[.ca] The Portable Pediatrician, Second Edition: A Practicing ... (ISBN 0060938471)

lots of expertise, little advocacy:
This book fit in nicely with the books that fit our parenting philosophy, which is off the AP bandwagon but in touch with current academic research on attachment and limits. And that's what's best about Nathanson's writing: it's soundly informed and appropriate for our culture. Our newborn had transient tachypnea, and this was the only book we found that discusses it. Her position that you shouldn't let a newborn cry alone (but that it's possible to spoil a six-month-old) fits nicely between my mother's Spock-influenced rigidity and some of our friends' overindulgent parenting. We took her advice and introduced a "reminder bottle" at 2 weeks and now our baby goes easily from breast to bottle, finger to pacifier with ease (and no crying at any stage). Unlike Dr Sears, Nathanson presents medical concepts for their own sake. She presents the variations of thought about fussiness and colic one by one, without using them to justify AP or scheduling--thus we could use them to understand the situation rather than spiral into self-doubt and sleeplessness. Her advice on breastfeeding actually has answers instead of rephrased attempts to convince us to do it. I'm not sure this is a good choice for readers who see parenting as a cultural revolution, because Nathanson's advice is firmly centered in mainstream culture. But more importantly, it's broad and consistently helpful in its presentation of current pediatric knowledge.

Wonderful resource!:
I received this book as a gift prior to the birth of our first child. I enjoyed reading before our son was born but I truly LOVED having it after we brought him home from the hospital. I had so many questions and concerns those first few days and this book answered them all! Now he is a little over a month old and I still reference this book at least once a day (I'll admit, I'm a paranoid mother). But it's still a great resource, especially for new parents like myself. I just bought two other copies for friend's babyshowers. This was one of the best gifts I received. I highly recommend it.

What a disappointment....:
As an anxiety ridden, first time mom, I am addicted to reference matierials such as this book. I own several books of this sort and refer to them often. However, I was very disappointed in the advice this book had to offer and disagree with many of the authors opinions. For example, she states that children in the 12-18 month age set should not be given any snacks during the day and children of any age should not be given peanut butter for the mere fact that it is fattening. I don't agree wtih her advice to hold a toddler immobile, facing the wall during a tantrum and to give that child the cold shoulder after the tantrum is over. It seems to me that this would only promote passive aggressive behavior right from the start. THis book seems to be written on the assumption that all children are the same and every situation should be handled the exact same way. Does this doctor have children?

Reassuring Resource:
This is one of the most well-worn books in my house. It's reassured me through countless colds and scrapes on the part of my two kids. The developmental sections are helpful, and the parenting parts are no more than suggestions of various alternatives you might not have thought of. If you're very dogmatic about child-raising this book will annoy you, as the author will invariably discuss some child-rearing technique you don't like and think no one should ever use, but I personally had no problem ignoring the parts I wasn't interested in and benefiting from the rest, and I'm glad she wrote a comprehensive enough book to let me do that rather than making arbitrary decisions like "I hate pacifiers so I'm not going to say anything about them." My only complaint was the illustrations are extremely ugly. Maybe a child drew them, but they certainly don't add anything.

Not the best:
I have a few problems with this book. First of all, the lay-out can be difficult to follow. Sometimes it just seems jumbled. And, more importantly, I think the author is too obsessed with weight. Considering our country's growing population of obese children, there is some reason for concern, but her advice against snacks for toddlers is taking things a bit too far (and is in contradiction to the American Academy of Pediatrics' advice). The book is filled with advice about how to tell if your baby is too chubby, and how to keep them trim. This might be useful IF your pediatrician has told you that your child is too heavy, but could cause useless anxiety otherwise. Also, like any baby book author, Dr. Nathanson's biases show through, and may be in conflict with yours. For example, in the chapter on Nine months to One year, she advocates, "Consider a baby-harness or leash: this is the age for Cherub (she always refers to baby as Cherub) to get used to it." If this makes you cringe, you might want to pass on this particular book. In the nine months since our son was born, we've refered to this book a few times, but have found The American Academy of Pediatrics Caring for your Baby and Young Child Birth to Age 5 much more useful.