SO useful as a new parent!

Very unhelpful and I found it to be a bit biased or maybe just one-sided. She definitely has opinions so if that is what you're looking for maybe you'll like it. I also hated the way it was organized by month rather than by topic. If your baby isn't on the exact same path as she expects them to be then you will have to leaf through looking for the info you want. Also the Q&A sections of each chapter are strange. I didn't really find any useful information in the book. I don't know if there are better ones out there, but for me babycenter.com and Goggle solved all my parenting questions better than this book ever did.

This book often made me feel like the worst parent in the world. It is very single-sided about most parenting stlyes that my husband and I are practicing, such as co-sleeping. If you are approaching parenting in a very loving and nurturing manner, I do not recommend that you read this book.

Тази книга ми харесва с разностранната си изчерпателност. Има въпроси и отговори и информация в много посоки, някои от тях неподозирани от мен аспекти на живота на бебока. Насочи ме да търся и чета по успоредни теми, други книги и тн.

Както всяка книга-справочник, и тази не може да се изчете лесно от-до, а по-скоро седи на масата и току я прелистваш. Също така, не е добре всичко да се приема 1:1, винаги пречупвайте информацията през призмата на вашия живот и вашето дете.

(това по-долу важи за всички бебешки книги, които ми харесват)

Добрите бебешко-детски книги имат една основна функция, по моему. И тя е да успокояват родителите, като им осигуряват нещо като дъска, по която да преминеш плаващите пясъци.

Каквото и аварийно да се случи с детето ти, от подозрително кихване до брутални травми и инфекции, най-важната първа стъпка е да запазиш спокойствие. Което идва от информираното отношение.

Отделно, плаващите пясъци (баби, лели, стринки, комшийки, напълно непознати - всички преизпълнени с акъл, най-често тотално неприложим към твоето дете), с които се сблъскват всички родители, са много по-лесни за преодоляване, когато имаш твърда линия, която да следваш.

This was just as informative as it’s predecessor, however I enjoyed the month to month updates the most. A lot of the other info was just extra for me, but still good information.

Would highly recommend!
Great read, tons and tons of information. Just as much as What to Expect when you're expecting.

This gets way too political and I give it two stars because something so widely accepted should be better. You may learn something of what to expect, but it comes with too much of what Heidi Murkoff expects from you.



Clearly, What to Expect is often used as a reference, which may explain the unbearable redundancy, but those reading straight through do not need twenty reminders that six-inch cords present a strangulation hazard. This kind of repetition adds to the sense of finger-wagging in Murkoff’s often unnecessary, oversimplified, overzealous rules for life with baby — despite her constant reminders to parents to stay calm and rely on their instincts. Basically, baby may get hurt and accidents do happen — but as long as you baby-proofed the way I told you, it’s not your fault. Mama knows best!



As other readers often point out, Murkoff’s frequent reminders not to worry come along with a curious number of info boxes about obscure things parents should apparently be worrying about, from tap water components to all the reasons for constant hand washing and throwing out leftover food that has touched baby’s spoon (except that, on the other hand, you’d better start exposing the baby to plenty of germs to help build her immune system at some point, in some way, probably).



Knowing Murkoff has no medical training or credentials, nothing grates like the pandering tone she uses to deliver the Western consensus on every issue, controversial or not. Pronouncing “experts agree” or “the AAP recommends” leaves her free to make statements without citing any studies for further reading in case parents want to understand what the research, if it exists, actually says.



Still, the political and the clearly personal stuck out as strangest in a book about basic first-year infant care. For example, Murkoff has a quiet vendetta against co-sleeping. Formula feeding and nursing information come together, but confusingly, they come along with both notes on the superiority of breastfeeding and profuse reassurances that parents should never feel guilty about using formula for apparently any reason. Murkoff propounds vehemently against spanking of any kind, more than once (…in a book about children under one year old?!). She thinks of baby-proofing as such a high art that she actually recommends professional services for it — if you can afford the peace of mind, mama! She elevates a formal CPR class into a qualification for responsible parenthood. Gun owners are told that no locked-away firearm can ever be considered safe (while antifreeze and weedkiller should simply live in an “out-of-reach cabinet”). She is pro-vaccine, but apparently only because she is supposed to be — always cutting readers off with the prissy “doctors say” phrasing, Murkoff does not encourage a trust-but-verify strategy for anything at all. She uses a surprising number of “nevers” (my personal favorite: “Never take a pill in front of your child”). She has all the answers, in other words, and you do not.



Sure, this book covers the basics — if only that were all. Murkoff expects you to obey the status quo of the most recent edition of her book for maximum calm, and I think most parents get enough of that attitude. We can do better for our “baby bible.”

I dislike this whole series of books. The author spends too much time making her beliefs sound like facts in some areas (like against co-sleeping and for "crying it out") and then pandering to both sides (like bottle feeders and breastfeeders) in other areas in an obvious attempt to sacrifice the best baby advice for coddling to readers who may not have gone the path that's best for baby and don't want to feel bad about it. The advice is more along the lines of my mother's generation than the current practices and research that is so much more baby-friendly. I like Dr. Sears' "The Baby Book" much better.

I think this was more useful before smartphones. Still, some people might prefer it as a more trusted resource or to have regardless of internet connection.

There is one thing I loved about it that I haven't seen anywhere else in the same way, the milestones. Instead of this milestone at this age with the caveat that it can vary, this book gives percentages: at this age, 90% percent, 50%, 10%, do this.

I thought this book was so very great and wonderful - until I had the baby.

Gross at times but very helpful. Recommend to anyone having or even thinking of having a baby.

It feels like such an accomplishment both to finish this book and to get through baby’s first year! Very helpful guide and fun to read along every month with new milestones.