The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two

This book has been my greatest resource with both my children. Not only is it a great medical reference but it also has practical advice for parents. It is particularly useful in the early months and dedicates a large portion of the book to issues surrounding the newborn. My husband and I continue to keep The Baby Book handy for our 1 year old. If I had to recommend one book to new parents this would be it!

What a great book to have! It touches about every little aspects of caring for a newborn. I am absolutely delighted to have bought it. I think Im going to put it to good use very soon! (IM 8 months pregnant)

Fantastic book. Never ending helpful information. So many times I opened up this book. From nights we couldn't get our new born to sleep to the night we realized he had an ear infection. Each and every time, Dr.Sears guided us through the tough times and gave my husband and I the confidence we needed. As a new parent, this book is the next best thing (and I think better) than taking your child to the doctor. Dr.Sears has the most wonderful, loving ideas on how to raise your baby. Although attachment parenting is known to have it's disadvantages, I can't think of a more beautiful way to ease your baby into this daunting and at times challenging world.

The Baby Book is the perfect gift for a first-time mom, pregnant friend, or any new family. It is written with a light, gentle and positive tone, but is eye-opening at the same time. On the surface, it seems to be a "baby guide" like so many others on the market, but The Baby Book is different.

Dr. Sears and his family coined the term "Attachment Parenting," which is a philosophy of parenting that embraces instinctual bonding behaviors like breastfeeding, babywearing and cosleeping. If these terms are foreign or even off-putting to you, that's okay. The Baby Book contains all the fun facts to prepare and guide moms and dads with new babies. It just adds another dimension, empowering parents to care for their children with respect, and encouraging them to develop a deep relationship that can carry them through countless tough decisions in a lifetime.

Rather than parroting the tired mantra of "check with your doctor," The Baby Book presents the data you need to make informed choices on your child's behalf, or tells you where to find it if you want to know more. And you will want to know more after you read this book. It will give you the sense that it's okay to question the status quo and make your own way as a parent.

If you think you are the type of parent who likes to take charge of your child's health and well-being, rather than leave it up to an "expert" who hardly knows him (aka the pediatrician), I would also recommend reading Healing Our Children: Because Your New Baby Matters! Sacred Wisdom for Preconception, Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting (ages 0-6)

Dr. Sears' book uses very little evidence-based medicine and is focused on giving ideological, rather than practical advice. I would strongly recommend "Canada's Baby Care Book: A Complete Guide from Birth to 12-Months Old" by Jeremy Friedman, Norman Saunders, even for American parents. In many cases they quote the US advice before the Canadian-specific one, so this is definitely written for a North American audience. I was so glad when I bought that book and I could stop looking to Sears for advice. I ignored the 1-star reviews I saw for this book on Amazon, where they basically accuse Friedman and Saunders of being anti-breastfeeding which is totally untrue. They present the facts on both breastfeeding and formula feeding without bias. They also discuss bed sharing (including the risks) and crib sleeping. They give all the facts according to what is known and present both sides of the story unlike Sears who pushes a certain style of parenting with no evidence to support it save for some anecdotal evidence from his or Martha's experience with their own children. His solution to everything is wearing your baby and sleeping with your baby which is totally ridiculous (because it's unnecessary) and impractical.