Must have book

Great book for all us parents who do not like the "cry-it-out" method!!!

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Excellent Book!

I really am enjoying this book by Martha Sears, just as I have the other Sears books. What a wonderful way to help encourage our children to become the most successful people they can be!

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Insightful, but don't believe everything you read

I love and agree with a LOT of what the authors have to say in "The Successful Child". However, the authors really push the idea that a baby must be breastfed and carried in a sling 24/7 in order to be "connected" to his or her parents. I don't buy that. I don't practice what the authors call Attachment Parenting, and my son and I are extremely connected.

One other thing that bothers me about the book is that in some of the stories it is so obvious that the author is lying. Many of the anecdotes are clearly made up. For example, in one of his anecdotes Dr. Sears is talking about how he was watching a couple and their toddler son in his office waiting room one day, and he watched them long enough to be able to tell that they were excellent parents, and went over to tell them such and have a conversation with them about their parenting. How many doctors do you know who have time to sit in the waiting room watching patients who are waiting to see them, and carry out conversations? NONE. If I had been in a waiting room for a while, and I caught the doctor I was paying to see standing around IN THE WAITING ROOM watching instead of taking care of appointments, I would be very upset and would probably never visit there again. This is just one example of instances in which I think the authors are flat-out lying.

Most of what's in this book (aside from the repetetive AP talk, which gets old quick) is advice on how to practice positive parenting. If that is what you're interested in, then definitely give it a try. I checked this book out from the library but will probably buy it because there are a lot of ideas and methods in it that I don't want to forget, and that I have used on my son since reading it. I especially like the sections on sexuality, communication, and compassion.

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