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Penelope Leach has brought together her rich personal and professional experience of baby and child care in a convincing, guilt-free and sometimes humorous way. Between the commonsense lines this practical and clinical experience is expressed simply and precisely, without sounding rigidly immutable or infallible. All the essentials of an infant and child manual are painstakingly presented here, from earliest handling and everyday care of the newborn, to launching the pre-school child into life.
“Daily life with a baby or small child is made up of hundreds of minutes of minutiae. The more smoothly those minutes roll by, the more easily her hair gets washed, her meals get prepared or she is settled to sleep, the more time and emotional energy you will have for enjoying yourself and her. So no detail is too trivial to think about”.
Written from the sensible starting point of the child's immature, yet growing, awareness and understanding of herself and family, the book allows parents tremendous flexibility in approaching and coping with each child at her own level of development. Dr. Leach states very clearly how children's development during this period is constantly in forward and backstepping flux. Parents' awareness of where the child is at not only allows the opportunity of adjusting to her, but enhances their scope for fostering her progressive autonomy. What emerges concurrently with these day-to-day minutiae of caring and handling is a picture of the child's gradual physical, emotional and intellectual development, as seen in her growing individuality and interaction with those around her, and a picture of the Parents' enrichment through their interaction with her, as well as their having time to enjoy their adult relationships more.
Perhaps the most rewarding and refreshing perspective offered by her book is Dr. Leach's honest trial and error. Her fund of knowledge and feel for the child supplies us with a good number of anticipations which tend to keep the trials