It's Your Baby: The Indian Parent's Guide to the First Two Years

by Saroja Balan

Becoming a parent can be both terrifying and exciting. You will have a million questions, from how to prepare for the birth to how to feed your baby to what to expect in terms of growth and what vaccines the baby needs. It can all be overwhelming. 'Helpful advice' often ends up being confusing, and the internet can be a source of panic.

During her thirty years of practice, paediatrician Dr Saroja Balan has met thousands of parents and found herself answering the same questions. While she firmly believes parenting is mostly learning on the job, she knows a little help goes a long way. Written specifically for Indian parents, It's Your Baby is the best support to accompany you on your journey.

It is meant to help you figure out when your child needs to see a doctor and when you can handle things on your own. Covering basics such as sleep, breastfeeding and common ailments, it also includes all you need to know about screen time, childhood obesity, pollution and parenting styles, helping you navigate the first two years of parenthood.

Dr Balan's reassuring, no-nonsense approach makes this the essential guide for a safe and healthy child - and a more confident you!

Genres: Self Help

493 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 27, 2022

Reviews

[Niranjan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for first-time parents for sure. Although it is better to get medical advice from your child's pediatrician, this book can still guide your journey. As a first-time parent, I was anxious, and it is easy to panic when you see your little bundle of joy in any discomfort and crying. There are a lot of changes a baby goes through in the early stages and with a lot of unsolicited advice from people around us, it becomes difficult to decide on things that need to be addressed.

This is comprehensive information about things babies go through in early life. Many of these may give you sleepless night but settles down with time. This book has helped me understand these things.

[Shivani Shinde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers all the aspects related to new borns and also a bit of postpartum as well. It’s a book that you can keep referring to during the first two years of your child. I only have one tiny critique; the author has basically recommended all practises as per American Academy of Pediatrics and she has only cited references of American research papers. I would have liked a more well rounded approach where she would have given more consideration to her Indian readers and accordingly made suggestions/recommendations.

[Shashank · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a useful book to read for new parents as they begin to include another human being in their lives. The book can’t replace actual medical advice and the author hasn’t claimed to do so either, but she’s mentioned different aspects that can help reduce panic in the family. It can be used as a compendium for the first two year journey of a baby’s life.

The checklist of vaccinations and the brief description of different illnesses, including symptoms and likely cure, could be a reference point. The book ends with a number of recipes for the baby, which is also a bonus.

[Harshith J. V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looks like Indian version of First-Time Parent. First few chapters can be used as guide in initial days, i.e., just before delivery and few days after delivery. The later chapter serve as guide for few months after delivery. And then the book serves as reference guide covering various questions about sleep, breast-feeding, vaccination and so on.

[Utkarsh Sinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book for all the questions that may arise if you are a new parents with a crying infant at home. This book will also be help you when your infant becomes a toddler upto the age of five. The book is written by a pedestrian so you can trust on the advices the doctor has to give and she does it with fairy straight forward approach. You will need this book for some time to revisit and take on the suggestion it has to offer.

[Rajat Bansal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful for the mind but left wanting for the heart. To find out why, check out my book review blog post