can aid paranoia about what baby should be doing at each stage
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
As first time parents who hadn’t previously had much to do with children, myself and the other half were pretty clueless about babies. We still are clueless about babies that are over 3 months (Scarlett’s age). Whilst I was pregnant I found the thought of looking after a baby quite scary, what did you do if it cried? How do you bath it? What happens if its ill?
A lot of our growing parenting skills have been picked up because we’ve just had to get on with it, however what to expect in the first year has proved a valuable resource for us.
Its first section deals with factors to consider before the baby arrives. These include deciding whether to breast or bottle feed, which nappies to use, feelings about parenthood and a list of basics for baby. This last one was handy for us as what babies need clothes wise and bedding wise was a complete mystery for us which wasn’t helped by wandering aimlessly around mother care getting more and more confused.
There is a section covering newborn babies which deals with feeding techniques, practical tips on changing, dressing and bathing babies and answers to hypothetical queries about birthmarks and a newborn’s appearance.
There are twelve chapters covering each month of baby’s first year. Each chapter starts with a guide to what your baby should/ could be/ may even be doing in that particular month. There is then information about queries that are relevant to what usually effects babys in that particular month. For example month five has a big section on solids whilst month two covers immunizations.
There is lots of clear, sensible advice on subjects like the beginnings of discipline in older babies, sleep problems, when a baby should sleep in their own room. The advice is non judgmental and sometimes two points of view will be put forward without the authors saying you will be a bad parent if you don’t follow a certain path (of course they don’t say its fine to start your kids on cigarettes if that’s your choice)
Next there is a chapter on considerations for baby care in winter and summer and also practical advice on taking a baby on various forms of transport. There is then section on what to do when baby is ill which covers things like administering medication and indications that you may need to call a doctor. Next there is a baby first aid section, which is very useful and I must get round to reading it! There is a section on the low birth weight baby and a chapter on the baby with serious problems such as heart defects or down syndrome.
Next there is a chapter on the adopted baby. Then there are chapters on surviving the first postpartum week, six weeks and year. These chapters cover things like exercises to get back into shape, postnatal depression, going back to work, maintaining a good relationship with your partner and contraception. There is then a chapter on becoming a dad which covers things like bonding with your baby and balancing work and family. The last chapter is about getting an older child used to the arrival of their new sibling.
As a sometimes nervous first time mum I’ve found the baby illness section very useful, as I always seem to be diagnosing Scarlett with a cold, god knows what I’ll be like when she gets one!
The list of what your baby should be doing each month is a bit of a double edged sword. On the one hand its nice to know that Scarlett is roughly on target for her age. However, its tempting to get a bit obsessive about what she’s doing and when she’s doing it. This book is great it covers a wide spectrum of parental concerns and its good to read or to dip into when Scarlett starts doing something I’m not sure of.
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