What Baby Needs (Sears Children's Library)
by Christie Watts Kelly, Martha Sears, William Sears
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Book Reviews of What Baby Needs (Sears Children's Library)
Book Review: A must-have for a breastfeeding family with an older sibling
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is, in my opinion, an absolute must-have and perfect gift for any family who plans to breastfeed, especially if practicing other forms of attachment parenting, like babywearing or co-sleeping.
This book makes me tear up every single time I have read it, to myself or my daughter. It's just superbly done. The text just assumes that baby will be breastfed, or acknowledges the possibility of pumped milk in a bottle ("when baby is older"). Baby is pictured fitting into the family's activities with the older child in a ring sling and sleeping next to Mommy in a sidecar co-sleeper. It was such a beautiful thing to show my daughter a book that reflected pictures of what her family looked like!
There are fantastic little insets that speak directly to the older sibling outside of the story, many called "What about me?" that address how the older sibling may be feeling and acknowledging those feelings are ok. For example, that it's ok for the older sibling to be still wanting and expecting time and attention from parents, and that it's ok to feel angry towards the baby sometimes (but not to *hurt* the baby). It reminds children that the sort of needs the baby has are the same needs they had.
The book offers advice to children on how to make friends with the baby, and gives realistic expectations of what a baby will and will not do. My favorite illustration in this area is the one of the baby squeezing the older sister's finger - this is the one "game" we had prepared our daughter that the baby *would* be able to play with her right away, so it was fun to see it in there!
There are also incredibly helpful passages about what the older sibling can do to be helpful and feel included. I especially like where it tells children they can help by getting into the car seat quickly when going out and staying close by at all times!
There is also some really helpful information and advice for parents and caregivers about helping siblings prepare for baby written for adults, as well as information about attachment parenting and more resources at the end of the book.
All and all, I give this book my highest recommendation for children and adults in families who plan to breastfeed a new baby.
Book Review: Comforting book for children with new siblings.
Summary: 5 Stars
When parents bring a new baby home, they usually have an idea of what needs this new life will have. Their new baby will be totally dependent on them. If parents have young children at home, they may not know what the new baby's needs will be. And even if they did, they may feel as though they are no longer needed. How can parents ease their children's fears about the new baby, and help them understand what their new sibling needs?
In the book, "What Baby Needs," from the famous Sear's Children's Library, children will find out exactly what new babies need. The story begins by explaining things that the new baby needs...the same needs that the sibling had. Young children will be reminded of how their parents took care of them when they were babies, and they'll learn what their new role will be in the new baby's life. They will feel comforted knowing that their parents lovingly cared for them, the same way their parents will be caring for their new baby.
There are little sections throughout the book called, "What About Me?" that help siblings understand and realize that they are important too. They provide information on their new role as "big brother" or "big sister," and gives them ideas on ways they can connect with the new baby.
My ParenTime highly recommends "What Baby Needs" - young children will find it very easy to relate to. It also answers many of the questions that they probably have about the new baby's needs and their role in its new life. Young children are sure to enjoy this book. My 6 year old enjoyed this story :-).
Book Review: One of our two favorite books to prepare our son for the coming of his baby brother!
Summary: 5 Stars
After looking through several books to read to our son about becoming a big brother, we finally found two that we like. Some are all fluff- they don't really open up discussion or give a good picture of how the family life will be changing. This one, along with Hello Baby! are the two books we've found that are well written and most enjoyable on this subject, and unlike the majority of sibling books, they actually introduce the idea of Mom breastfeeding rather than stating as fact that the way babies eat is by bottles.
This book is about a loving, young family- Dad, Mom, big sister, big brother, and a new baby. It casts a positive light on being a big kid and shows how big brothers and big sisters are able to be big helpers with the arrival of a new baby, as well as how the extended family and friends will all be excited to see the new baby. It is written from an attachment parenting perspective, gently referencing skin-to-skin contact and showing parents wearing Baby in a sling, though I wouldn't consider either to be a big deal if for non-AP families (we don't consider ourselves an AP family, but we do plan to use a sling). It pleasantly introduces both nursing and, when baby's older, bottle feeding if Mommy has to be away. The book closes looking forward to a time when "before you know it, the baby will hold your hand, smile at you, sit up, and play!" There are also notes included for parents and caregivers, to give ideas for discussion and adapting the book to your particular family style.
Book Review: Breast feeding! Finally!
Summary: 4 Stars
Thank you, thank you, thank you to the authors for writing a "new baby" book that features breast feeding! Every other title that I have looked at is mainly focused on bottle feeding. This is much more realistic for our, and many other, families out there, seeing as my older daughter took a bottle less than 10 times during our 14 month nursing relationship. My daughter is only 15 months old and I'm 5 months pregnant. We bought this book yesterday after also looking at "I'm A Big Sister." When we came home and read it together she was so excited to point out the daddy, mommy, baby, dog, etc. While this book may feature older siblings that aren't as young as my daughter, it still was a big hit.
Even if a family hasn't adopted the "attachment parenting" style, this book is an excellent resource for your older child. The attachment style is featured in this book through babywearing/slinging, co-sleeping, breast feeding and tending to a little baby's cries as cues (versus manipulation, etc.). If you're going to give this as a gift, you may want to do some investigating to find out whether or not the new parent is strongly opposed to any of those. If so, you may want to steer clear. Otherwise, it's a fantastic book that promotes how exciting and fun it is to help take care of the new baby while getting to do all kinds of fun "older child" activities. There is also one small section that talks about how the older child will still get to have special time with mommy. I really appreciated that reassurance, even if it was a quick blip.
Book Review: Excellent book to prepare for a new baby
Summary: 5 Stars
We've been extremely pleased with this book for preparing for a new baby in the house. I was afraid it would be too much for my 21-month old, but he actually brings it over to have it read to him and sits through the whole thing. He loves this book, and we like the messages it imparts. I'm also extremely pleased that it shows the mother breastfeeding and talks about how baby nurses to get milk "just like you did". Since my oldest only stopped nursing at 18 months, I think that really made a good connection for him. Now that his sister has arrived, he's fascinated when he sees her breastfeeding.
This book has been very popular in our house, and I definitely plan on keeping it around. I would also highly recommend it to others, as it shows and shares a lot of things about what babies are really like and what they need that other books don't. And the little tips on almost every page would be very nice for an older child as well. It has a lot of good tips and such for parents before and after the story as well. Definitely a great book!