Rating: 4 out of 5Paperback: 784 pages
Publisher: Ten Speed Press (October 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1580085571
ISBN-13: 978-1580085571
So now you have a baby. Now what do you do with it? This is the guide for you.
This books covers pretty much all issues from a newborn to preschooler. Issues such as getting through the first weeks, sleeping, eating, illness, getting ready for school, teaching kids to behave, using dummies (or not), tv shows for kids, books for kids, and the list goes on.
Her advice is practical, non judgemental, and makes sense. She also brings in a big dollop of humor, to lets face it a dry subject, which will have you chuckling. For instance in a section about dealing with tantrums, she lists ways to deal with tantrums then right at the end she writes "Or you can feign unconsciousness".
The version I have is the Australian one. I do not know if the UK or USA version is the same or if she changes parts for the overseas market. Personally I would think she would change certain information, otherwise I could see the point in her releasing it overseas. For instance when she talks about Australian laws (for cots, toys, broadcasting, car seats etc), I would imagine for over seas books this information would need to be changed.
Also a new edition has recently been released in Australia. This particular edition I read is from mid 2000's and some of the advice reflects this (she mentions the teletubbies as a good show for babies/toddlers and I'm pretty sure this show is no longer broadcast in Australia anyway). It is not glaringly out of date but there were some things that I noticed. However I assume the new edition addresses this.
This would be a great book for the new parent
I remember reading oodles of parenting books. I found that I took bits and pieces from the different books and applied those part and left the rest behind. Sound like you found some gems within this book.
ReplyDeleteIt is always fun to have a bit humor within a parenting book. Lord knows that we need humor much while raising children. :)
I am curious though about what value she saw in Teletubbies???
There are just too many good parenting books. Plus I haven't found the time to sit down and read the one I have, just chapters here and there. But now Gage has hit 3 months and I feel like I have a better handle on this parenting thing. So maybe I'll find the time soon :)
ReplyDeleteibeeeg - I have no idea. teletubbies is just weird. There is now a show called In The Night Garden which makes me think the writers/directors are all on LSD or something. Such a bizarre show.
ReplyDeletestacybuckeye - I agree there are heaps out there. I avoided most of them. But the humor in this book just made it easier to digest.