Touchpoints 3 to 6

by T. Berry Brazelton, Joshua D. Sparrow

For decades, new parents have relied on Dr. Brazelton's wisdom. But all "Brazelton babies" grow up. Now at last, the internationally famous pediatrician, in collaboration with an eminent child psychiatrist, has brought his unique insights to the "magic" preschool and first-grade years.Through delightful profiles of four very different children, the authors apply the touchpoints theory (following the pattern of growth-new challenge-reegression-recharging-and renewed growth) to each of the great cognitive, behavioral, and emotional leaps that occur from age three to six. In the second, alphabetical, half of the book they offer precious guidance to parents facing contemporary pressures and stresses, such as how to keep a child safe without instilling fear, countering the electronic barrage of violent games and marketing aimed at children, coping successfully with varied family configurations, over-scheduling, competition, and many other vital issues today. A Merloyd Lawrence Book

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Psychology, Reference, Education, Childrens

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Thomas Berry Brazelton was an American pediatrician, author, and the developer of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS).

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

You should probably just read my review of the original Touchpoints. The 3-6 age range is a bit more complex in what parents face, and in the range of possible responses to children's behavior, than the 0-3 age range, but Brazelton does his best to be as simple, clear, and empathetic as in his earlier book, and is largely successful.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the approach of this book. I've read the section on 3 yr olds, and plan to revisit it for 4-6. It's helpful to understand that certain phases are universal and purposeful.
I'm now back on this one for the 4 year old chapter.

[Jeanne Cipollini · Rating 4 out of 5]

helpful in understanding the emotional and cognitive changes that a young child goes through during these years, which can be rather confusing. It has helped me understand why my son, who was never afraid of anything, suddenly became so, and why he is rebellious. Very interesting.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful, once you get used to the style.

[Marci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really don’t like the layout of this book. It’s really confusing. The book is way too wordy and the message gets lost. I couldn’t even get through the whole thing.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappointing follow up to the Birth - 3 year version. It could be 200 pages shorter if the stories about fictitious Minnie and Billy were removed. I still appreciate the actual developmental sections, but was frustrated at having to shift through the stories.

[Catherine Hanlon]

DNF

It’s fine! It’s a huge parenting book and I’m just interested in a few snippets. The storytelling format was interesting but not what I was looking for, so I returned this one to the library after only a few chapters.

[Polya Yordanova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful. I think is one of the most exhaustive book for this argument.

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

good reading for parents who would like to better understand the different stages of their child's growth, why they do certain things like ignore you, lie etc. Easy read, no psychology jargons.

[Eleonora Voltolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

La nostra ”bibbia” nell’essere genitori, parte seconda!

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really outdated and difficult to get through. There are so many better resources out there for parents today.

[Lacey Louwagie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just read the opening chapters and the section on three-year-olds. May return to the other sections later, but done with the book for now.

[Shannon Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm currently reading this and am struggling. I've started skipping the case studies and just reading what he has to say about most kids this age. Sometimes I skim them, and some are relevant to what I am looking for, but I end up giving up and skipping.

MTA: Finished it. There were some quick reference points sans case studies in the second part of the book. While I felt they chose some good things to reference, these were actually not in-depth enough. So too much in the first part, not enough in the second. There was a section on new siblings, and I hungrily went to read up on it, only to find that they didn't give me enough information. Good start, though. And I did find helpful information throughout the book, even when it just consisted of saying, "Hey, that's normal! Yay!"

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was completely underwhelmed by this book. While there were a few bits of information in the book that I found useful, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The narrative about the four children of different temperaments was mildly entertaining, but made the book much, much longer than it needed to be. In a parenting book I value brevity over entertainment. As in Birth to Three, Brazelton "discusses" things outside the mainstream, such as co-sleeping, but without any depth or open-mindedness. There was much eye-rolling on my part.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book born dated. Copyright 2001. If the copyright was 1955, than it would have been a visionary book. Still, in the 1980 it would have been an interesting read. In the Internet era is just a collection of wives tales about the good old times. Not much explanation going either, although the French edition goes by more than 500 pages. So if you are a fundamentalist christian home schooling your unvaccinated child, this volume might explain a thing or two. If you do own a computer and a mobile phone look further.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit to skipping the chapters on Age 5 and 6 since my daughter is not there yet. But I read the rest of the book and I found it did help me understand my oldest's behavior better. The author did a good job giving the reader the perspective of a 3 and 4 year old. There wasn't anything mind blowing in this book but there were several things I learned that I found helpful and I would say it was a worthwhile read.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not like the author's writing style. The conceit of the fictitious case study kids was distracting rather than helpful. I did come away with the conviction that kids who are behaving out of control want their parents to help them get back to a state of being in control. This helps me to have more empathy for my 3-year old when she is in the middle of a meltdown, and convinces me I need to be better about helping her get back to equilibrium after a tantrum.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like some of Brazelton's ideas, but his books tend to rankle me. They are so full of "thou shalts" that it is difficult for me to read them without mentally arguing with him. Also, I think that he spends more time than necessary discussing anecdotes. That said, the section at the end on "special" issues was a useful compilation of tips for various scenarios.

[Juli Crow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't find this book as easy to use as the Touchpoints from Birth until 3 because most of the "lessons" are told through case studies. But, the insights are valuable.

[Amber]

1 copy available

[Dragana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Annoying concept of 3 fictional kids and their issues didn't do much for me.