. This book by Dr. David V. Schapira, who is an internationally recognized physician and researcher in the areas of nutrition and cancer prevention, provides the most up-to-date scientific research on pregnancy and child care. From money saving strategies to information on how to help your baby grow intellectually, this book provides essential information to help parents plan for and raise children. Dr. Schapira's work has been featured nationally and internationally, and in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, CNN, NBC Nightly News and The Today Show.
While I was pregnant, I was disappointed in the quality of most pregnancy books out there. Most use fear-mongering and make you believe that if you eat a slice of lunch meat your baby is going to come out with three heads and scales. They also don't provide you with any scientific evidence to back up their (sometimes baseless) claims. As a science geek, I found this to be truly disheartening. I want to know the research behind the current recommendations when it comes to pregnancy and child care. For example, have studies shown that playing Mozart through headphones placed on your pregnant belly actually has a benefit?I found Fetus to Fifth Grade
to be a breath of fresh air. In addition to providing valuable information, the book serves as a valuable decision making guide, in my opinion. While reading it on the flight to Philly for our vacation, I caught M reading over my shoulder constantly! He told me he would have loved to have this book to refer to while I was still pregnant. The chapters are short and clear, with much of the research data presented in an easily understandable format. My only complaint is that the chapters do not seem to be in any sort of logical order.I am actually quite upset that I didn't read this book while I was still pregnant, because some of the information has changed my mind about certain things. Namely, my decision to work full time for 2.5 months before we move this Fall. I was under the impression that we could not afford for me to stop working sooner, but Dr. Schapira brought to my attention a few factors that we did not consider (i.e. commuting costs, tax rates). I can confidently say that had I read this book, I would not be working right now and would be much less stressed, and happy in general.
One particular chapter of this book has helped us so immensely that I cannot express my gratitude: the 90 minute sleeping pattern for babies. Before reading the book, we had been letting Carina stay awake for about 2 hours at a time because she wasn't showing any signs of being tired. It was usually a fight to get her to go to sleep. After reading Dr. Schapira's recommendation of having babies awake in increments of 90 minutes, we decided to give it a try. Now, she usually falls asleep within minutes of putting her down. Amazing!
I plan on using Fetus to Fifth Grade
as a reference as Carina grows and develops. There are chapters on the importance of play, parenting styles and the effect they have on children, how to stop whining and tantrums, and even how to maximize your child's talent. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is pregnant or has babies or small children. Do yourself a favor and use What to Expect When You're Expecting as a paper weight and get this book instead, seriously.Buy!
You can read the first three chapters for free at Strategic Book Group's website, and the book is available for purchase there. It is also available on Amazon.com and
Barnes and Noble.Win!
Dr. Schapira is offering a copy of Fetus to Fifth Grade
to one of my readers.How to Enter:
-Follow Growing Up Geeky via Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin'
Additional Entries (leave a separate comment per entry - all currents count):
-Follow me on Twitter - @growingupgeeky
-"Like" my new Facebook page
-Subscribe to my blog via e-mail
-Only if you think I deserve it, vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs by clicking here (that's all you have to do, just click!) Can be done once daily.
Make sure to leave your e-mail address in your comments so I can contact you if you win :)
This giveaway will run through 9:59 PM CST on Saturday, July 9th. Giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada. A winner will be randomly chosen by Random.org and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to the e-mail. I received this book free of charge for reviewing purposes. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions are honest, and my own.
