Parenting the Fussy Baby and High-Need Child: Everything You Need to Know from Birth To...

""High-need"" babies crave touch and motion, can't self-soothe, have difficulty sleeping, nurse often and well into their toddler years and are intense, draining and demanding, say pediatrician Sears and his RN wife, parents of eight children and authors of The Birth Book and 12 other parenting titles. Informed by their experience with a high-need daughter and by observations of patients, the Searses outline how to handle such fussy babies, rehashing their theory of ""attachment parenting""--carrying the baby in a sling, nursing on demand, sharing the family bed and responding rather than letting the baby ""cry it out,"" etc. Parents are encouraged to focus on the positive: a high-need baby, the authors say, ""cries impressively"" and ""values being with you""; he or she isn't a ""difficult sleeper"" or ""clingy."" Desperate parents will be grateful for the many tips and the mommy-burnout survival list. But veteran moms and pops may have trouble swallowing some suggestions (bounce gently on a trampoline with baby). Readers may also yearn for substantiation of claims that fussers grow up to be confident, expressive, responsible teens and adults. Still, the authors' warm-fuzzy ""You're okay, baby's okay"" outlook may be just the right medicine for many anxious parents of demanding children. (Sept.)