Your Cherished Baby

Book excerpt: The way we nurture our babies, from their earliest moments, has a lifelong effect on their health and happiness. What many of us have known instinctively is now a matter of science. Study after study proves that how we hold, feed, play with and settle our babies is a major factor in their long-term wellbeing. Dr Howard Chilton has been a neonatologist (a babies' physician) for over thirty years. He has seen numerous baby-care fads come and go, but has always held to the philosophy now proved by science: you can't give your baby too much love. In Your Cherished Baby, Dr Chilton introduces mothers to a complete approach for settling, feeding and engaging their 0-2 infants. He explains the neurological processes of both baby and mother in this early bonding period. He debunks the myth of baby routines, provides a compelling explanation for colic and excessive crying, and argues for the introduction of varied foods to aid the development of a child's palette and to guard against obesity later in life. Most prevalent to many a sleep-deprived parent, Dr Chilton presents a practical alternative to controlled crying, a currently popular sleep settling technique that he regards as inhumane. Accessible, compassionate and occasionally controversial, Your Cherished Baby is the essential guide to giving babies the best possible start in life.