Product Description

Written in five parts, the first three explain and address the needs of: newborns; from six weeks; from six months; and from the toddler years. The fifth part focuses on colic and babies who cry a lot, giving parents clear guidance and practical solutions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58714 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

About the Author
Caroline Deacon is an NCT breastfeeding counsellor and tutor. She also works as a freelance journalist, writing for parenting magazines on a wide variety of issues. Most importantly, Caroline is the inspired mother of three young children, which gives her firsthand experience to help new parents and write this book.

Customer Reviews

A reassuring read
So many baby books around take control away from the parent by telling them what to do. Here's a book which recognises that your baby is an individual and puts you, the mother, back into the picture. It doesn't dictate a strict off-the-peg pattern to fit every baby, but gives a range of options to try: feeding patterns, dealing with colic and sorting out sleep.

One of the most appealing things about this book was that the author isn't claiming to be some sort of mystical maternity guru. She gives the reasons for why your baby may behave in a certain way, and why a particular solution might make a difference. Did you know why warm baths make you sleepy? Caroline Deacon explains all about how body temperature works as a sleep trigger, letting you understand the background and fit her suggestions to your own situation. She also gives loads of references to scientific research, so you know it's not just personal philosophies.

The organisation of this book may seem quite complex at first - I read the last chapter first, then found it easier to dip in and out, and I used the index a lot, too.

Empowering, enlightening, at last an antidote to Gina Ford!
If you have read other parenting tomes and found them very offputting for their patronising style and ritualistic practices with no evidence base to support their advice then be reassured, this is not at all of the same ilk.
Caroline Deacon is an NCT breastfeeding counsellor who has researched her book very thoroughly and gives very good reasons for the suggestions she gives. And they are suggestions, no "how to raise the perfect being and still have time to polish your nails" just good, common sense, explanations and the feeling that you are the one who gets to decide how to parent your baby. Its brilliant, do buy it.

I wish I'd read this sooner!
This excellent book is an NCT publication aimed at parents of babies aged 0-2. I didn't read it until my son was about 15 months old and had learned most of the contents already by trial and error - and there was a lot of error on the way! I wish I'd had this book from his birth or before as it would have saved a lot of tears and worry. I would have made the same decisions I made anyway, but with a great deal more confidence.

The book is very well-researched with solid statistics behind every recommendation, but it is not prescriptive at all. Everything is presented as an option with the evidence behind it and the reasons it might work, allowing parents to make their own choices for themselves and their child. It empowers parents rather than dictating to them.

I very much enjoyed the chapter headings which include quotes on childcare from the last 200 years. Some things never change and parenting advice goes in and out of fashion all the time. This book isn't about fashionable ideas, but about what works in reality, and I recommend it to all parents.