Raising a Happy, Unspoiled Child (How Parents Can Help Their Baby Develop Into a Secure and We) - Softcover

White, Burton L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0684801345 ISBN 13: 9780684801346

Publisher: Touchstone, 1995

Synopsis

REQUIRED READING FOR PARENTS WHO WANT TO GIVE THEIR CHILD THE BEST START IN LIFE
Must your charming five-month-old turn into a tiny terror? Are the "terrible twos" and public tantrums inevitable? Burton White, author of the classic The First Three Years of Life, doesn't think so. Basing his recommendations on thirty-seven years of research and observation, White shows how to bring up an independent, socially secure, and delightful child.
In his groundbreaking and easy-to-follow book, White takes parents through the normal development stages of their child's first thirty-six months, recommending the best ways to:

• React to a child's intentional cry
• Cope with stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, and sibling rivalry
• Manage unacceptable behavior without causing emotional harm to a child or damaging the parent/child relationship
• Handle challenging sleep situations, calm a cranky newborn, and deal with the toddler's fine art of the whine

All parents who want a peaceful, loving relationship with their child instead of a constant emotional tug-of-war will find that Raising a Happy, Unspoiled Child is the one book that must have a place on their shelf.

About this title

About the Author:

BURTON L. WHITE is the director of the Center for Parent Education in Newton, Massachusetts, and the designer of the Missouri New Parents as Teachers Project. The father of four (now grown) children, he lives in Waban, Massachusetts.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Sound but timeworn advice on how not to create a two-year-old brat from popular author White (A Parent's Guide to the First Three Years of Life, 1980). The terrible twos don't have to be, claims White. No, there is a snake in the garden and its name is overindulgence: Spoil the one-year-old, and the two-year-old will just be a bigger, meaner version. Parents may find solace in some of the stories of really diabolical two-year-olds, but don't expect to find forehead- slapping, why-didn't-I-think-of-that suggestions from the good doctor--his recommendations have seen a few seasons come and go: Don't let your child become bored, keep him amused; set limits so that your child knows her place; make sure that punishment is appropriate to the child's age; don't be overly accommodating or rush to console after every minor mishap. As is often the case in books on parenting and child care, advice on how to deal with problems goes aggravatingly halfway. For example, if your child wakes up at 3:00 a.m. and demands to get out of bed, White suggests singing a short ditty explaining that it's time for sleep. Nice, but what next if the child doesn't buy the offered goods? Banishment for the child? Earplugs for the folks? White has nothing more to say on the topic, or on what course to take after the 15th unsuccessful timeout, or how to handle a tantrum when ``distancing'' doesn't do the trick. White leaves the reader with the impression that there are two classes of two-year-olds and the choice is yours: the hellion, a life-wrecking barbarian of your own making; and the berkind, full of humor, imagination, and originality, a young boulevardier ready for cafe society. What about the other 95%? (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Touchstone
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0684801345
• ISBN 13: 9780684801346
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256