Review: 'Baby Milestones'

Dr Carol Cooper's new book takes you through the key stages in your child's amazing first three years of life.

Posted: 12 October 2006
by Sarah Lawson

Baby Milestones by Dr Carol Cooper

	Well designed, insightful guide to how your baby grows, what you can do to help his development, and what to expect next
	Not much to fault
Features:	Key information boxes, easy to follow guides to the different ages and stages of mental and physical development
Price:	£15.99 RRP
Contact:	Hamlyn

Often, books about a child's physical and mental development are very straight, and the books about feeding and playing, are very 'lifestyle'. Here Dr Cooper marries the two very well.
The book takes you, stage by stage, through the early weeks up to three years. There are quick checklists of the kinds of things your baby's body will be going through, and the kinds of activities he should be able to do at a given age, plus advice on feeding, stimulating your baby through play, and helping communicate, and also insights about those new experiences, such as feeding, playgroup and talking.
For parents, there's some great advice on things such as helping create an interest in sounds, hand-eye cooordination and even what kinds of toys are good at certain stages. These kinds of topics are invaluable, especially for parents who don't have family or friends with children of a similar or slightly older age, where they can observe such needs first hand.
Cooper is a family doctor and writer and has special interest in family and child health. She also has three children herself, including twins, so her tone is realistic, accessible and inspiring, rather than being too prescriptive.

Organisation
Each section takes you through the various ages and advises on the right kinds of care or help you can give. At the beginning of each section, there's a spreadsheet detailing the kinds of things a baby will be doing or might be able to do, in certain fields of growth: health and body, motor development (physical movement), hand-eye coordination, senses and learning, communication, and emotions. These are short sections and are easy to read, yet are packed with useful information.
Boxes that give you average growth measurements, pointers to look out for, and outlines on subjects like bone growth make this a real 'dip-into' reference book for times when you don't want to sit down and have a long read.

The ThinkBaby verdict

A fabulous, constructive and insightful book for parents.