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Amazon.co.uk Review
Be assured from the start--this book is written by one of the world's leading experts in child development. Penelope Leach has worked with children and families for more than 20 years, researching such areas as antenatal education, birth practices, behavioural issues and child care. The guiding objective throughout her work is to bridge the gulf between theory and family reality--and in this she is second to none.
From page one you will feel completely immersed in her gentle and inspiring prose--she is authoritative without been didactic and her practical and reassuring explanations show real empathy to the feelings of parents. What's more, Leach writes from the child's point of view, making every aspect of care and each new stage reached, much more understandable and special.
The book is organised by approximate age-stages, starting off shortly before birth, up until the beginning of school life. Each stage gives advice and guidance on sleeping, feeding, playing and washing as well on the cognitive developments such as thinking and talking. There are "Parent's Ask" and "Parent's have their say" sections that discuss common anxieties and assuage misplaced fears or guilt and every chapter is wonderfully illustrated and structured, allowing you to dip easily into the appropriate section.
This book is more than a guide to child-care. It is an insight into your child's first years of life--their needs, thoughts and their behaviours--which will help you really communicate together. It is supportive without intruding in on your own parenting instincts and it will give you the confidence to live by your baby, not by the book. If you only buy one parenting guide, buy this. --Abi Frisby --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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"! covers everything you need to know for the first five years of your child's life." Baby & You.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An excellent,informative, comforting, information-packed, friendly book. My baby bible. Penelope Leach's approach to childcare is both baby and parent-friendly. She is not for getting your baby to fit into a regime, or for having your life ruled by your child's demands, but for understanding your child's needs at different stages of development and finding ways of working together.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is well-written detailed advice about how to cater to a child's various needs at different stages of infanthood. I have found it to be the most supportive and useful book about babycare so far.
The only quibble I have is that it talks only about the baby's needs, and says almost nothing about the parents' needs. It rather glosses over the very real problems that parents may have in the early weeks, of exhaustion. If, say, your child is not very adept at sucking and wants to nibble from your breasts every half hour without ever taking a proper feed or sleep then you won't be able to work out a solution from this book. Although Leach clearly does not advocate any kind of schedule, you suddenly realise about halfway through the book that she assumes that your baby gradually and naturally adopts a feeding pattern of five or six feeds a day and a fairly long sleep in the night. I'm lucky that my baby seems to be heading this way, but there are plenty of babies who don't. You might have a nervous breakdown if yours is one that doesn't and this is the only book you read.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I adore this book. A friend bought it for me when I was expecting our first son. I remember being a bit daunted by the fact that there were 80 pages about breastfeeding and thinking, how can it possibly be that difficult. But of course by the time our son was a month old I'd probably read those 80 pages avidly, word for word. This has been our experience so many times with this book. Throughout so many different stages, it offers a really good overview of different ways of handling the 'challenges' of raising kids. But the best thing is that she helps you to make your own decisions. Penelope Leach clearly does have her own opinion about the best way of doing things, but she doesn't force it on you - which is a pretty rare thing when it comes to child-raising. The book is thus both a really good friend and an insight into how your child sees things. It's also a fun read, because you can get excited about all the fun stages you have to look forward to as your child grows up. We are now on baby number two and I have re-read some early parts of the book just as avidly as I did the first time, while still using the later parts of the book for our older son, since it covers children up to age five.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
great
I had read the book in different language,and wanted to share what I learnt from it with my husband. This is a great overall child development book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by me
Timeless Advice
I started using this book as a guide to help with raising my children over 30 years ago. After less than two months as a mum, my daughter already refers regularly to the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by New Granny
Some non patronising reassurance
I have two little girls, now age 3 and 5 and we used this book as a reference for both of our children. I always liked the reassuring and positive style of the book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Squigglemum
Love this book
Thank you for this book. It helped me to understand so many parts of what I did wrong before.
I still think the best advice was about price of Gold and how to turn your child... Read more
I still think the best advice was about price of Gold and how to turn your child... Read more
Published 6 months ago by G from London
AMAZING!!!
I bought LOADS of baby books - this one was actually a hand-me-down and is by far the best! Penelope Leach helps you get inside your child's head and body and helps you really... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jehan
My best reference baby book EVER!!!!
I was given this baby book from my older sister when my first child was born! Used it time and again with my second and third child. My husband called it my "BIBLE"! Read more
Published 12 months ago by Lipper
Your Baby and Child
I raised my own two babies with the help of Penelope's sage advice. One of those babies is now a dad himself. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Whoisshe
The Delia Smith of Childcare
My kids are now 10 and 8, but they were reared on this book and seem to have turned out fine. I can recommend it to anyone who is looking for no-nonsense practical advice.
Published 18 months ago by Ash
Reassuring + easy to read
It might be a bit premature as I am reading this prior to the birth of my first child but this seems like a good and encouraging view on rearing children. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mrs Standingby
Great for toddlers
I bought this book as I had read a lot of Penelopes articles on toddler behaviour on the internet and found them all usefull. Read more
Published 23 months ago by L. Dorman
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