Customer Reviews

Gentle Baby Care: No-cry, No-fuss, No-worry--Essential Tips for Raising Your Baby

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4 star:		(1)
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This helpful resource has a lot of heart and a friendly tone. Though hefty, the book's appealing format, well-organized material, supportive writing style and clarity make it inviting and accessible. Readers need only look inside to appreciate the author's positive attitude and notice how practical and thorough the information is.

Each of about 125 brief chapters uses a similar pattern designed to provide quick factual direction and encouragement for its intended audience of parents of normal infants. A wide selection of topics, from health issues to overzealous grandparents, swimming, test driving strollers, developing a read-aloud family culture, and teething, is arranged alphabetically with labels that, for the most part, make sense. The table of contents and extensive index are well-conceived. Lots of white space, attractive type, and logical layout make skimming for specific advice easy. Reading the book straight through is pleasant and informative too.

Comparative parenting philosophies are not covered. Pantley is forthright about concentrating on attachment parenting. She supports her preferences well and discusses many approaches in a broad context. Breastfeeding, for example, is assumed, yet she doesn't belittle readers who opt for formula. Curiously though, homeopathic medicine is suggested a few times with no further explanation about it. In general, Pantley speaks sensibly to hands-on, involved parents interested in natural ways to rear secure, strongly attached children safely.

Development itself is covered here only as a minor topic with lists of normal milestones. Helping parents understand particular issues and evaluate their best options is Pantley's focus, so her sound advice includes tips with developmentally appropriate variations throughout the book. She is adept also at sharing pertinent considerations for each subject without prescribing, except for certain definite procedures or emergency requirements, what choices a family should make. Her presentation of current knowledge and research is concise and responsible. She provides additional websites and resources for further interest and respectfully leaves the outcomes up to her readers' values and decisions.

Gentle Baby Care has a more developed style than Pantley's earlier Perfect Parenting. The same sensitive logic in her No-Cry Sleep Solution is in her writing here. She considers each topic thoroughly with particular awareness of safety issues, and cogently presents, with the utmost respect for parents and their babies' well-being, the practical information and thoughtful opinions they will find useful. Expectant, new and experienced parents will all find this book a handy and reliable reference.

The BEST book for parents!!! I love this book, I am a Mum of 2 and thought that I had read quite a lot on the subject of babies, both in books and on the internet and I thought that I knew all that there was to know about babies but how wrong I was, in the first couple of chapters alone I learnt new things that I had never even heard of. In fact I wish that I had had this book when my first was a baby, if I had I would have realised that her cough that made her really unwell was in fact asthma and I would have saved her a lot of unpleasant times!

The first thing that I noticed when I opened the book was the great format, easy short chapters in alphabetical order so that it can be used quickly and easily, ideal for busy parents especially with a new baby who donï¿t have time to read through masses of information but just need quick and informative answers, the next thing that I noticed was the chapters themselves which contained some really interesting topics that I had not seen in any other baby book such as teethbrushing, bilingualism, CPR, shoes etc.

Information on many ï¿hotï¿ topics such as to circumcise or not and breast or bottle is presented in a factual and unbiased manner giving parents the pros and cons to allow them to make their own decisions, the author manages to have remained totally unbiased.

The author has done a great job with this book and I will certainly be recommending it to any of my friends or family whether they are to be parents for the first or fifth time!!

Elizabeth wrote the perfect book for Childbirth Educators, Doula's, and Lactation Professionals!
Not only is this book great for the new parent, but is also essential if you work with pregnant couples. It has served me well as a resource in my business.
I recomend this book to all of my students as it covers so much information in a kind, gentle, very common-sense manner!

This wonderful reference book is easy to read. I have to say that when I am reading baby care books, I get bored, and tend to push the books at the back of my bookshelf. Not this book though! I kept reading! Even though I don't have to worry about my daughter in a "Circumcision Decision", I still read it that section because I found the book interesting and full of information.

I highly recommend this book to any parent-to-be. It's best to get this as one of your pregnancy books just to see what's ahead and be prepared from when things do happen.

I also found that if you don't know your baby is suffering from Separation Anxiety, you'd look at the back of the book in the index under crying, which is a big part of separation anxiety, you'll find that the crying index points to separation anxiety as well as other reasons for your baby to cry. (Just thought I'd point that out.)

I have to say Elizabeth Pantley has done it again! Having a mother write a book let's you know that she knows what she's talking about because she's been there, done that. Thanks for the great read Elizabeth!

This wonderful reference book is easy to read. I have to say that when I am reading baby care books, I get bored, and tend to push the books at the back of my bookshelf. Not this book though! I kept reading! Even though I don't have to worry about my daughter in a "Circumcision Decision", I still read it that section because I found the book interesting and full of information.

I highly recommend this book to any parent-to-be. It's best to get this as one of your pregnancy books just to see what's ahead and be prepared from when things do happen.

I also found that if you don't know your baby is suffering from Separation Anxiety, you'd look at the back of the book in the index under crying, which is a big part of separation anxiety, you'll find that the crying index points to separation anxiety as well as other reasons for your baby to cry. (Just thought I'd point that out.)

I have to say Elizabeth Pantley has done it again! Having a mother write a book let's you know that she knows what she's talking about because she's been there, done that. Thanks for the great read Elizabeth!

I would have loved to have had this book back when I first became a mother. As mother of three, grandmother of 8 and great-grandmother of one I know how challenging it is to have babies in the house, and how confused new mothers can be. There are so many questions that come up every day and you can't be calling the doctor for every little thing. How nice to have this comforting, reassuring book at hand to be able to look things up easy as A-B-C.

Finally!! A user-friendly "I need help right NOW" book! This wonderful gem is chock full of expert advice. When my baby is teething and inconsolable, a quick flip through the book to "teething" gives me the concise, immediate answers I need and the expert advice that I'm looking for. When your crying baby refuses a bottle while you're weaning him from the breast, and your toddler is tugging at your sleeve...you'll thank your lucky stars for having the quick help at hand, rather than having to read volumes to get to your answer. A book no busy parent today should be without. Wonderful!!!

If you support the attachment parenting philosophies of Dr. Sears and Katie Allison Granju, you will love this book. If, however, you're after a book that is a little bit more mainstream, this may not be the book for you and you may wish to stick to a less AP-oriented baby book. This book assumes you will be opting for extended breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and that you will be using the night-time parenting strategies spelled out in the author's other book. If you're not making these particular parenting choices, this book may leave you feeling a bit guilty for the parenting choices you have made.

I just love Elizabeth Pantley's books and this book is no exception.

Have a question about preparing your own baby food? It's in there! Independant play? It's in there! Baby Massage? It's in there!

She also has covered many health issues such as immunizations, febral seizures, and teething, as well as developmental "issues" such as tantrums.

It's just PACKED with wonderful tips that anyone can use. That is, of course if you're interested in the gentle baby style that she's famous for. I have used her tips from previous books with my 4 year old, and she is a wonderful, confident child. This book comes just in time to help me with my 7.5 month baby. I'm learning so many new ideas for being a better, kinder parent. Thanks again, Elizabeth!

Gentle Baby Care gives information on hundreds of topics. Each topic begins with a question, this is followed by general information in a "Learn About It" section, which is generally brief and concise. This is followed with more specific solutions, checklists, charts and such. And finishes with a list of websites and books as additional resources.

An example is the entry on "Colic". It begins, "My baby is very fussy and cries a lot, mostly at the end of the day. Does she have colic?" The Learn About It area defines colic and describes the known causes.

This is followed by "Can Colic Be Prevented?" which explains health issues that can cause crying, and also tells what is known about colic prevention.

The next part "Things That May Help Your Baby" gives a long bullet list of many ideas that may help your baby feel better and stop crying.

As is typical in the book, there is yet another section called, "Tips for Coping" which gives tips on how YOU can handle this difficult time.

Next comes, "When Should I Call the Doctor?" with a bullet list to guide you on when you should be concerned.

The last section, "For More Information" guides you to several books on the subject, if you want to get into more detail.

The layout of this book allows for a quick yet thorough examination on topics that may arise during the first two years such as Bathing, Burping, Car Seat Crying, Constipation, Diaper changing (tips, choosing diapers, and what to do when your baby doesn't want to be changed), Fever, Food allergies, Grandparents (both overzealous and reluctant), Immunizations, Massage, Milestones, Sleep (fabulous sections on this topic!), Travel, Visiting, Weaning. These are just a few examples.

I highly recommend this book as one to keep handy for the first two years.