Mayo Clinic Guide to Your Baby's First Years

by Walter J. Cook, Kelsey M. Klaas

Your child’s first few years are a wild ride. This book is your essential guide to the key stages of early childhood development, with comprehensive information on infant and toddler health from top Mayo Clinic pediatric experts with real-life parenting experience.

Inside, you'll find expert recommendations and practical insights to help you care for your infant and toddler with confidence, from sleep routines and safety tips to family media use and mental health (yours!). Month-by-month chapters cover your child's growth and movement, as well as their sensory, mental, and social development.
 
You’ll also find guidance Bonding with your new baby Bathing and comforting your child Feeding your baby and toddler as they grow Diapering and toilet learning Finding a pediatrician and healthcare for your child Childcare, traveling and emergency care Challenges for parents and other family members in the transition to life with a new baby Special circumstances such as adoption, caring for multiples, premature babies, autism spectrum disorder and more  
In this revised third edition, key updates address the questions and issues facing today's parents. To help you make the best decisions for your family, you'll find information on screen time, vaccines, new devices, and parental depression and anxiety. Other additions help you navigate toddler nap transitions, picky eating, big feelings, and behavior issues.

From birth to your child's third birthday, this guide is your trusted companion through the great adventure of infant- and toddlerhood.

Mayo Clinic Parenting Guides provide trusted expertise for every step of your journey.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Self Help, Reference, Family, Childrens, Health

582 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2025

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be reading this book for several years to come, but I'll review it now so I don't have to update my progress incrementally each month until my son turns 3.

I can't say enough good things about this book! I especially love the monthly chapters about what baby is doing developmentally as he grows during his first year of life. It is so fun to learn about what changes are occurring and what milestones we have to look forward to, as well as suggestions for how to encourage baby to master new skills during playtime, etc. It's incredible how quickly human babies learn and grow. Such a great resource!

[Lenon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every single crappy parenting book claims to be “the only one you need to read.” I’ve already read a bunch of them, and I have to say — this one is the one.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book as a new mom. It brought me so much comfort. Every month I would read the chapter on the current age and the next month's age. It helped me feel so much calmer about my son's development, especially with the loud voices from social media scaring me about my son being behind when he isn't. Highly recommend for any new parent that wants to learn about development in short and understandable chapters. (The age chapters took only 15ish minutes, sometimes less, to read.)

[Haley Little · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️
As a new mom there was SO MUCH useful information in this book including development, diseases and illnesses in children, etc. The fact that it comes from Mayo Clinic also makes me feel a lot more comfortable following these guidelines and recommendations compared to some other books.

[Shruti Rao · Rating 4 out of 5]

A welcome, science-grounded, no-nonsense primer.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Similarly to Mayo Clinic Guide to Healthy Pregnancy, this book is a great bible for things to know and prepare for during your baby's first year. I recommend to use post-it markers for references you may want to go back to in the future!

Table of Contents:
Caring for your baby. Welcome to parenthood! ; Baby's first days ; Feeding baby ; Diapers and all that stuff ; Bathing and skin care ; Clothing baby ; Sleep and sleep issues ; Comforting a crying baby ; Understanding your baby's temperament
Baby's health and safety. Finding the right care provider ; Checkups ; Vaccinations ; Child care ; Traveling with baby ; Home and outdoor safety ; Emergency care
Growth and development, month by month
Common illnesses and concerns
Managing and enjoying parenthood. Adapting to your new lifestyle ; Taking care of yourself ; Dads and partners ; Parenting as a team ; Single parenting ; Siblings and grandparents ; Finding contentment : home or job? ; When to have another child?
Special circumstances. Adoption ; Caring for multiples ; Premature baby ; Delayed development ; Down Syndrome ; Other newborn conditions.

[Sarina M · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book gives a great background and foundation for what to expect in general, and week to week then month to month during a baby’s first year. It is particularly useful for the early months when I was unsure of what to expect and which milestones she should be reaching. It also has a bunch of chapters focusing on specific topics (eating, sleeping, health).

My mom and I had a ritual reading this together as Ivy reached a new age, which was nice. We have been doing this less and less as the milestone ranges get wider and wider as my baby gets older (i.e. she could walk now or six months from now).

There are still more months to go and I will check in with it occasionally, but I consider this “read”.

[John Opalenik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book as a new dad who was constantly checking to see if my son was still breathing every two minutes. The book put my mind at ease telling me what the most current medical research said and allowed my wife and I to make informed decisions moving forward.

I've bookmarked the sections I keep referring back to and it continues to be a useful and informative resource.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let’s be real, I don’t want this sitting on my “Currently Reading” bookshelf until my child is 3 years old. So I’m marking it read now because I can. Very informative and helpful. Would recommend to all new parents.

[Jenny]

Highly recommend this book to any parent of young kids. I’ve returned to this resource again and again. Great info about development and practical advice on everything from starting solids to newborn sleep to babyproofing to travel with kids.

[Summertime Readaholic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read. Well organized. Insightful and helpful. Normal development plus common issues. Glad I got this book from my insurance company.

[Rooth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Extremely informative and in my opinion not biased towards any particular parenting choices or lifestyles.

[Sahizer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple but informative. It is clear and it gives you some expectations of what will happen next...

[Jia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit repetitive, but a great overview and reference manual for raising a little one.

[Sakshi Gopal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love that this book has mostly no-frills information and it is all beautifully arranged. It is more of a reference book than a cover to cover read (unless you really want to learn it all upfront).

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mid.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose to read this book after receiving a free copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

Mayo Clinic Guide to Your Baby’s First Years is an extensive guide for parents of children from newborn to 3 years old. It’s an excellent book for first time parents as well as experienced parents. If you have a question about your baby, or if you just want to see what milestones he or she should be reaching at each age, it’s a great resource.

I’m planning on getting another copy of this for our son who is a first time parent. They often have questions, and I don’t mind answering them, but I’m sure having the information on hand will be comforting.

Mayo Clinic Guide to Your Baby’s First Years is definitely a resource parents should have on hand.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as part of my preparation for my first pregnancy after reading the Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy. Like that book, I felt this was a comprehensive and readable guide to caring for a young child. I felt it was well-organized overall, though the section explaining growth and development did feel a little repetitive in some places. That may be inevitable in cases where there isn't much change, but it would have been nice to see the wording changed up a little more. I basically read this from cover to cover, but it's designed so that readers can jump around to the topics that are most useful for them. I think this will end up being a good resource as I enter into parenthood!

[Roozbeh Zabihollahi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a very detailed bit book about what you have to expect in the first few years of your baby’s life. The book also have instructions ti enhance you for what you will face.

To my experience, the book does not cover everything you need, I guess no book does. My problem was the book is written to be a reference and perhaps thats why everything is being repeated two hundred times :D

I have enjoyed reading it. Although we have learned every baby is different and you would also need to rely on cues you get from baby himself, I think every future parent should take the time to read this.

[Martha]

Obviously I'm not going to finish this whole thing until baby is closer to three, but let's just assume I'm done.