Twitter
FacebookThe Good, The Bad and The Ugly
There’s a lot to like about Robin Barker’s Baby Love. It’s comprehensive, has been a staple of Australian parenting books for years and is written in an easily digestable style. And unlike What to Expect in the First Year, it has everything organised in three month age blocks, which makes things a whole lot easier.
The Good
- A fantastic recipe section, with so many great ideas for different baby and toddler food
- A clear guide as to how much milk/food babies and toddlers should be consuming in any given day (great for paranoid new parents)
- Outlines realistic expectations for baby sleep and feeding
The Bad
- Argues that breastfeeding as comfort is largely ineffectual.
- Addresses weaning within the 9-12 month section but does not go into some of the strategies you might need with breastfeeding an older baby.
The Ugly
- Advocate of controlled crying
- Asserts that there is no such thing as teething, or at best it is vastly exaggerated. Completely ridiculous.
- Perpetuates the myth that if your baby is still co-sleeping at 3 months, there they will stay until 3-5.
So all in all, not my cup of tea. You get the distinct impression that although Robin Barker presents a range of options, she has a clear preference for one style of parenting, but is not really honest about her bias. Although I would probably still use it for the recipe section.
Written by Zoey @ Little People Books on February 3, 2010 under Books for Little People Admirers.
Totally agree. In the begining I found it to be my little encyclopaedia but only for those very early days when you are scared of every splotch on your baby or a funny noise they make.
And that teething bull shit, is just well bull shit.
.-= Treacy´s last blog ..The child is really really pissing me off. =-.
Exactly! Even my GP agreed that when Riley had a temperature of up around 40, that it was because her molars were coming through. And doctors are usually the first to run with that whole ‘it’s not teething’ craziness.
In the early days I tried her whole feed on a routine thing and gave up after half an hour and returned to demand feeding.
The Mighty Toddler is worse. She goes so far as to be sarcastic and demeaning to people who choose to co-sleep.
I agree. She has some great practical tips, and her recipe ideas are really handy, especially some of her tips for fussy eaters (worked for some friends of mine) and first foods.
But the teething thing – huh. Ask any parent and they will say they don’t believe her. Although, I did wonder if she is just trying to encourage parents to not dismiss any signs of illness as teething. But, if that is the case, it could be done in a better way, rather than ignoring the fact that growing teeth can be very uncomfortable!
.-= Megan @ Writing Out Loud´s last blog ..The Blog With A Difference =-.
Agree totally: great recipes, excellent reference book for medical ailments for the anxious new parent, but the ‘no such thing as teething’ comment made me wonder whether she has had any children herself (?)
Amazingly she does have two children. She must have had a couple of those mythical children who don’t suffer with teething!