Product Description

Dr. Bill and Martha Sears draw from their vast professional and personal experience to provide autjoritative, 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 concerns to today's parents. The Sears present a practical, contemporary approach to parenting that reflects the way we live today. They offer the basic guidance and inspiration one needs to develop the parenting style that best suits carer and baby.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9030 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 769 pages

About the Author
Dr. William Sears is a pediatrician in practice for over 30 yrs. Martha Sears is a registered nurse, childbirth educator and breastfeeding consultant. They have eight children.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant
This book is wonderful - not only is it an absolute encyclopaedia and packed to the gills with really practical information about anything you need to know about your baby, but their philosophy of attachment parenting is the most humane way of bringing up a child, that I've read about. Every other source of childcare advice (be it book or health visitor) is so quick to tell you to 'put your baby to bed when he/she is still awake and leave them there', 'don't demand feed', etc., etc. that you feel guilty if you want to behave otherwise. Reading The Baby Book stopped me feeling guilty for wanting to rock my baby to sleep or going to her as soon as she cried in the night, or even bringing her in to sleep with us. And the result - we have a fantastic little girl who has absolutely thrived on this sort of care. I also imagine that, having had eight children themselves, the Sears pretty much know what they're talking about. So if Gina Ford (who incidentally has no children of her own!) makes you despair, buy this book.

Focusing on the Child
The battle of the parenting bible is fierce and the territory becomes more heated as new "gurus" enter the fray (witness the Martin's maternity consultant and her new / old 'let them cry' approach). What is so refreshing about the Sears Baby Book is that, for the most part, they allow that you may not want to follow all their advice all of the time - you don't HAVE to have the baby in bed, they simply offer a number of reasons why it might be a good idea. A previous reviewer has suggested that the book is no help for parents who don't have all the time in the world to parent their children; it seems to me that the Sears are under no illusions that most parents have to work to survive and I found that their child-focused approach REDUCED the amount of colicky crying we had to endure, reduced the number of night wakings and has generally helped to make our child the happy and loving person she is today. The Baby Book also provides a series of excellent activities to encourage your child's physical and mental development as well as practical advice on all the ills and ailments the parents of a young child might expect. Invaluable.

All you need to know for the first 2 years
Having bought most of the popular baby books, this one is definitely the best. Answers all the common worries and questions that new parents have in a calm and balanced fashion.
Its written by a pediatrician who has had 8 kids himself and a wealth of experience of good and bad parenting practices.
Makes other books like Gina Ford's "contented" baby book seem amateurish and opinionated if not downright harmful.