Diary Of A Baby

by Daniel N. Stern

Every new parent desperately wants to know what goes on in the mind of a baby. Now a noted authority on infant development and psychiatry brings us closer than ever before to penetrating a your child's consciousness. In alternating sections of evocative prose, representing the baby's own voice, and explanatory text, Daniel Stern draws on the latest research findings to recreate the baby's world."

Genres: Psychology, Parenting, Nonfiction, Child Psychology, Education, Read For School

177 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[howl of minerva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sort of Phenomenology of Geist meets child development. How does a baby's consciousness and personality develop? How much do they understand without a language and then as they gradually acquire one? Necessarily speculative but enjoyable and thought-provoking.

[Corina T · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was.... something.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing, if not exactly gripping, exploration of the world from an infant's perspective at several different ages. The early stuff is most exciting: how a baby without a sense of either his identity and his mother's perceives hunger and satiation (he doesn't understand that the noise that freaks him out is his own cry, for example)...it's a neat attempt to use the latest research to re-create the world of a pre-linguistic person, although at (many) times the author's metaphors as he attempts to do so feel more than a little hokey. Still, as a new parent, this really gave me a valuable perspective.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

FIrst of all, Daniel Stern was an unmitigated genius; a total package. Left brain/right brain - science and art in symbiotic perfection. The title presents as a book for parents, in truth it's about all of us. How we develop and become ourselves. It is poetic and profound; so incredibly moving. A wonderful way to explain theory in the captivating story of "Joey" the baby from 6 weeks to 4 years old.

[Marco Innamorati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si tratta della versione divulgativa delle idee sullo sviluppo infantile esposte da Stern in Il mondo interpersonale del bambino, ma in qualche modo contiene già temi che saranno sviluppati poi nei libri successivi: La costellazione materna, Il momento presente, Le forme vitali.
Stern descrive “in prima persona” alcuni brevi momenti della vita di un bambino immaginario, cui dà il nome di Joey: a sei settimane, quattro mesi e mezzo, dodici mesi, due anni e quattro anni. Il che corrisponde allo sviluppo dei sensi del Sé: emergente, nucleare, soggettivo, verbale e narrativo.
Accanto al divulgatore, emerge anche uno Stern poeta dell’esperienza infantile.

[Klara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book felt like a chore 90% of the time and I am truly happy I am finished. The metaphors, especially in the first half of the book, were confusing and unhelpful. The second half of the book seemed to be more gripping, albeit I am saying this with exaggeration. I liked the premise of the book and there were parts that I found genuinely interesting too. I guess I just didn’t ‘vibe’ with the writing style.

[Kiki · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I recall, this wasn't absolutely brilliant, but it was useful. Trying to see the world from someone else's point of view is always valuable. Trying to see it from the POV of someone who's completely in your power and is incapable of even understanding that they have a POV of their own, much less explaining it to you, is imperative.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating take on what a baby possibly perceives and feels from an infant psychologist at Cornell University Medical Center-New York Hospital. Not a parenting guide at all (thankfully), but one professional's map of a very young child's emotional "mindscape."

[Razmuzeta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh..some useful info amongst a lot of unnecessary words. Don't recommend.

[Rodrigo Pinillos Osnayo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seguramente para los especialistas, los versados y los padres experimentados, puede resultar una lectura grata e interesante. Yo lo leí en plan futuro padre primerizo, y si bien encontré algunas ideas muy importantes sobre el desarrollo de un niño, la manera de plantearlo narrativamente se me hizo muy pesada, lenta y farragosa: quizás debí abordar primero algunos textos académicos sobre psicología de desarrollo, antes de entrar en este título en especial.

[David]

I never finished this book. It just did not hold my interest. It did help me consider and imagine the point of view of a new born baby but it was completely hetero-normative. Since we are a family of two dads the scenes about a new born baby pining for breast milk from their mother were kind of annoying. I would be less annoyed if it was not trying to paint some kind of universal picture of baby's minds but the tone was completely normative rather than personal.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nach nun 3 Jahren endlich beendet. Zu Beginn fand ich die Idee in einen Säugling hineinzuhören und seine Gedanken auf Papier zu bringen sehr spannend. Ab einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt kommt die psychoanalytische Sichtweise zum Vorschein und lässt für eine der Verhaltenstherapie angehörigen Person eher lächerlich klingen.
Deshalb nur 3 Sterne. Immerhin habe ich es nicht abgebrochen.

[Dakota Stein · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good. I enjoyed it and found it to be really helpful for life span development. There are things in there that I was surprised at or at least the book made me think about things that we don't really think about when it comes to children's development. This book could he seen more as a resource but also is a fun read where you get to learn something new.

[Katrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn't the google translate of one's child as you might of hoped, but it did give an interesting insight of what might be going on inside that sweet little head. Liked the full list of useful books and articles to dig deeper for further details.

[Ily · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Il contatto di sguardi rappresenta in effetti un mondo a parte: guardare negli occhi una persona e venirne ricambiati è un'esperienza unica; sembra di riuscire a percepire la vita mentale dell'altro."
(Daniel Stern)

[Robert A. Renix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful and engaging

This book offers and insight into how infants experience the world and develop into children. There are useful connections if behavior to help understand adult learners. It’s with the read.

[Ana Lúcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

O maravilhoso diário de um bebé!

[Karina Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictional journal of a newborn’s experience. Stern discusses the developmental milestones and possibilities of a child’s experiences. He explores at 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 4 weeks.

[Sour Worm]

.

[Antela Camblor Murube]

Recomiendo este libro tanto a papás y mamás, como a profesionales sanitarios. Es bonito saber la importancia y la relevancia de la "experiencia" en el desarrollo cognitivo-motor de un niño.

[Lauren Herzfeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Alina Grigore · Rating 2 out of 5]

At times delirious at times some good information, i am sure there are better and more scientific books on this topic out there.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

illustration du développement de la vie psychique

[Kira]

I enjoyed this! Not everything resonated, but it definitely gave me new perspective.

*Read for my Masters in Somatic Psychology!

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

My old lady coworker whom I really like gave this to me so I felt like I had to read it but it was not good or interesting to me.

[Sheziss · Rating 3 out of 5]

"It's only light on the floor. You can't eat this sunshine".

About how we stopped licking sunshines.

[Raluca Lupasteanu (Gramschi) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mi-a placut ideea cu un jurnal al bebelusului si cum ar putea vedea el experiente specifice la 4-5 varste diferite.
Autorul foloseste prea multe metafore pentru gustul meu, care fac unele pasaje greu de parcurs si inteles.
De altfel, continutul e prezentat structurat, la fiecare pas iti explica ce urmeaza sa citesti.

[Erika Barrington · Rating 2 out of 5]

As many classmates agree, his vignettes where he tries to put the reader in the eyes of the baby felt kinda creepy. Seems to me like he had a secret dream of being a poet. So each chapter is like - he writes some bad poetry/prose, then he explains his bad poetry/prose. However. Though some of the vignettes made me feel slimy inside (probably the breast-feeding one most), they are indeed vivid, and so I will totally remember how a baby sorts out the world in the first few months of life.

[Romysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I picked up this book, I was worried that it would be quite outdated. That was not the case, though. I think Stern provides a very interesting take on the mind of a baby. I found the writing from the point of the child quite strange. It spolit otherwise a decent book.
Does he help me to understand what infants think a little better? I think so. It is an easy read so would recommend to every parent.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Infant Mental Health class. Stern's writing is dense as he describes a baby's consciousness, pre-language. He explains why parents' intuitions "work" by providing the developmental setting happening within the child. He makes a good case for why attunement between baby and caregiver is so critical for healthy development - cognitive, physical, social and emotional.