How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor: One of America's Leading Pediatricians Puts Parents Back in Control of Their Children's Health

As a new mom I purchased this and recommended it to my friend, we love it. My baby got sick for the first time and I did exactly what was written and he was better within 2 days meanwhile me and dad took longer. Eased my mind a lot! Thank you for making this adorable as well :,) God bless.

This book provides such sound advice for parents that will calm any worrying mom in the middle of the night. Covers most every topic that comes up with littles, gives you logical direction that stands the test of time. Highly recommend.

If you have a child, you MUST have this book. It's just as relevant today as when it was written (and probably more necessary now than ever). Should be mandatory reading for all parents.

Mendelssohn was ahead of his time with this book. Decades ahead of his time. He was railing against the medicalization of people back in the 80's - I can only imagine what he would think of things now.Mendelsohn had two main objectives with his book. The first and most obvious was to help people learn how to differentiate between which symptoms of illness in children could be managed effectively at home and which symptoms warranted medical attention. He was concerned with the tendency of doctors to intervene where no intervention was necessary and often harmful to the patient.His deeper meaning was to help parents understand that their most important function was to provide a loving home for their children and to cultivate a relationship with them that would facilitate their emotional and physical wellbeing. He observed that parents take their children to the doctor to treat their own anxiety around their children's health as much as to obtain medical treatment for the child. He wanted parents to learn how to effectively manage their anxiety so that it did not negatively impact their children.He provides parents with a reassuring, empowering guide to decide when they should seek medical care for their children or if simple home care will suffice. Each chapter is broken down by condition - ear infection, stomach ache, sore throat, etc and he walks you through the exact steps he as a physician works through with each of his patients to rule out more serious conditions and determine the course of treatment. Spoiler alert: most symptoms and conditions are easily treated at home, often only with time.Early on in his career Mendelsohn worked in the practice of an older, more experienced pediatrician and observed that he obtained the same or better results than Mendelsohn did in treating his patients' health conditions despite providing very little intervention in the way of drugs and medical procedures. Mendelsohn eventually abandoned the use of antibiotics and procedures for most common childhood ailments and observed that his patients healed on their own anyways.Two gems from the book:Mendelsohn states that treating step throat with antibiotics interferes with the body's ability to produce antibodies, which in turn increases susceptibility to future strep infections. He cites research around real world antibiotic compliance rates to conclude that strep throat was very unlikely, if ever, to cause scarlet fever and its complications. He reasoned that because compliance was so poor that there should be an epidemic of scarlet fever at all times and yet there is none.Mendelsohn states that a fever from infection is never dangerous because the body has a built in mechanism that will not permit the temperature from rising above 105 degrees. The only way a temperature can be harmful is when it results from outside forces that overwhelm this homeostatic control mechanism - heat stroke, over exposure to saunas, jacuzzis, etc. A fever above 100 degrees in children under two months should always be evaluated because it is likely to be prenatal in origin or related to the delivery.And many more. The book is an enduring guide for empowered parents everywhere. I can't recommend it enough!

It is so refreshing to read a book articulating the problems I have with modern medicine. Although published in 1984, the book remains relevant and eerily helpful. With only a few minor points, this book could be written today and still reflect reality. Doctors have changed...for the worse. They are legalized drug dealers earning a living by peddling visitations, procedures, and products you don't need! The core tenet here is stuff you DO NOT NEED. Seek out technical skills when required. Personally, this segways into my nightmare of CPS knocking on the door so I wish there was more material addressing that (he does mention this as an off-hand remark but there is no discussion).PRO:-Targetted at nervous parents that "need to do something" to help their kids.-All of the advice is sound (read the book to know more). However, do not take everything at face value. Dr. M wants the PARENT to learn and balance risk/benefit before making any decision to include following his advice. Some reviewers here miss the mark on that point.-Discusses effectiveness of treating children's illnesses with age-old methods.-Breaks ingrained behaviors such as popping drugs to break a fever (bad!)-Discusses the quackery known as psychology and psychiatry. Over-active kids? Have them pop drugs to make them more manageable for teachers.-Vaccines have changed for the worse. His chapter is short and to the point. All the relevant data can be confirmed with updated books such as Dr. Tenpenny.-I especially liked the chapter discussing how parents are better caregivers than doctors, simply because they are more capable of in-depth observation. No doctor or hospital will ever be committed to the level of detail and care of a parent.CON:-Needs updating to reflect 2014. Specifically:*Ultrasound replaced x-ray as the fetal scanner of choice. The evils of x-rays are discussed ad nauseaum but they have been phased out in the OB world. Still used widely in other purposes. Although it's been more than 30 years since publishing, not much research has been done on ultrasound safety for fetuses. Wife and I asked the OB/GYN to limit the scans, but each monthly visit had a "must-have" scan because "I need to know the baby's measurements." No more routine visits for us!*Discusses "natural foods" and nutrition. If this book was updated, Dr. M would roll in his grave knowing about GMOs and the exponential rise of Dow and Monsanto. Finding "natural foods" these days is not easy.*Mentions several side effects of antibiotics. Some recent research has shown antibiotics also damage the body's intestinal flora (commonsense to think a bacterial poison would also kill your little friends?). I wonder what Dr. M would have to say about that.*Whole cell DPT has been phased out in favor of DTaP.-Would like more in-text references or footnotes. There are many references and allusions to a vast body of literature but some readers may feel his facts are based solely off personal experience or thin air.