Rachel Waddilove has worked for many years as a nanny and private maternity nurse; her clients include celebrities, politicians and royalty. In this book, she draws on her considerable professional and personal experience to advise young parents on everything they need to know about looking after a baby in its first year. Areas covered include: needs for the nursery, coming home from hospital, breast feeding vs bottle feeding, establishing a routine, sleep, crying and introducing solid food. In addition to the host of practical information given, Rachel also considers the emotional and social aspects of becoming parents. Rachel's down-to-earth style and wealth of experience makes this an essential guide for new parents, expectant parents and all who want the best for the children in their care. In this new edition to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Baby Book, Rachel has fully revised and updated the text, and written a new chapter about travelling with a baby.
This book improved my life dramatically. After making a billion mistakes with our first child, who didn't sleep through the night until he was three, I found this book and changed the way I did everything. I didn't need the baby basics chapters but the rest of it is worth it. Yes, you might want to tweak some things. But her ideas for getting the baby on a schedule (maybe obvious to some but not to me!), getting him/her to settle and sleep all night, were priceless. My six month old is a champion sleeper and I can't recommend this book highly enough.
Excellent!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
I found this book by accident. It is by far the best baby book I have seen. It has just the right amount of information for a new mother - lots of practical advice and is presented in a friendly, flexible tone. I finally was able to pick up on how to burb and establish a routine. These things seem simple, but as a new mother I finally "got it" after reading the very practical, straight-forward information in this book. My baby is 6 weeks and is much happier. She sleeps more on this schedule, but is much less fussy when she is awake. As a result, I am much less stressed and have more time for other things. This book also established the right priority level and family roles in my mind. I don't think this was the intent of the book, but all of the info has worked for us so far and has improved my confidence and coping skills as a mother. This book and author deserves more publicity in the states. I hope she writes a toddler book.
Good Baby Book
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
I liked this book. I'm on my second child, and so thought I'd read them all, but then this one came along and I really just wanted to see what it was all about. Probably mostly out of curiosity because the author was nanny to Apple Martin (Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter). I have a 2-year old and an 8-week old and was pretty set on "sleep training" my youngest as early as possible. With my older daughter, we waited until she was about one year, and we just couldn't face that kind of exhaustion in our household. This book was a big help in that it clearly laid out 24-hour schedules from birth through the 1st birthday, something which I've actually not seen in any other book (in my recollection). I appreciated this and started on the schedule when my baby was 5 weeks old and within days (no exxageration) she was sleeping at a 5-hour stretch at night. Now, at 8 weeks, she is sleeping for 7 hours at a stretch, is strictly breastfed (which she will be until she turns one) and is a happy, calm and content little girl. I didn't think it was possible to have a breast-fed infant sleep this long at night, but this book with it's highly detailed schedules showed me otherwise. So if you are interested in sleeping well at night with a newborn, this is a wonderful book. But if you are looking for any other pearls of wisdom, there are a number of other books you can read that have more comprehensive information (I enjoyed the "What to Expect" series and "The Baby Book" from Dr. Sears.) One note: if you are a follower of Dr. Sears and attachment parenting, this is not the book for you.
Simple & Clear
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
I would reccomend this book to any Mom needing help with setting a routine. I would say though if you are nursing it is much harder to keep up with her every four hour feeding schedule.
GREAT, GREAT,GREAT HELP
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
THIS BOOK IS FULL OF EXCELLENT ADVICE. I LOVED IT. EASY TO READ.
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