Product Description

The best-selling authors of The Baby Book (Dr William and Martha Sears) have created a supportive and practical guide to coping with difficult and fussy children. The book contains proven methods for dealing with a multitude of difficulties you may encounter. Parents of fussy or difficult children, take heart, best-selling childcare experts William and Martha Sears have written a book just for you. Drawing on more than twenty years of paediatric practice and their experiences with their own high-need children, they provide: - Creative ways to soothe a fussy baby - Information on medical causes of infant fussiness -- from infections to food sensitivities - Effective ways of coping with common high-need personality traits and behaviour - Proven strategies for discipline -- getting connected to your child early, providing structure, setting limits, knowing when to say yes and when to say no - Tips on learning how to talk and listen - Real-life stories and advice from parents of high-need children In The Fussy Baby Book Dr. William and Martha Sears acknowledge the difficulties you face but show you how responsive parenting can turn these challenges into advantages for both you and your child. The Searses prove that difficult children can provide the most rewarding parenting experiences of all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #224709 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
'This is a timeless way of raising babies.' Steve Biddulph (author of Raising Boys)

About the Author
William Sears, M.D, and Martha Sears, R.N., are the paediatric experts on whom American parents increasingly rely for advice and information on all aspects of pregnancy, birth, childcare, and family nutrition. Dr. Sears was trained at Harvard Medical School's Children's Hospital and Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, the largest children's hospital in the world. He has practices paediatrics for more than thirty years. Martha Sears is a registered nurse, certified childbirth educator, and breast feeding consultant.

Customer Reviews

It's ok to cuddle your baby
After friends recommended reading Gina Ford and Tracy Hogg, I tried getting my baby into a routine, applied the methods for sleeping and feeding but found, after a very stressful couple of months, that my baby wasn't sleeping through, nor taking daytime naps (20 minutes if I was lucky), nor conforming to much of a routine. If the techniques don't work, both these authors stress that the parent must be doing something wrong. I ended up guiltily doing what I really wanted to; carrying the baby in a sling a lot; bringing her into bed with me; feeding her when she indicated she was hungry. But I felt that I had failed.

Then I stumbled across the askdrsears website and felt vindicated. I subsequently bought some of William and Martha Sear's books. What a relief it's been to discover an approach to caring for your baby that isn't centred on training the baby to fit into your life. They advocate a very nurturing, baby-focused approach that acknowledges that your baby will turn your world upside down but hey, it's a baby. It's not going to last long and, most importantly, babies are helpless, dependent and are instinctively afraid to be alone and away from their mothers. You can't spoil a tiny baby by cuddling too much but you can do them a lot of harm by not cuddling them enough.

This book addresses the problems that parents of particularly demanding babies might face - exactly the sort of babies who, like mine, respond very badly to being 'trained'. There are lots of tips for bonding with your baby, getting her settled and to sleep but be warned, these are very counter to what you might have read elsewhere in that the Sears do advocate doing whatever works for you, even if this results in 'bad' sleep associations such as only falling asleep when nursing or being cuddled. Their take is - what's so bad about a baby being cuddled - which I agree with.

This loses a star for a few reasons - practically all the information is on the askdrsears website, so not much point in buying the book if you have web access (credit to them for providing it free of charge - unlike Gina Ford who charged £40 to register on her site!). Sometimes the style of the book is rather sentimental and more fitting for a US reader than an English one. Finally, they do go on about breastffeding and as a mother who desperately wanted to breastfeed but for various reasons couldn't, I don't need the guilt.

This book made me feel better about my child!
I bought this book after feeling angry and disappointed that my son's temperament did not match up with what is considered normal in most parenting books. I kept wondering what I was doing wrong to make him so cranky all the time. After I bought the Searses book, I felt so much better. It describes all sorts of personality traits common to high need babies, but instead of making them seem like a curse, the authors show how these traits are beneficial for the child now and later in life. If you are at your wits end because you feel like you can never put your baby down without him/her crying or that your baby wants to nurse all the time-get this book. You will feel so much better.

Finally a parenting style that puts children first!
From the first moment I knew that my daughter was a bit extra - extra smart, extra loving, extra needy, extra fussy,...and I wasn't sure how to handle her. Most of the time I just followed my instincts but have recently started loosing faith after hearing "you gonna spoil her" from friends and family too many times.
After reading this book I realized that many parents are following this style of parenting. It helped me form a perspective on how to help my high-need toddler's personality flourish and feel sure (and proud) of my mothering style. I only wish I had this book 2.5 years ago before my baby was born - every page breaths with love and the most beautiful ways to enjoy parenting (I am already looking to buy a sling so that my next child has a peaceful transition from womb to the outside world).
I most warmly recommend this book to all the mothers (not only ones with high-need children) as it teaches a lot about children's personalities, ways to help them grow and how parents to enjoy it during the way.