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Touchpoints-Birth to Three (Touchpoints)

Touchpoints-Birth to Three (Touchpoints)
By T. Berry Brazelton, Joshua D. Sparrow

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Product Description

All over the U.S. and in over twenty countries around the world, Touchpoints has become required reading for anxious parents of babies and small children. T. Berry Brazelton's great empathy for the universal concerns of parenthood, and honesty about the complex feelings it engenders, as well as his uncanny insight into the predictable leaps and regressions of early childhood, have comforted and supported families since its publication in 1992. In this completely revised edition Dr. Brazelton introduces new information on physical, emotional, and behavioral development. He also addresses the new stresses on families and fears of children, with a fresh focus on the role of fathers and other caregivers. This updated volume also offers new insights on prematurity, sleep patterns, early communication, toilet training, co-sleeping, play and learning, SIDS, cognitive development and signs of developmental delay, childcare, asthma, a child's immune system, and safety. Dr. Sparrow, Brazelton's co-author on several other books, brings a child psychiatrist's insights into the many perennial childhood issues covered in this comprehensive book. No parent should be without the reassurance and wisdom Touchpoints provides.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #3040 in Books
  • Published on: 2006-09-25
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 528 pages

Editorial Reviews

(HealthNewsDigest.com, 10/16/2006)
"The book that has guided a generation of parents has been revised to reflect...today's family...Includes timely new information."

INFODAD.com, 11/9/2006
"There has always been something highly empowering about Touchpoints. The new edition brings its success up to date."

About the Author
T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., founder of the Child Development Unit at Children's Hospital Boston, is Clinical Professor of Pediatrics Emeritus at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Pediatrics and Human Development at Brown University. He is a famed advocate for children, and his many other internationally acclaimed books for parents include To Listen to a Child, Infants and Mothers, and, with Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D., The Irreducible Needs of Children. Joshua D. Sparrow, M.D child psychiatrist and supervisor of inpatient psychiatry at Children's Hospital Boston, is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Associate Director of Training at the Brazelton Touchpoints Center. He is co-author with Dr. Brazelton of Touchpoints Three to Six and several titles in the Brazelton Way series.

Customer Reviews

Not at all what I expected2
I did not know much about this book before I purchased it, but I expected it to be about my baby's development just like it says on the cover. Instead this book seems to be mostly about how Dr. Brazelton interacts with parents and what he does when babies come for a checkup. Instead of focusing on babies, it goes on about how he tricks fathers into thinking babies recognize their voices or how mothers who come to his office look bedraggled because they are spending too much time dressing their babies in impractical outfits. He even seems to mock new parents for being so careful with their babies. There is useful information in this book, but if you aren't looking for a book that tells you how to be a pediatrician, you might want to keep looking.

Great Insight Into Behaviorial Development And More5
There are so many books on the market about parenting in the first few years of your baby's life. I have read a dozen of them, and was mostly disappointed. The "What To Expect" books, for example, are very wordy, and have very pragmatic advice, but for me lack some "depth". Brazelton's book, by contrast is both pragmatic and philosophical, giving parents much more depth on this subject. I loved reading this book; I found it to be engaging, interesting, and very relevant to raising my 2-year old.

In particular, some things that impressed me:
* The author has great insight into infant and toddler behavioral development (in fact, he has great insight into parental behavior as well). This background gives parents some inclination for what is going on with their child, and is useful in crafting responses to various behaviors that are observed in the early years of a child's life.
* The book is comprehensive, touching on most aspects of parenting in the first three years.
* The book is extremely well organized. It serves well as both a reference, and a cover-to-cover read.

I do agree with other reviewers who have said the author is opinionated. I think this is a good thing -- and I gained more and more confidence in the author's opinions as I went along. Most new parents will do well to have a "starting point" when forming their own opinions. As an example, Brazelton discusses at length the importance of establishing boundaries with infants and toddlers, as this will help the child to feel competent and secure as they continually gain new dimensions of independence which both excites and scares children. But this is balanced with the moderating view that parents minimize negativity by not making big deals of things that don't really matter. This is related to discussion on what it means to "spoil" a child. To this end, Brazelton advises: (1) do sometimes let the child get frustrated when trying to accomplish a new task by themselves -- this is a feeling they're going to have to learn to manage, and (2) establish boundaries so the child has a good sense for his own competence.

wish I'd found it sooner!5
this book was recommended to me twice but it took me awhile to actually buy & read it. I wish I hadn't waited. Absolutely great! This is a terrific book that manages to give excellent advice without being too touchy feely - or too militant. My daughter is a very active and strong willed girl and this book has been extremely helpful.