Mommy Calls, A Question & Answer Book for Parents with Children Ages 0 to 3

by Ellen in Faves, Life and Learning / 09.08.08

I can remember when I had my first child and how scary it all felt. I literally felt like if I made a mistake or overlooked something with my newborn that it could potentially be a life or death situation. I would catch my mind wandering off into the “what if” zone. What if my baby fell off the changing table, what if I forgot to treat the umbilical cord with alcohol, what if I forgot to take my baby to the pediatrician for a well check….. these thoughts can go on and on. Then, when my child was a toddler, the thoughts changed to what if my toddler runs out into the street, what if my child chokes, what if my child is allergic to…

When I was really tired and run down, my mind would take the ‘what ifs’ a step further into the dark, negative zone. It would have been very helpful to have a book that not only answered my questions, but also calmed me down during these negative zone periods.

One of my MindBites colleagues has a sister who is a pediatrician. Evidently, her sister gets calls all the time like “My child got a bug bite and it is red, what do I do?” and her sister is like “scratch it and put some Calamine lotion on it”. Uh… common sense here people. I am sure that sometimes she gets some very legitimate calls, but when you are a parent and you are tired and worried, it is very hard to discern the difference between common sense solutions and things that require medical advice.

I think that you will find this book, Mommy Calls, to be just what the doctor ordered. I mean just what mommy and daddy ordered. Dr. Tanya Remer Altmann, a board certified pediatrician, answers the 101 most common questions that she routinely receives about babies and toddlers. Dr. Tanya is extremely smart and informative, but her writing style is also witty and enjoyable.

Sample questions include: