my experience, it helps to use knives and burners, hot pans, boiling water, and occasionally the oven. I found through actual trial and error, that there are many basic chores that require setting a baby down, if just for 10-15 minute segments. But my daughter goes into fits the second I bend over - before I have even set her down. This poses a developmental dilemna as well. She does not receive nearly enough tummy time or floor time to develop the muscles needed for motor skill development. She hit her milestones up until the 3rd or 4th month, and then they started slowing down as she stopped trying to work through her frustration and started demanding to be held instead. Even when I ignored her protests, choosing to get down on the floor with her, encouraging play and finding new ways to stimulate her into rolling over and sitting up, her energy was directed towards fussing rather than motor skill development.
Worse than this, however, is the nighttime behavior that has developed. Gone are the nights of 6 or 7 hours of sleep in a stretch; gone are the nights of 3 or 4 hours of sleep in a stretch; walking out the door are the nights of 2 hour stretches. Thanks to the combination of on-demand breastfeeding and co-sleeping (and Dr. Sears' sage advice to nurse a fussy baby to sleep), I have become the human pacifier. Around 4 months of age, my daughter hit a growth spurt that caused her to return to a middle of the night feeding, which then increased to two feedings. I thought it was a short-lived phase that would pass with the growth spurt. Instead, it became part of her nightly routine. Now, any attempt to extract my breast from her mouth following a feeding, results in her snapping awake and screaming - she wants a warm, soft, mommy-scented pillow, filled with her favorite food, to suckle and nurse from throughout the entire night. And I've barely slept for months.
Several months ago, had I read this review, I would have been tempted to think, "Foolish mother - somehow you've done something wrong. You've taught this behavior to your child. You obviously aren't following Dr. Sears' directions properly. I know better than to make your mistakes with my baby." And I would have been half right - I DID teach this behavior to my child, but not by deviating from Dr. Sears' instructions. And it could happen to anybody who doesn't exercise great caution when using Dr. Sears' attachment parenting style. I wonder how many of the 5 star user ratings were written when the parents first received this impressive and exciting book, before they attempted to follow its practices. I wonder how many discontented parents chose not to write reviews of their own, for fear of looking like bad parents. I wonder how many exhausted, worn-out parents have been unable to find the time, energy, or desire to sit at a computer and review a book they received months ago to warn other parents from following in their naive, well-intended footsteps.
informative December 22, 2008
Judy L. Neumann (Minneapolis, MN USA)
I bought this for my son and his wife, who just had their first baby two weeks ago. I have not read it myself, but they have told me repeatedly how they love this book, and are always reading it and learning why their new daughter does some of the things she does, and what is normal, etc. It appears to be a very useful book, and very thorough.
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