Childcare Books

I am very much into holistic health care but I found this book to be a little too sappy for me. At times the book is written in the manner of a yoga teacher leading a class through poses. There are some good meditation techniques but I think there are a few better natural pregnancy books out there.

This book is very inspiring. After reading this I felt empowered to have a natural holistic birth. I came very very close to it( I made it to 7 centimeters dialation with no drugs then the pain became unbearable). This was my second pregnancy and this book help me to see pregnancy in a whole new aspect. i woud recommend this to all pregnant women as motivation and inspiration!!

This is the first pregnancy book I read that really helped me understand and feel comforted about my pregnancy.

Lots of other books have obvious agendas, including trying to convince you to have a hospital or home birth. Other books read more like a medical text book. After reading those kinds of books, I was frustrated and stressed out about the pregancy.

This book reads like a talk with a best friend or family member who really wants to help you. She gives great advice about how to take care of yourself and your baby as well as real talk about the different things that may or may not happen during the birth.

Forget the "other girlfriend's" advice about shaving your legs or painting your toenails...Karen Salt offers REAL, supportive, thoughtful, and informative advice for the mother-to-be. From how we view our changing bodies to journaling to choosing a care provider / birth place to postpartum self-care...this book has it all. Her warm voice comes through the pages to gently encourage thought, informed decision-making and a renewed sense of honoring the self through this incredible time!

Like a trusted friend or close relative, Karen includes volumes of information in this one tiny book. Easy to pick up and read from cover to cover (rather than having that overwhelming hit that many books on this topic do!), I highly suggest this book for every pregnant woman.

Sink back into the loving pages of this book! Let Karen guide you gently through this amazing journey - with love, support, and intelligence!

The book was like new, the book was in fabulous condition. I have no complaints. I would order from them again and i got a great price for the book.

I understand the concept of this book. Want to know why I understand it? Because they spend more than HALF of the book saying,"The purpose of this book is to.." It takes too long to get to the point. It has great information about medical procedures in simple language, and some advice about what to expect with a dying child. Overall, this book could have been more. The authors get too wrapped up in themselves and fail to deliver to parents what they keep promising to give. It's a nice book for supplemental reading, but there are better titles out there that will offer true counsel and detail about disease and the effects thereof (On Death and Dying, etc). Also, if you are a parent that is truly struggling with these issues, take full advantage of the Child Life Educator/Specialist staff at your hospital. If there isn't a program like that, then recommend one because those people are true healers.

This book is both a gift of profound compassion and a wise insurance policy. The entire pediatric health care team is always hopeful that a child can and will recover from a chronic illness. Despite this, physicians and nurses at times find discussion of a child's possible end of life and quality of life issues too uncomfortable to discuss for various reasons: they do not want families to lose hope, also- the thought of considering the possible death of a child is the most devastating conversation that the healthcare team and family could ever have. Unfortuntately, the absence of this conversation can leave families of chronic and critically ill children unprepared for the peaceful, supportive, pain-free death that is possible with considerate mindfulness and preparation. Families of an ill child can sometimes unfortunately find themselves unexpectedly and suddenly saying good-bye in a crisis intensive care surrounding.

I am both an RN and the mother of a chronically ill/critically ill child...Dr. Hilden's book provides me with the compassion, possible reality, and issues that may lie ahead for my family. I am honored to receive Dr. Hilden's insight and will suggest Shelter from the Storm as recommended reading for parents of children with life-threatening illnesses.

Dr. Hildren and Dr. Tobin provide both exceptional caring and compassion as well as a guidebook to plan and consider the unthinkable: my child may not survive his chronic life-threatening disease. And now I walk on...

then this book is for you. As the mother of a child with a life-threatening condition, it is easier to remain confident and optimistic knowing that I have a "plan B", meaning a plan of what to do if my child becomes terminal. This is a wonderful guide for parents, families and friends of a seriously ill child: answering tough questions about end-of-life issues without obliterating hope. Written in part by a prominent pediatric oncologist, this book provides concrete examples and suggestions for everyone's worst-case scenario: planning on how to parent through your child's death. Because the book gives plenty of room to maintain hope while planning for the worst, I have found it easy to share with other parents whose child may or may not survive. I highly recommend it.

This is a well written babysitters guide. Just keep in mind that many states require that babysitters be 13 years old and have a babysitting class. If you aren't sure about your state's requirements (or didn't realize they existed), call your local department of Family and Children's Services and ask them the home-alone and babysitting age requirements.

This book is really good. It teaches you how to change diapers and things like that. It gives you step-by-step instructions for everything. There is even a first-aid section.

Before you entrust your precious children to a babysitter, have them read this book. It is an indispensable and practical guide for babysitters.

The highlight of this book is the "Record & Logbook" in the back that you can write on with a water soluble ink pen. That will allow you to make changes as needed. It contains an area for:

Household Objects - Where to find the basics.
Around the House - How to turn off gas, water, electricity, etc.
Entertainment - Games, songs, toys, stories, TV, videos.
Feeding & Mealtimes - allergies
Comforting a Child if they are hurt, upset, fighting, misbehaving.
Bedtime Routines - Favorite items, where spare sheets and pajamas are.
Medical Notes - In case of Emergency.
Emergencies - Contact Numbers.

Frankly, I think writing this stuff down is fine, but walking a babysitter through the house and showing them where everything is seems more practical and maybe this can just be a section to help remind the babysitter of the important things they need to remember.

The contents include:

Guide to Babysitting: A section for babysitters and parents. This section is helpful as it addresses the concerns of both the parents and a new babysitter.
Baby & Child Care: The basics of how to pick up a baby, carry a baby, dress children, help a toddler, deal with potty training, washing, feeding, giving a bottle, ending arguments, bedtime, games kids like.

Home Safety & First Aid: Keeping the home safe, preventing injuries, bath time, fire, a sick child, childhood illness, aches and pains, First Aid, First Aid Kit, nosebleeds, cuts and abrasions, removing splinters, stings, burns, head injury, bleeding, shock, fractures, sprains, seizures, breathing and choking.

Record Book - discussed above

I think this book is one every parent should read especially for the First Aid section. The clear step-by-step photographs demonstrate all the key baby care and first aid techniques.

Quite Helpful.

~The Rebecca Review

Roffman's book is well-written but lacks direction at points. The information seems out of order in places and is a bit repetitive. It's not easy to locate info if parents are looking for quick tips. Roffman does a nice job including her own teaching, mothering and childhood experiences and is a sold resource. The book loses focus at the end, giving info geared more towards educators than parents.
Dr. Yvonne K. Fulbright
[...]

I bought this book from the author after attending a super educational conference which she led (I am a middle-school teacher who was reviewing the health & sexuality component of our school's curriculum). However, I bought this book with my then-four-year-old in mind, and it's fantastic. Its down-to-earth, concrete language helps demystify the idea of talking about sex with kids -- an effort which she reminds us we are usually trying to learn from scratch, without the help of effective, adult role models to follow.

Roffman gives wonderfully humorous examples of how to follow a child's lead -- and when to listen and find out what the kid is actually asking, rather than what you, with that frog in your throat, mistakenly assume that he may want to know.

Having worked with many teens whose parents have waited until they are so old that talking about sexuality and relationships is viewed as a "hush-hush" conversation, I highly recommend this book to all parents as a way to help open up conversational ground wihtout fear. The more correct information that kids have from parents, from the start -- about their bodies and about healthy human relationships -- the better equipped they will be to interpret all the MISinformation that comes at them later, from the media and from their peers!

This is a wonderful book--informative and easy to read, which is pretty impressive for a topic that makes most parents uncomfortable: talking with our children about sex. Roffman understands that sex education does not begin or end with learning about periods and puberty in fifth or sixth grade--she offers insightful guidelines for discussing important issues at different ages. My daughter is out of the target age range for this book (she's eleven) but I found the book very useful anyway, helping me understand the lessons I missed along the way and giving good basic information and ideas for communicating it. Read it!

This book gave great advice on starting a co op and I decided to create one at my church. We currently have about 7 moms involved and there are lots of people who ask me about it. We are still in the beginning stages, and there are quite a few people who want to join once it has been in operation for a while. (I think they are waiting to see if it really "works" before trying it out) Though this book is outdated (written in the 70's) as far as prices for childcare, it has everything you would need to set up a co op. It's even easier these days with the internet. I was concerned about the idea of leaving my child with people I don't know really well, but if you follow the guidelines in the book, there are many ways to foster relationships with anyone in the co op and there is a set of rules and guidelines that really make everything safe. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to start a co op as it lays everything out for you.

This book shows not only how to start a co-op, but gives many good ideas and examples on keeping records, juggling time and getting the most out of your co-op! Excellent resource book for any size baby sitting co-op!

practical, a needed review of the subject, not much out there on this specific topic. very helpful

I was looking for a book that would help me come up with ideas for daycare. I was tired of time-out and I hated the fact that I followed the same routine day after day. This book allowed me to shake it up a little. Allowed me to get a better insight of what daycare should be about and reminded me how important these little ones are. Highly recommended for people starting up daycares!

Once again I was not let down by this book, one of Stoppard's latest. From cover to cover this book is full of precious advice that can help you become an enthusiastic parent. The book outlines each phase of your child's development and provides examples of games that you can play to refine his/her natural intelligence. Like all of Stoppard's books, the book's layout is very appealing and simple to follow. What I like in particular are the pages dedicated to each stage of your child's development. She covers each milestone in every aspect from mental development to bladder control. For example, I never knew that potty training was such an incredible act of mental and physical maturity! Even for this she explains all the whys and hows. Once you finish the book, you will understand what it means to "teach" your child, which does not mean just reading,writing and arithmetic.
My only complaint: The book is just a wee bit too short. Then again, maybe that means I was just enjoying it too much.

Some people I have met online say there is really no need for parents to read up on childcare...but I disagree. From the moment a child is born, they are learning. As a parent, you become their teacher, playmate and counselor. From the very start you need...information...information...and more...information.

This is a practical guide to help parents of babies and young children understand and develop their child's unique abilities. Dr. Stopppard explains how children achieve each milestone and includes a stage-by-stage guide for parents. You will find ideas for games, activities and play that will help parents to be their child's first teacher.

The homemade fun section looked especially fun with clay, soap bubbles, modeling dough, finger pain, pasta jewelry, vegetable printers, rainy day beach , edible finger pain for babies, baby play dough and more.

The seven sections include:

Parent as Teacher (Skills that encourage learning, rearing helpful children, using discipline positively, communicating successfully with your child)

The Normal Course of Development (Understanding the stages, charting development, mental development, locomotion, sociability, personality, speech)

Factors Affecting Development (health, happiness, parental attitudes, gender, personality, empathy, vulnerability, stress), Simple Tests (taste, hearing, verbal skills, intelligence, observation, perception, vision)

Tools for Learning (providing a stimulating environment, choosing toys, using household items to make toys, home-made fun, the computer, television and video, books and reading, toys for various ages up to 7 years)

The Special Child (The gifted child, under-achieving child, autistic child, child who stutters, child with learning disorder, sight-impaired child, physically disabled child)

Your Child and School (Choosing a nursery, starting Primary School, The changing relationship between you and your child)

The special chapter on Locomotion is very interesting. You can see what a child should be doing by a certain age and what you can do to help. Some of these ideas will come naturally to parents, but others were new ideas I had not yet seen. The handy index makes this book easy to use and you can look up age groups very easily.

I love the colorful illustrations and easy-to-find age groups. Once you read the toy section...you will be heading off to the toy store! How did parents survive without this guide? It is an exhaustive study of what a child should be learning and when. This is a must for new parents and is really a gift for a child to give them a great start in life.

~The Rebecca Review

This book was my wife's favorite of all the pregnancy books she bought. She thought it was full of very helpful and interesting information that she wanted or needed. You really understand what is going on each week with the development of the baby. It also provides a great deal of pictures and illustrations. It is just an all around very useful book.

This book was packed full of fun and useful information. I looked forward to every week with enthusiasm!I loved the week-by-week updates on how my pregnancy was progressing. I used my ONE copy for 4 of my pregnancies. You can never read it too many times! I don't know how I got through my first pregnancy without it

This book is huge! Everything you can think of about a baby is in here! I rented it from the library but soon realized it would take me longer than the rental time I had to read it so I decided to buy it! Its a good investment for you and your baby! I highly recommend this book plus many others by the same authors.

The BEST book to give a new mother: as a shower gift or a MUST READ after her delivery!

This is a great resource book for new parents and caregivers. It gives the basics on childcare and what to expect at different stages in your baby's life. Dr.William Sears and his wife, Marth, a nurse, have had many children themselves, 8!. A hands-on approach to parenting. I use my book all the time. .

...parents who have alienated their kids from themselves from the get-go.

Mothers are mothers, fathers are fathers, and anyone demanding that human biology now conform to societal trends is in need of some basic critical-thinking skills. Well-supported ideas that you don't like hearing are not the fault of the author. Neither is it an author's job to arrange their ideas such that you won't feel guilty.

Grown-ups (including Dr. Sears himself) know that life is full of choices, trade-offs, and most people will find their own way implementing his ideas as they can and are able.

I am a father and don't feel the least bit marginalized by Dr. Sears approach or tone. I'm honestly scratching my head at where people find that in his work.

His ideas are not a formula, something Dr. Sears himself points out repeatedly. But they are profound, and far more important to the health of your child (and the world) than, say, the current presidential election.

Honestly, want to make the world a better place? Read this book.

I passed on my copy. At first I was very impressed by the AP concept. Once I had the baby I realized that a rigid approach like this doesn't work. My baby slept better on his own than in our bed. And he hated being worn the first three months. I held on to the book for factual information about growth and illness but found it too cumbersome to use a reference. I prefer the month by month format which is easier to look up.

Any "Star Trek" fan would not want this book! It turns out it's not about "Star Trek"! It's about Childcare! Who would have guessed? We're loosing power, Scotty!

It would appear that some reviewers vehmently loath Dr. Spock yet they quite blatantly have missed the very key point of everything he said. Throughout the book he stresses numerous times the importance of following YOUR instincts and that he is only SUGGESTING methods for CERTAIN situations and he states quite clearly that it is of the utmost importance to realize that every child is different and parents are human and therefore you should not apply his methods, or any other "experts" methods to ALL cases without using YOUR OWN judgements. The core of everything Dr. Spock said was love your children and enjoy the experience of being a parent. He gives confidence to first time parents and a great deal of helpful advice on every aspect of baby and child care. One can get a great deal out of Dr. Spock's work, but only if they are patient, thorough readers with a certain amount of common sense.

I'm shocked that some people didn't like this book. I have found it to be warm, practical, compassionate and right on the money when it comes to describing the typical developmental stages children go through, as well as any problems or medical ailments they might have. It's definitely the first book I reach for whenever my children get sick, or enter some new developmental stage I'm not familiar with. Forget Penelope Leach, Terry Brazelton and the rest; Dr. Spock is the best!

Ten years ago with the birth of my first child, I received 6 different books on baby care--all from the best sellers list. Over the next 10 years each of them, at one time or another, was heaved against a wall at 2 am or tossed into the kitchen trash can. Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care helped me to correctly diagnose croup in my 6 month old daughter, which led to a call to the pediatrician as opposed to a trip to the ER. Dr. Spock calmly and reassuringly helps parents learn THEY are the experts about their own children.

As a second-time mother who's read Dr. Spock, Dr. Brazelton, and Dr. Sears' baby care books, I still reach for Spock whenever I have a question, or an uncertainty about something. This book is extensive in its coverage of both big and little issues, from diapering to feeding, and on into adolescence, ecompassing details as well as emotional aspects of what you're doing, if applicable. I find his philosophies and techniques to be a terrific common sense, middle ground, and reassuring resource. Even if you enjoy other parenting books, this one is a must- sort of an encyclopedia of infant/child issues, as the index is detailed and thorough. Keep this one in your library!