Everything parents need to give their babies the best start Each year, more than 4 million babies are born in the United States and the first year of a baby's life is a joyous, challenging, and sometimes overwhelming time. Your Baby's First Year For Dummies serves as a complete guide for baby's first twelve 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.

Table of Contents

Introduction. Part I: Giving Baby a Healthy, Happy Start. Chapter 1: Preparing for Baby. Chapter 2: Smoothing the Transition to Parenthood. Chapter 3: Hitting the Road with Baby on Board. Chapter 4: Returning to Work? Part II: Introducing: Baby! Chapter 5: Settling In with Baby. Chapter 6: The First Month: Getting to Know You. Chapter 7: The Second Month: Finding Your Rhythm. Chapter 8: The Third Month: Rolling Away from Infancy. Part III: Moving, Shaking, and Growing. Chapter 9: The Fourth Month: Food! Chapter 10: The Fifth Month: Rocking Baby's World. Chapter 11: The Sixth Month: Baby on the Move! Part IV: Discovering the World Beyond Mom. Chapter 12: The Seventh Month: Developmental Delights. Chapter 13: The Eighth Month: The Cruisin' Kid. Chapter 14: The Ninth Month: Grabbing Your Attention (With Intention). Part V: Keeping Up with Baby. Chapter 15: The Tenth Month: Chatting Up Baby. Chapter 16: The Eleventh Month: Walking the Walk. Chapter 17: The Twelfth Month: Who's This Toddler? Part VI: Protecting Baby's Health and Safety. Chapter 18: Keeping Baby Healthy. Chapter 19: Making It All Better: When Baby Has a Boo-Boo. Chapter 20: Preventing Injuries at Home. Part VII: The Part of Tens. Chapter 21: Ten Tips for Surviving the First Few Weeks. Chapter 22: Ten Tips for Daddy Survival. Chapter 23: Ten Reasons to Call Your Pediatrician. Chapter 24: Ten Reasons Not to Run to Your Pediatrician. Index.

About the Author

Dr. James Gaylord has a dual Board Certification in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine and has been in private practice in Burnt Hills, N.Y. since 1997. He is a 1988 graduate of Albany Medical College, where he also served as an assistant professor from 1993 to 1997. His training includes a residency in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine; he also spent a year (1992-93) as chief resident in Pediatrics. He continues to train medical students in his private practice. Michelle Hagen is a freelance writer and editor and the author of 8 books. She has a degree in literature from Empire State College.