What to Expect the Toddler Years

Organized month by month for the second year (months 12-24) and quarterly through the third year (months 24-36), What to Expect the Toddler Years covers each growth and development phase parents are likely to encounter-when they're likely to encounter it. Hundreds of questions and answers treat everything from eating and sleeping problems to day care, tantrums, bottle mouth, shyness, self-esteem, and more. An entire third section of the book is devoted to toilet training, safety, and health, and a fourth covers special concerns-the exceptional child, siblings, and balancing work and parenting.

Remarkably thorough, caring and intelligent, What to Expect the Toddler Years is as valuable for the seasoned parent as it is for the new parent. 2.4 million copies in print.

The bias is not in the questions they raise, but rather in the fact that they do not discuss opposing views. It seems to me that the reason the book elicits strong reactions is that it is probably the best one of its type available. The overall quality of the book makes these areas of bias where the authors state their position as gospel stand out as extremely disappointing to the reader who disagrees with the authors particular biases.

There are serious problems affecting children in our country and a high rate of violence among children and adults. We have school programs to teach empathy in an effort to decrease violence among older children. Perhaps this would not be as necessary if those we look to as experts counseled all new parents to show greater empathy to our children and to worry less about teaching our infants and toddlers to comfort themselves.


it's okay   January 3, 2006
H. Pagliughi (California)
52 out of 62 found this review helpful

I have the whole 'series' and while I found the pregnancy and 1st year books helpful, I hardly ever used this book. The month by month format is helpful for babies/pregnancy, but toddlers don't really change month by month as drastically, so I disliked the organization. I agree with another reviewer that there is a bias/agenda to wean by 1 year and if you are into attachment parenting, this book doesn't fall in line with that at all. I just find it too broad and it hardly ever gave me the answers I wanted.


Toddler Information galore   April 18, 2001
J. Scharp (Michigan)
49 out of 57 found this review helpful

I recently purchased this large and informative book (I have a 2.5 year old). I should have bought it sooner, it is filled with a lot of great ideas on all areas of toddlerhood. And all us parents of toddlers know that the "terrible two's" can start way before the child is 2!

Everyone's child and everyone's parenting is a bit different, so it is hard to guarantee that you will love this book. However, this book covers almost every topic imaginable for toddlerhood and I have found many of the ideas useful and much of the information helpful. It is a good reference tool for parents during a stage in a child's life that can seem pretty hard.


DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY   May 8, 2006
Toddler mom (California)
37 out of 44 found this review helpful

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. There are many, many other books out there that will provide sound advice for raising your toddler. This book is awful. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. It is poorly organized and extremely difficult to find particular issues of interest if you are seeking advice on a specific subject. If you do find it in the index, the issue is probably discussed on 10 different pages so you have to flip around from one section to another in the hope that at least one of those pages will address the point on which you need guidance.

2. It is WAY TOO LONG. Don't be fooled that the weight of this book or number of pages means you will be getting more information than other books. Every single "question" topic begins with a wordy and pointless paragraph that doesn't provide any insight or advice before even attempting to start getting to the point. Only about 10% of this book actually provides useful, substantive information. As a parent of a toddler, I don't have time to search through the authors' ramblings in the hope they will ultimately get to the point. It is extremely frustrating.

3. The authors feel the need to "preach" their particular political position on various issues over and over and over again. Even if you agree with them, it's totally unnecessary. For example, they include discussions about the importance of teaching your child to recycle and respect the earth. OK, fine. But they then raise this point over and over when it is a totally unnecessary (NAGGING) aside - like when talking about placing a cover on the floor so your child can enjoy a messy art project, they mention newspaper as a possible cover but can't resist adding "(you can recycle it later)." It is annoying.

4. Almost 100% of the advice they give is worthless because they always add caveats. For example, they will say something like "be sure to praise your child so he will develop good self esteem" only to follow shortly thereafter by saying "but don't praise him too much or he'll think your opinion is meaningless or will develop an inflated ego." Another exmple, "set limits for your child so she will be less likely to have tantrums" followed by "don't set too many limits or your child will feel stifled." You spend hours reading the book, and are still left as clueless as you were before you started.

5. Much of the "advice" is ridiculously self-evident. Do you really need to be told that physical affection is important for a toddler?

6. Some of the advice is contradictory. For example, they recommend against any television for young children, but then talk about ways of distracting them from a tantrum by acting out a favorite TV character's voice or a song from a TV show.

7. The authors expect you to be an absolutely perfect parent and always say and do the right thing and never lose patience with your toddler's fifth tantrum of the day. You need realistic advice to deal with the real world.

Don't waste your money here. Find a book written by authors who are not so self indulgent and who are more interested in giving you direct and useful advice without all of the meaningless blabber.


Just Average   July 26, 2000
Jocelyn L. Smith (Johnson City, TN United States)
35 out of 41 found this review helpful

This book is an excellent reference for any medical concerns a parent might have, and also does well in addressing concerns such as diet, exercise, and TV watching. However, too often the authors' advice reflects western parenting prejudice and does not present research representing opposing viewpoints--although it pretends to do so. For instance, in the 13th month or so, a hypothetical question is, "Why should I wean my baby if we're both enjoying nursing still?" The reply? "Oh, you don't have to...it's your choice...but here's all the reasons why you should." And then they go on to list twelve benefits of early weaning and absolutely none of the benefits of nursing a toddler! If the authors gave even the tiniest disclaimer ("In our opinion...") I wouldn't be so hard about this, but they present every answer as gospel truth.

In other words, whether or not you will benefit from this book depends on the state of your parenting philosophy. I prefer "The Baby Book" for advice about toddler behavior and needs.