Baby Development

For babies, like for all living things, being fed is best. But the current stringent focus on exclusive breastfeeding is putting some babies at risk by depriving parents of a full understanding of how to tell when breastfeeding alone doesn't provide enough—and what to do about it. Fed Is Best provides a clear-eyed look at the current messaging and latest scientific research around breastfeeding and formula feeding, to help parents make informed choices about how to best feed their baby based on their individual circumstances.

Carole Kramer Arsenault has spent the last two decades helping parents through pregnancy, labor, and all of their new responsibilities once baby comes home - both as a longtime pediatric nurse and as the founder of the most highly regarded baby care service in New England. From the first trimester to the fourth (baby’s crucial first three months), Arsenault and her team of professional nurses have seen it all.

A tour of global practices that will inspire American parents to expand their horizons (and geographical borders) and learn that there’s more than one way to diaper a baby. Mei-Ling Hopgood, a first-time mom from suburban Michigan - now living in Buenos Aires - was shocked that Argentine parents allow their children to stay up until all hours of the night. Could there really be social and developmental advantages to this custom?

For parents of young children, speech milestones are monumental—from baby babble to first words to full sentences. It's natural to worry when they don't arrive "on schedule" or when your little one seems to lag behind their peers. In What to Do When Your Child Isn't Talking, speech and language therapist Nicola Lathey and journalist Tracey Blake offer parents reassurance and solutions—at a moment when speech delay and regression is more common than ever.

The heartache of miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death affects thousands of United States families every year. Empty Cradle, Broken Heart, Third Edition offers reassurance to parents who struggle with anger, guilt, and despair during and after such a tragedy. In this new and updated edition, Deborah Davis encourages grieving and strives to cover many different kinds of loss, including information on issues such as the death of one or more babies from a multiple birth, pregnancy interruption, and the questioning of aggressive medical intervention.

You have a newborn, so sleep is impossible, right? Wrong! In the womb, babies sleep up to 20 hours per day. Clearly newborns don't need to be "trained" how to sleep-they know how, and they've had plenty of practice. So why do most parents have trouble getting their newborns to sleep? Elizabeth Pantley, a world-renowned expert on children's sleep, created this guide to explain the ways we unintentionally prevent an infant's natural sleep to occur, and to teach us the simple but powerful ways to maximize our newborn's naps and nighttime sleep.

Each time she knelt to "catch" another wriggling baby - nearly 3,000 times during her remarkable career - California midwife Peggy Vincent paid homage to the moment when pain bows to joy and the world makes way for one more. With every birth, she encounters another woman-turned-goddess: Catherine rides out her labor in a car careening down a mountain road. Sofia spends hers trying to keep her hyper doctor-father from burning down the house. Susannah gives birth so quietly that neither husband nor midwife notice until there's a baby in the room.

In Baby Making for Everybody, queer millennial midwives Ray Rachlin and Marea Goodman use their professional expertise to demystify the dizzying process of pursuing parenthood as queer and solo people, offering detailed, gender-affirming, body-positive advice. The result is a much-needed compassionate step-by-step guide for every aspect of the complicated, messy, and glorious process of building a family.

Spirited infants are the outliers—the exceptions to the “rules,” the extraordinary ones. They arrive in this world genetically wired to be alert and intense. Spirited babies put parents to the test and raising them takes special skills and patient perseverance. In this groundbreaking new book, beloved parenting expert Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, Ed.D., offers her findings in the fields of neuroscience, sleep, temperament, self-regulation, attachment, and parent-child interactions, and shares what she has learned from hands-on experiences with families.

Are you struggling to find peaceful sleep amidst the chaos of daily life? You're not alone. In today's fast-paced world, stress and anxiety often keep us tossing and turning, leaving us exhausted and unrefreshed come morning. But there's hope. Introducing our audiobook, "Sleep Like a Baby: Soothing Nature Sounds & Relaxing Meditation Music to Fall Asleep & Stay Asleep."

This audiobook is nothing but the pure, beautiful sounds of Lullaby Music. Relax and close your eyes as you let the experience of Pure Lullaby Music wash over you and feel the stress melt away. Perfect for sleep, babies, and relaxation.

Are you excited about your baby’s arrival, but you’re not confident that you can take care of a mini-human? Get rid of your doubts and fears—discover how to nurture your baby in their first 12 months to help them grow healthy and strong! The methods provided in this guide are science-based, practical, and will give you the confidence you need to raise your baby like the super-dad you are meant to become.

One in three births is traumatic. It doesn’t have to be that way. Rebecca planned to give birth at the hospital affiliated with her university. But hospital practices and policies that were more than 20 years out of date left her with complications that seemed preventable. Embark on a journey with Rebecca as she exposes the stark realities of institutional care during childbirth and reveals inspirational solutions for parents and professionals alike.

From America's leading authorities in childcare comes the definitive guide to having a healthy pregnancy - and a healthy baby. The Healthy Pregnancy Book guides expectant mothers and fathers through all stages of pregnancy from preconception through birth, focusing on how to enhance the health of mother and baby.

Research shows that "normal" infant sleep is not what most experts claim it is. In fact, many of today's sleep "problems" with young babies and children predominantly occur in the developed world. In Why Your Baby's Sleep Matters, renowned gentle parenting expert Sarah Ockwell-Smith demonstrates how nurturing babies at night helps their brain development, and covers the topics every parent of a new baby will need to know about, including naps, SIDS, night weaning, and coping with your own exhaustion - and even dealing with advice and criticism from others.

Your Baby's First Year for Dummies serves as a complete guide for baby's first 12 months - from what to do when arriving home from the hospital to handling feeding, bathing, and sleeping routines to providing the right stimuli for optimal progress. Packed with tips on every aspect of baby's physical, emotional, and social development this friendly guide gives parents advice on such important topics as breastfeeding vs. bottle-feeding, teething, baby toy safety, food preparation, food allergies, traveling, and much more.

Written by a mother and health researcher who suffered through her own baby's colic, The Essential Crying Baby Book will provide key tips and tricks, provide emotional support through your baby's crying, and share valuable information on the causes and treatments for excessive fussiness and crying. You will no longer feel alone in your struggle and will gain the perspective and strength necessary to cope with your fussy baby and thrive in parenthood!

The pregnancy’s over and the baby’s here…what’s a dad supposed to do? Put your other new dad books away - We’re Parents! is going to help you be the best dad (and partner) you can be. Wondering how to burp your newborn? Not sure how to get them to try solids? Desperate to get them to sleep? Adrian Kulp (a four-time dad himself) offers fast, fun, and easy-to-digest advice that other new dad books don’t, making it simple for you to step up and do your part as a brand-new dad.

Are you finding it hard to tell whether you’re excited or just scared pants-less? Of course you’re excited, but still, what the heck are you supposed to do now? Relax, and take a deep breath - all dads have been in your same shoes once before. Finding out that you’re going to be a dad is one of the most rewarding moments in life, but yes, it certainly comes with a lot of questions and concerns.

In the last decade there has been a revolution in our understanding of the minds of infants and young children. We used to believe that babies were irrational, and that their thinking and experience were limited. Now Alison Gopnik - a leading psychologist and philosopher, as well as a mother - explains the cutting-edge scientific and psychological research that has revealed that babies learn more, create more, care more, and experience more than we could ever have imagined.