Moms on Call | Basic Baby Care 0-6 Months | Parenting Book 1 of 3 | 20th Anniversary Edition

by Laura Hunter, Jennifer Walker

Advice from two pediatric nurse moms with over 20 years of experience. Everything that modern parents need to know about caring for babies in the first 6 months, including: step by step guidelines for getting babies on a routine hour by hour schedule at a glance; feeding instructions for breast, bottle, or both; what symptoms warrant a trip to the emergency room; how to get your baby to sleep all night so you can too; plus much more.

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

159 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2012

Reviews

[Justine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Helpful, I suppose, but mostly as a reference manual rather than anything else. I am deeply resentful reading this book for several reasons, the top three listed below:

1) It is not a novel or even interesting non fiction. It is many lists that explain that if my child can't breathe or has a fever I should call a doctor. Got it, ladies.

2) why are all books on parenting written in such ridiculously syrupy language? Can ANYONE other than Emily Oster write something that doesn't make me want to barf?

3) so many bible verses. That probably bugged me the most.

On the plus side, I now have a reference schedule for my unborn fetus that I can put in a spreadsheet. So that totally garners at least a few stars.

Ugh.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a lot of guidelines that didn't work well for my baby. There are suggested schedules where the baby eats every three hours, is alert for a period of time after the feeding, then naps until the next feeding. But sometimes my baby falls asleep right after he eats, then wakes up well before the next feeding, sometimes he doesn't seem tired between two feedings, and he frequently seems hungry before three hours are up. The book suggests letting the baby cry for a total of 15 minutes before any night feedings, but he is sleeping really well at night on his own. Making him cry in hunger for 15 minutes every night the one time he does wake up seems ridiculous.

It's possible these schedules work better on older babies. Mine is only two months old right now. But the schedules are explicitly recommended in the book as soon as the baby is two weeks old and gaining weight. I'm assuming it's just advice that works well for some babies and not others.

Most of the advice is how-to advice rather than giving a reason. The authors assume I am willing to follow their advice rather than trying to convince me. I gave some of it a shot, but if it didn't seem to work I just assumed they were wrong.

The bath instructions were actually really helpful, though. Before reading them, I wasn't sure how to manage everything even with my husband helping. It felt like I didn't have enough hands! After reading the instructions here, I could easily give him a bath on my own. I did choose to get an infant bathtub and ignore the advice to use only the adult bathtub from the beginning.

[Alexandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book for its sleep training method, which I'd heard great things about. I knew pretty early on that it wasn't for me. The authors tell you that you have to follow all of their sleep instructions exactly in order for the method to work, which include putting your baby in his own room at a few weeks old. Since I'd decided to room-share for longer than that, according to the AAP guidelines, I knew I wasn't really "doing" MOC. The other part that wasn't for me was using the extinction method (leaving baby to cry without going in at all to soothe him) at 12 weeks, for 12 hours/night. I know people do use this method to teach independent sleep at a young age, and I am not completely opposed to letting baby cry a bit, but it's one thing to let them cry while falling asleep at the beginning of the night and another to leave them the entire night no matter how many times and for how long they wake up crying.

I do find the schedules helpful as a guideline to what baby's day might look like at different stages, but I wish the authors acknowledged that different babies have different sleep needs and the schedules won't work for everyone! I definitely prefer a less rigid, more flexible approach. Of course you can follow it as loosely or as strictly as you want, but the way it is presented makes it seem like this one schedule is best for every baby. I have heard of people following it so strictly that if baby wakes up early from a nap they leave them to cry for the rest of the prescribed nap time, which I find ridiculous.

Lastly, I wish the authors included more rational behind their method. It seems that it is based on their own opinions and experience rather than actual research. Yes, they are health care professionals and moms themselves, but then why does their advice go against AAP guidelines? Overall, I find it to be a cookie-cutter approach with little explanation that won't work for everyone. I would prefer less Bible verses and more science.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely recommend this book for first time moms, it helps you feel less clueless! LOL

[Iris Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s a stretch to call this a book, as it is really more of a pamphlet and written quite poorly (you could read the whole thing in 30 minutes or less). Most of the information is generic, outdated, or unrealistic, and certainly doesn’t follow any of the AAP recommendations. I disagree that a newborn should be sleep trained (close the door and don’t go back in for 12 hours) or that they can be put on a rigid 3-4 hr feeding schedule. Though I’d love to have more structure and was curious how to implement a schedule, the book does nothing to explain how to help put babies on a schedule. It simply provides a sample schedule where the baby has the same amount of wake time and naps every day. But in reality, you can’t force a baby to have a certain nap length (unless you just leave them crying in the crib?) so I’m really unsure how their method works at all.

[Brice Karickhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is kind of like the paleo diet. Whether or not you join the cult is your call, but the underlying principles are a great place to start regardless. Currently, we’re somewhere in the middle.

Personally, this book makes me feel like I know what I’m doing and makes me less anxious about every little thing. I can see how for someone else, it could have the opposite effect. I really liked it though. Pragmatic as heck.

[Lubna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Writing this to warn people away from this poorly written book. It is very rigid in a “this is the only right way to raise your baby” (you can only swaddle right by buying their swaddle, your baby must be on a strict schedule starting at 4 weeks (!!!), you must do this exact bedtime routine, etc) and has no allowances for the fact that babies and families are different. Also, much of their dogmatic advice goes directly against medical advice (i.e., every baby MUST start solids at 4 months and feed them in a bouncy chair, use bumpers in the crib, sleep train your newborn etc). Finally, the preachy tone was made worse by the constant quoting of Bible verses. This book went straight into the garbage.

[Alexis Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this me hard launching my pregnancy via goodreads and not on any other form of social media? Yes. Yes it is lmao.

[Cate Barrett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not only do I deeply despise this book, I also think it shouldn’t exist. Completely baffled as to how it “works” for anyone. The advice goes against common sense and even some medically-sound advice such as feeding a baby on demand. I feel bad for the babies whose parents try to implement these rigid schedules. It doesn’t seem to indicate any type of trying to learn to read your baby or follow their cues. This can lead to a lot of frustration and missed expectations out of a small baby who has no control over their behavior and also no other way to meet their needs.

[Linz DF · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book to all of my friends who are pregnant. The ones who have taken my advice are so glad they did. The others, well, I haven't heard from them because they're too busy with an unpredictable baby ;)

[Sarah Marcum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primarily started this book to get our baby on a schedule during the daytime to extend his sleep at night. He’s down to one feed only between 7pm and 7am at 11 weeks old. I do like the feed, wake, and sleep schedule they provide. There’s also a lot of good info for baby care, however, it might be a bit outdated now. Do not agree with extinction method for sleep training/ how early they start sleep training… will no be doing that

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here’s hoping it works

[Lily Xu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw a dear friend of mine who is expecting add this book as “want to read” so I felt compelled to add some thoughts about it…

This book is frustratingly revered amongst young mothers and pediatricians in the South. Its reputation is the reason why I kept second guessing myself when my baby wouldn’t abide by the book’s very prescriptive schedule. Thinking back to those dark days, I’m realizing a lot of my frustration stems from books like these - the ones that make you feel like you should put your baby on a schedule, have them sleep through the night ASAP, and if you don’t, well, it’s because you didn’t do exactly as we prescribed.

With hindsight, I see now that this just works well for some folks and not for others. But the book doesn’t recognize this at all. It speaks as an authority, like babies are little programmable robots and we can start their training the moment they pop out of the womb (to be precise, the first schedule they included is at two weeks, which is just… absurd and imo, the entire “book” loses credibility with that one page).

[Linley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upping my rating to a 5! Definitely didn’t appreciate this book as much as I should have the first time I read it, pre-baby. But at almost 6 weeks post-baby, I’ve read this book a second time, referred back to it countless times, and my baby has been sleeping 7-8 hours at night the last week because of the recommended schedules. (Knock on wood that these long stretches continue.)
This new mom thanks the authors and my friend Hayley who recommended this to me ❤️. I HIGHLY recommend that my prego friends get this book and try out the schedules with your baby.

[Beth Swahn · Rating 1 out of 5]

As someone with postpartum depression, I found being encouraged to adhere to strict schedules for my baby just made my anxiety worse. I decided to be a more “go with the flow” mom and it made me happier. Plus, now my baby can sleep anywhere (he is very adaptable and a good sleeper in general, so I can’t take full credit).

[Sarah Reed · Rating 1 out of 5]

Does not align with current American Pediatric Association recommendations. Reglious context throughout. Would not recommend.

[Jes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cheerful and good-humored in tone, and most importantly gave me the very concrete advice I was craving—like how often does a newborn need to be fed?? How do you tell if they’re getting enough food?? How long does feeding take and where/when do diaper changes take place in that routine?? When will I ever sleep???? and so on. I especially loved their concept of “crazy day routines,” where they distill the suggested routine into the three most important parts of the day to try to keep stable/consistent. And I also like the part where they tell you in all caps “YOU CAN SUCCESSFULLY RAISE THESE LITTLE ONES. JUST RECONCILE YOURSELF TO THE FACT THAT IT WILL BE LOUD AND THAT’S OKAY.”

[Audrey Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I have all the printed schedules and little tips you can get from the website, but reading the 160 page book that covers quite literally everything has definitely reframed the way i’m doing some things. My 19 week old has been wonderful until she hit the 4 month regression, and this has given me a TON of tips and changes to incorporate that I feel hopeful and relieved to have. It has areas for notes, and it’s easy to read the way it’s laid out and sectioned, incase I want to go back and revisit. Thank you to my girl, Jackie Swalchick, for sending this to me along with the 6-15 month age version which I’ll certainly be reading when the time comes!

[Rachel]

Will I forget everything I read as soon as the baby is born? Probably!!

[Deanne Bemister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally finished and I’m a happy camper 2 months PP bc of this (mainly for sleep) 😌

[Caitrin Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much great advice! So informative! I can’t wait to put these teachings into practice!

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will save anyone 20 bucks and tell you the gist of the book: cry it out starting at 12 weeks. It is quite extreme and suggested to close the door, have baby in a pitch black room and leave the baby there for 12 hours to figure it out. The other advice is to have the baby on a schedule, timed to the hour, on when they will eat and sleep. Thrown in there are some pretty common sense parenting tips, which hopefully all readers take their children for well visits and will already have received that guidance. And again, it’s pretty common sense and parents should give themselves more credit that they can follow their own instincts. Also there is heavy promotion of their website and swaddles.

I’m not totally opposed to cry it out or sleep training, and I do believe it can be on a spectrum of gentle to extreme. Habits and routines can be formed that are not so rigid. This is quite extreme in my opinion. 12 weeks is early and object permanence may not exist for most infants that young. Also I believe self soothing is such a bogus concept for an infant, anyone with an older child knows that self regulation (calming and rationalizing emotions and behaviors) is something we have to continue to model and guide children into. Self soothing seems to be this idea that we can teach infants to regulate their emotions by leaving them alone, and I just do not agree whatsoever. Sleep training is behavior training, not self soothing.

I have read other sleep training books that at least point out being minimally responsive, like what if the baby poops, spits up or vomits in that process? I would think it’s recommended, especially by two nurses, to be responsive to such a thing, and maybe a video monitor would be a good idea (never mentioned). What about wet diapers, illness that presents at night, etc.

A couple more things— AAP recommends room sharing until one year. This book goes against that guidance. Daily bathing is recommended in the book, but in my opinion is a quick way to get a baby’s skin dried out. In regards to the feeding schedule being very regimented, when breastfeeding is being established early on, and when growth spurts and major neurological development are happening, there will be cluster feeding and it is not something that can go by a timer.

This is one of many sleep training books that slap a price tag on cry it out, as if it is some magical concept to do it their way.

[Kandi Steiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book and the schedule has worked so well for my family! I think there is a huge misconception about sleep training that it's the "cry it out" method and that it's abusing your child. My husband and I work best on a schedule, and we found that our little one is just like us. Having similar wake and bed times each day, as well as a bath/book/breast routine made all the difference in her sleep. The feeding schedule was wonderful, too, although I did feed more often when she was younger and fussier.

By about 3 months, our daughter was sleeping through the night. She naps like a pro. She's the happiest baby when she's awake and she loves -- LOVES -- bath time and her bedtime routine. This has also been a lifesaver when traveling. We have a travel bath chair and it helps us cue her that she's sleeping in this new place.

I can't recommend enough! And we were definitely in the camp of not being able to let our little one cry for long. We would do 5 minutes once she hit 3 months and then go in and soothe. This book does not say you have to do any sort of cry it out method. They are supportive of what works for your family. I definitely recommend for parents who don't thrive in a co-sleeping or same-room sleeping arrangement!

[Jenny Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book as a brand new mom because it was reccomended by friends and family. There are a lot of basics in here which I found helpful but what I love most about this book are the schedules and routines. We have followed these (with flexibility) and have found it made the last 6 weeks with our newborn mostly a breeze! I definitely reccomend to other new parents. I do wish there were more trouble shooting tips for when things don't go as planned. Overall super helpful!

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had my twins sleeping through the night at 2 months old! But it also gave me something even more valuable, which was confidence as a new mother. It has everything you need...no other books are necessary. And my pediatrician agreed with everything it advised. Just make sure you get it through their website and not Amazon for the best price.

[Romantically Inclined Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book has some useful information, but I was confused about how they could reference the American Academy of Pediatrics as it relates to being pro-vaccination (I'm pro, by the way) but then recommend a mesh bumper for the crib despite the fact that the AAP is 100% against them.

Just pick a lane, authors. Do you listen to scientific studies or totally disregard them?

[Danielle Clive · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great if you have no medical knowledge, those parts of the books will serve you if you have a knowledge gap... If you work in healthcare it's information you already know. More than half the book is just lists. Even so, it's very rigid and some goes against current guidelines. I really only wanted the information about wake cycles/normal schedules as my little one is currently cluster feeding and was hoping to gain some insight. Needless to say, we tried the "typical day" yesterday and it went okay until overnight. I find it much too rigid and the authors offer very little wiggle room AND for both authors being nurses the book is sorely lacking Evidenced Based Practice. Also didn't care much for the religious undertones and Bible verses. 🤮

[Rachel]

This book was super helpful in breaking things down and giving me an idea of what to expect in those first days of parenting. Having a newborn for the first time is basically constant Googling, but this provided a starting point in educating myself on what newborns even need.

It’s also been so nice to have for quick reference as needed- I love that it’s all in bullet-point form and that it has sample schedules for each age range up to 6 months old. I don’t completely agree with regimenting babies’ schedules, but it’s good to know where the ballpark estimate is!

[Gabriela Bendl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference material - especially as a first time parent!! It’s hard to rate books like this but overall I thinks it’s a great source of information.

I mostly got this for the sleep training & schedule which I plan to try once baby hits 4 weeks & hopefully it works.

The feeding topic was less relevant for me as I’m working with a lactation consultant but I can see it being beneficial for someone who doesn’t have the time or means to receive additional help in person.

[Queena Roquemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this a few days before I was due (according to Goodreads, 4 days??), and didn't get a chance to finish it before I gave birth. I finally picked it back up today, and knowing what I know now, I would've tried harder to go back to this book during the early months. I wish I had noticed that there were sample schedules at the end because they would've been so helpful the first 2-3 months (totally my fault). There's a ton of helpful tips that can be applied, but it's not a book that can be read and absorbed all at once. In all honesty, the reason why I probably didn't pick it back up again after giving birth was that it felt like information overload when I was reading it before actually having the baby. I flagged so many pages, that my page flags were overwhelming. Ha!

One of the things I LOVE though is how the book is written in bullet points. It makes the information so much easier to digest without the extra word fluff. I will definitely be getting my hands on the 6-15 months book and reading that one (hopefully with better timing than this one).