1,2,3...The Toddler Years: A Practical Guide for Parents and Caregivers

This book is my #1. It's the one I recommend to other parents, and it's the one I've gone back to myself so many times over the years for refreshers and advice for my own kids. Very practical and you can start applying the info immediately. Skip to the section you need. My own copy is annotated, page flagged, and dog-eared. Invaluable resource. If you're wondering whether to get it, just get it. Worth it.

If I could recommend only one book to parents (and teachers) of toddlers, it would be this one. Why? Well, for one thing, it's been in print for 25 years now- the advice offered is time tested, and it works! If you follow the guidelines offered in this book you may just find that the toddler years are more delightful than terrible. This book is just what it says it is- a practical guide to caring for and understanding your toddler. Clear, concise chapters (important for tired parents who don't have hours to read tomes), include short reflections and experiences from real families, and gorgeous photographs that underline the message of the text. The book offers insight into your child's behavior and feelings, and gives you concrete suggestions for how to approach common problems like biting, or sleep issues. You can read the whole book at once, and/or use it as a resource and flip to the sections that address your most pressing questions. It's all covered here- from temper tantrums to potty training, from sibling relationships to how to find and choose good childcare, from taking care of yourself to limit setting and talking with your toddler in ways that will encourage cooperation. The Third Edition even includes easy to prepare recipes for healthy, good tasting food, and the best play dough recipe ever! 1,2,3 The Toddler Years is encouraging, and will give you confidence in your ability to navigate and guide your child successfully through the sometimes bumpy road of the toddler years.

Written by a childcare center expert, this book--unsurprisingly--maintains that the best kind of toddler care is found in an institutional setting at the hands of experts. It advocates an approach that it describes as respecting the toddler as a person, yet there is an undercurrent of placing the wants of the parent ahead of the child that I found disturbing. For example, in the chapter on addressing loss, two parents in a hypothetical situation discuss a recent divorce and its effect on the toddler. They conclude that it is best not to defer divorce until the child is older (and better able to cope), and, rationalize that, "in the long run, [the child] is better off," after divorce. I believe child development studies have unequivocally shown that to be untrue. At no point did the author suggest that the parent make sacrifices to put the child's emotional needs first.I did not find this guide filled with practical information, and it easily could have been, given the author's experience in the trenches with a large number of children. The author maintains throughout the book that toddlers need to be given choices--an excellent idea--but offers no guidance for when this fails to resolve problems. In that respect, I consider this to be more of a theoretical than a practical guide.Many of the child development books I've seen are data driven or data supported. This book references no studies--not even internal, informal evaluations by their own clinic--and the index of suggested reading is woefully outdated, suggesting that the author does not value effectiveness assessment and has not kept current with emerging research. While reading this book, I got the impression that the author was speaking from her gut rather than observed experience.

I am in the middle of raising my toddler who has just turned 2 and this book, while somewhat helpful I guess "seeing" into a toddler's thought process, is not helpful in telling you exactly what to do, and that is what I was looking for. All of the cases when the toddler acts out seem to be easily solved with a calm discussion. Um, this does not happen in the real world. Half the time my little guy doesn't really know what I'm talking about so talking to him doesn't get the point across. And it gives no advice on how to change behaviors that are unacceptable when the toddler refuses to listen to you. The toddlers they are dealing with sounds so sweet and accommodating, haha, my little guy is a wild man compared to them.

I love this book. It's a quick and easy read, which busy parents will appreciate, and nicely divided into concise chapters giving clear and simple advice on issues that arise frequently with toddlers. The advice in the first chapter (Let ME Choose) has proved invaluable time and time again and was worth the purchase for that alone. It has helped prevent numerous tantrums!Whilst it won't provide a solution for every issue you'll encounter with your child, it does give solid advice on which you can lay the foundations of successful parenting and a mutually respectful relationship between you and your child.

Great book, easy to read

This is the perfect book for parents in distress - super easy and quick read. Very concise and easy to implement. This is a great beginner's guide to Gentle/Positive Discipline and I can't wait to read more. We have been using the techniques in this book for about a week and have noticed significant improvement in our relationship with our three-year-old and also in our entire household attitude. I especially liked the tone is the book - it was not condescending or blaming at all. I recommend this book for anyone wanting to break into positive discipline. This is a great place to start.

I was dreading getting a toddler book, but we practice RIE at home and this was a recommendation from our instructor and it was great to read quick chapters that share similar RIE values. So it's great if you already have that foundation, it's just the next step. I can see that it may throw some parents off who may want more about their health and general development.

I bought this book based on another mum's recommendation. Although it seems like a book written to promote the daycare it speaks about, there are many positive settings that encourage positive discipline. Overall a good quick read.

yes enjoyed this easy to read book, trying to apply the principles

I just sometimes wish some RIE stuff was a little bit more prescriptive in particular situations, but an easy read and a good introduction.

This book is excellent. I have a VERY busy toddler who is hard to get to sleep, and a 4-month-old. I haven't managed to read a book in a very long time, and I somehow managed to read this one in 2 days, which says a lot! There is no extra junk in this book. It's straight to the point. The chapters are very easy to read. For me, it filled a gap that the official RIE books didn't cover. I found RIE with infants to be easy. Not so with toddlers! This is an excellent book to have and I suggest reading it before your kid becomes a toddler! It would make a great gift as well. I'm so glad I bought this book.

un livre dans lequel le centre pour enfants de Santa Cruz Etats Unis vente ses mérites des conditions proposés aux tout petits. Le pire c'est que le livre a été écrit par Irène Van der Zande, un nom de référence quand même.