Your Child's Health: The Parents' One-Stop Reference Guide to: Symptoms, Emergencies, Common Illnesses, Behavior Problems, and Healthy Development

I've looked at a lot of child care books as both an RN and a mother of three, and this is hands down my favorite.Your Child's Health covers illnesses and emergencies, as does his other book, Pediatric Telephone Advice, but is written in easier to understand language and also covers topics such as behavior problems and healthy development. It has so many wonderful tips that I utilized it while working as a public health nurse for questions about new baby care and problems, physical symptoms, and behavior concerns. The great thing about this book is that it has information about what you can try at home, and alerts you about when to call the doctor and when to go to the emergency room. Although other child care books try to do this, usually they are "lite" versions, and you wonder what sort of person wrote them (are they worried about getting sued if they provide too much information?).This author speaks from a TON of experience. Just read the information about "Newborns and Mountain Travel" or "Eating Problems: Other Strategies." Then check out what to do when you have a child with "Itching, Unknown Cause (Localized)" or "Foreign Body in the Nose." Where else are you going to find information about sea urchin stings, how to remove a tick, homework problems, and sleep problems? Almost everyone will utilize the information about vomiting and diarrhea. There are simple, objective ways of determining whether you should keep your child at home, call the doctor immediately, or call within 24 hours.For example, under Diarrhea, you should contact a doctor immediately if 1) your child is less than 1 month old and definitely has diarrhea (Caution: Normal stools of breast-fed infants can look like diarrhea--see page 603), 2) Your child has not urinated in more than 8 hours, 3) Crying produces no tears, 4) The inside of the mouth is dry rather than moist, etc. There are six more descriptions of symptoms that, if your child were to exhibit them, you would want to contact your physician immediately. This is followed by six more where you would want to contact your physician within 24 hours. There are three additional ones where you would want to call the physician during office hours. This is followed by four pages outlining treatments you can try at home for breast-fed, bottle-fed, and older children, and includes a "Common Mistakes in Treating Diarrhea" section. I give you this example to show you that the most common symptoms and illnesses are presented thoroughly, and they are empowering! With this kind of information, you can make good decisions about what to do. And that makes parenting SO MUCH EASIER!!! If I could only have one medical book for my entire family, this would be it.

As a first time parent, I was naturally a nervous wreck! Without prior experience with a newborn/toddler, I was especially anxious about what to do when/if my child became sick or exhibited foreign [to me] behavior. At the same time, I did not want to overreact to situations nor be that overzealous parent calling the Pediatrician over ever little cough or sneeze. Per the recommendation of a parenting magazine, I purchased this book immediately (Mar 2007). Thank you, Dr. Schmitt! This has been a Godsend for clueless first-time parents!While I understand this book is not meant to use for diagnoses, it does ease the mind and help one to understand and assess a given situation. In fact, a past experience illustrates how effective this book has been [for us]: our hospital has a 24-hour nurse hot line that one can call to assist and evaluate whether a hospital visit is necessary. After first referring to this book, my husband was leery and insisted we still call the hot line. So we called. I would swear the nurse on the phone was reading from this exact book! It was practically verbatim. The entire consultation was as if I were re-reading the chapter in "Your Child's Health". We called the hot line again about a month later with the same results: just what the book said. Needless to say, we decided the book was accurate. Now, anytime my son exhibits signs of sickness, complains of pain, has an accident, etc., we pick up our health "bible" so we know what to do and how to proceed. I especially appreciate that each section lists possible causes, a home remedy and a list of symptoms under whether you should "call your Physician later" or "call Physician immediately".I write this review 3 years and many dog-eared pages later because I am now purchasing a copy for my "soon-to-be-mom" sister-in-law. I highly recommend this book for any parent, whether they be first-timers or veteran caregivers. It really is a great resource and should be in your library!ADDED: I should have read previous reviews before writing mine! Note reviewer "T.M." says they use Dr. Schmitt's book for their 24-hour hospital call service. This explains why our calls to our hot line sounded just like the book! LOL Good to know. I'm even more convinced this is a MUST HAVE reference.

Best, best, best book I've ever purchased! Yes, I know that sounds extreme, but when you are a new parent and freaking out about your child's first fevers or rashes, or worried everything you are doing is ruining their sleep schedule for life, this book was a divine intervention. Our pediatrician recommended we buy a book from this author because he reportedly writes the manuals for hospitals when parents call in and talk to nurses about their child's medical issues. The book is very comprehensive about conditions, symptoms, healthy habits, feeding, trouble-shooting, etc. for all ages - newborns to teenagers. The author provides helpful suggestions about when to call your child's physician and when to go straight to the ER. It dispels lots of myths about how to treat certain conditions or symptoms (e.g., fevers, coughs) and the sections on establishing or correcting sleep routines (including info about feeding our infant) helped us have our baby sleeping through the night by the second month. Now he's 15 months old an has never needed OTC medications and still sleeps around 12 (uninterrupted) hours a night.I have purchased this book for family and have recommended it to friends and coworkers. I bought mine for a much higher price in the big book store, but have never regretted getting it as soon as our little one had his first well-child visit. So thankful for our pediatrician's recommendation and for the book!!

Bought as a christmas gift for my father when looking after my son... Didn't realise it was american based and Dad complained of the lack of pictures for demonstrations. Otherwise the rest of the information is relaivant

Didn't realise it was written for Americans not as clearly set out as l thought it would be

Very good book

Very useful