The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (Revised and Updated Edition)
by William Sears, Martha Sears Robert Searsbook data
1,180 ratings,
4.26
average rating, 263 reviews
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published
March 31st 2003
(first published 1993)
by Little, Brown and Company
binding
Paperback, 704 pages
isbn
0316778001
(isbn13: 9780316778008)
description
In their excellent (and hefty) resource guide, The Baby Book, attachment parenting specialists William Sears and Martha Sears have provided new parent...more
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avg 4.26
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
dr. sears is not for everyone but he may be for you. are you distressed or angered or bewildered by modern parenting advice? do you prefer to rock and sing or nurse your baby to sleep rather than make her cry herself to sleep? does it seem weird to you that baby sleep "experts" implore you not to pick your baby up (whatever you do!) when she's crying at night? do you prefer a baby sling to wearing a f*$%ing 30 pound car seat on your arm? (i have seen women do this while shopping. ...more
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Thankfully, I did not buy this. I read most of it at my sister-in-law's house. Dr. Sears provides some good practical advice. I will give him credit (in the form of 2 stars) for that.
A huge part of the book promotes attachment parenting (with little proof of its effectiveness) and the book is easier to digest if you agree with him. My big problem is that his theories are very mother-centered, so the father (or partner) are relegated to support the mother as she is caring for the inf...more
A huge part of the book promotes attachment parenting (with little proof of its effectiveness) and the book is easier to digest if you agree with him. My big problem is that his theories are very mother-centered, so the father (or partner) are relegated to support the mother as she is caring for the inf...more
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2 comments
Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
gluttons for punishment
If you want to feel bad about yourself as a mother, a woman, and a member of Western Civilization, this book is for you. Full of positive information about how if you don't spend every waking minute of your life hugging and soothing (preferably with your breasts) your newborn you are setting them up for a life of failure. Every possible problem your child might have can be traced back to your shameful willingness to let them cry or be without you for any period of time. Although they don't co...more
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Read in January, 2003
recommends it for:
NO ONE
I wish I could give this book less stars. Aside from the Sears family's love of soy, I think they do a great injustice to society. The expectations they put on women to do things exactly the way they did is insane. People need to tak ethis book with a grain of salt before it make sthem crazy, insecure and unhappy.
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recommends it for:
Parents. Soon-To-Be-Parents. The tired and frustrated parent in need of fresh ideas.
The key thing I learned from this book and the key thing I wish to pass on to any parent or parent-to-be looking for THE magical answer book is this: Trust your instincts. They will truly serve you better than anything written in a book. That said, this book will time and again ask you to do just that. Listen to your gut and your heart when it comes to your baby. Many of us have been doing what is called "attachment parenting" all on our own without the fancy label for years. I found m...more
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Read in April, 2009
I wasn't sure what to expect from this reference manual - people seem to either love it or hate it.
But (perhaps because my own parents were advocates of some variety of attachment parenting), I just couldn't see the controversy. I actually found the Sears' approach to be relatively measured and I certainly didn't see a lot of guilt here.
This is a great reference manual, and I expect I'll be returning to it often. Especially helpful for me were the chapters on dealing wit...more
But (perhaps because my own parents were advocates of some variety of attachment parenting), I just couldn't see the controversy. I actually found the Sears' approach to be relatively measured and I certainly didn't see a lot of guilt here.
This is a great reference manual, and I expect I'll be returning to it often. Especially helpful for me were the chapters on dealing wit...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
Future parents/ parents of very young babies
I am so darn proud of myself. I finished it! YAY!
So...I really wouldn't recommend reading this cover to cover as I did, unless you're both nerdy and crazy like me. It's more of a reference book. THE reference book. I told Jake tonight that I suspect, when we have little ones about, it will occupy a permanent station on a prominent coffee table edge.
Now for the caveat: Dr. Sears and his clan are unabashedly "Attachment Parenting" advocates (which I rather di...more
So...I really wouldn't recommend reading this cover to cover as I did, unless you're both nerdy and crazy like me. It's more of a reference book. THE reference book. I told Jake tonight that I suspect, when we have little ones about, it will occupy a permanent station on a prominent coffee table edge.
Now for the caveat: Dr. Sears and his clan are unabashedly "Attachment Parenting" advocates (which I rather di...more
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This book has been a great resource book for my first year as a mom. I've used it mainly as a reference book when I have a specific topic I want to look up. It really does a good job of covering the main areas and providing me with the information I'm looking for. I've really appreciated the developmental section which includes ideas on how to play with your child at each stage and what some of their favorite games and activities will be. This has been so helpful for me and I have received s...more
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Read in January, 2004
recommends it for:
anyone who cares for a baby, or expects to do so anytime soon
When I first read The Baby Book -- an earlier edition, when my son was a newborn in 2001 -- I found it incredibly reassuring. At last, someone who could provide logical reasons that everything I was doing (for example, refusing to just ignore it when my baby cried) was RIGHT! I continued to use it as a general medical reference long past the time my younger child turned 2. Sears assumes that parents have a clue, and his advice about handling various illnesses is a lot more helpful than "...more
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recommends it for:
Pregnant people
Excellent book!!!!! Written by Dr. Sears, a baby doctor and a baby nurse (married) with 30+ years of experience who also have 8 kids! So they are writing from personal and professional experience. I liked it especially because it challenges the "conventional wisdom" and "old wives tales" you may have been told by your mother, and supports what they say with lots of evidence. One thing they advocate is to sleep with your babies (called co-sleeping). Most people say "...more
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I mostly used this book as a reference. Although I am a major supporter of baby wearing, breastfeeding, and rocking your baby to sleep, I don't completely agree with all of his ideas on attachment parenting...I'm not ready to let my kid sleep in my bed till he's two even though Dr. Sears endorses it. He does address these issues and note that they are not for everyone, BUT I do find it's a great reference guide for the funny things that happen to baby. A must have for any mom that wants an all...more
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Read in July, 2008
While some of the things in this book are a bit over the top as in Dr. Sears' other books, I really like his approach that parenting should be about the baby and not about fitting the baby into your schedule as a parent. This may be because I'm happy to find someone actually write in print that if Sarah naps better on me and I need a nap too, it's perfectly fine to let her sleep on me rather than in her cradle where she will awaken in approximately 5.4 minutes. But as a parent the overall tone...more
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Read in February, 2009
This is really two books in one: a primer on attachment parenting and an overview of how to car for your child from birth through age two. The Sears are proponents of a parenting style that boils down to the simple adage of know, and respond with empathy to your baby. They outline their “rules” for positive attachment parenting, but acknowledge that every parent/baby dynamic is different and you have to figure out what works best in your situation. The baby care part of the book is an invalu...more
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Read in January, 2003
This is one of two books I love buying for new moms. Whatever your approach to parenting, this book is chalked full of wonderful information!!! Sears does advocate attachment parenting, but the book is still very valuable even if you don't take that approach. I've never read it cover-to-cover, but it's such an excellent resource to have on the bookshelf for pretty much any topic you may want if you have little ones. I used this and a couple of other books to diagnose my nieces condition at 1...more
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Read in January, 2009
Fact: babies are not supposed to be convenient. Caring for them is difficult, and it's going to cramp your style. Dr Sears advocates attachment parenting (AP), which basically means being responsive to the baby's needs. He also calls it "high touch parenting." It's too bad that some people see this as an all-or-nothing approach, its not. We all do the best we can, and guilt is counterproductive. I consider myself AP, but I do a lot of things that hard core AP people wouldn't- i s...more
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Read in March, 2009
i'm amazed and overwhelmed by how much information this book contains. it really does have just about everything you need to know, and it presents that information in a natural and attachment parenting friendly context. this book is a must have for anyone who's expecting a baby and is a little bit scared about what to do with it once it gets here.
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Read in December, 2008
This book just isn't for me. I've only read a few chapters. I guess I should have done a little more research before spending 20-some dollars on it. The doctors promote "attachment parenting" and for those interested in this particular style it seems like it would be a good resource. I read a lot of great reviews of it, just didn't dig too deeply into the content before I bought.
To me this book is a lot of - you should do this or that and if you don't, you're not in...more
To me this book is a lot of - you should do this or that and if you don't, you're not in...more
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Read in January, 2009
Haven't read all of it yet, but I think it will just be an on-call reference (i.e., symptom checker when our little peanut gets sick, etc.) until we hit the toddler stage at this point. Fairly comprehensive coverage of the first two years. I probably would have organized the material differently, but the information is there if you can find it. This won't be very helpful to parents in the cry-it-out camp, as the authors lean towards attachment parenting. But if you are more of an attachment pare...more
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recommends it for:
all parents & soon to be parents
Possibly the most comprehensive baby book out there. The authors mix medical information and advice with helpful anecdotes. Anytime I have a question about child development, illnesses, or breastfeeding, this is the book I pull out. I read it while I was pregnant and benefited from the sections on attachment parenting, labor, bonding, breastfeeding, baby wearing, and co-sleeping. While I was already familiar with these topics, this book definitely educated me further. I’ve read and reread ...more
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02/19/08
Jennifer
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recommends it for:
the fireplace
One mans well intentioned error of opinion. Quoted and misquoted so often it is now touted as fact. I've even heard it often mistakenly referred to as the "Bible" of child rearing books. I read the book and was sorely disappointed that I had given into popular opinion and bought the useless thing. The book cites no studies to support his views other than his own opinion and observation of his own family. Also, there is no actual proof offered as to the efficacy or psychological be...more
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