What to expect from the first year

In a new, revised and updated edition, What to Expect in the First Year , by Heidi Murkoff, author of the bestselling parenting series, is an essential guide to everything you need to know about your baby's first year.

The first year is probably the most impactful in a child's life. However, babies don't come with an instruction manual. Heidi Murkoff knows this and felt completely lost when her first daughter was born. She didn't know how to hold her, feed her, change her diapers, rock her, burp her, soothe her, or simply communicate with her. She struggled to support her daughter's still-unsupported head, to slip her limp arms through her shirt sleeves, to breastfeed. She hoped her maternal instincts wouldn't fail her, but they did. Despite the impact on her self-esteem, she and her husband made it through the process, one poorly changed diaper, one poorly given bath, and one sleepless night at a time.

Having already published the bestselling pregnancy book What to Expect When You're Expecting , Murkoff decided to write the sequel, What to Expect in the First Year . Without limiting herself to her own experience, she gathered a wealth of research and created this guide to help parents navigate their child's first year with more confidence, knowledge, joy, and less stress.

In this new, revised and updated edition, timeless tips (such as changing diapers) have been added to the latest trends (eco-friendly diapers), information on how to make breastfeeding work (including when a mother returns to work), baby care courses, how to manage technology (research on the impact of screen time on children), and new information to help you assess what is and isn't necessary to buy for your baby. There's also a new timeline for monitoring your child's development, practical tips for parents, an expanded chapter on premature baby care (with a glossary of medical terms to better understand what's being said in the neonatal intensive care unit), and updated information on health (vaccines, alternative therapies, probiotics, and homeopathy) and safety (car seats, safe products, and first aid for emergencies).

With over 11 million copies sold, What to Expect in the First Year is a guide that provides all the instructions parents would like to receive in an empathetic, comforting and fun way.