I feel that both the authors have successfully taken a personal view on a what can be said the most hectic time in a woman's life and turned it into magnificant and compulsive read. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a sense of humour and is looking for a different and slightly unbalanced view on first time motherhood or equally to a nervous prospective mother to be, as this book will shatter all the myths and urban legends associated with the spawning of ones first offspring.

I have been a professional, fully trained and suitably qualified nanny for over 14 years and a first time mother since January of this year and I managed to find plenty of tit-bits to keep me amused and I even heard myself mutter " I didn't know that" on the odd occasion and I most certainly will be keeping hold of this book for any future children I may have.............husband willing of course.

I would recommend this book to any of my friends but if they asked to borrow mine I am afraid I would have to say "go and buy your own your not getting my copy!""

Ruth, first time mother to a bundle of joy named Jack Edward.

For more information click here to visit the Bloomsbury bookshop.

For example if my little boy doesn't want to sit in his pushchair then he usually throws a tantrum. Instead, now I kneel down and talk to him, telling him that he can push the pushchair a little later because he's been a good boy sitting in it now when I need him too. He does listen to what I say and takes note. In fact as long as I stick to my word, I'm finding that he's trusting me more and more in the future during other tantrums!

I have learnt a great deal from this book and I know other parents with young children will benefit from this book too. It only takes a couple of day's maximum to read because it is short and sweet, honest and straight to the point with answers to help with the potential problem. Since reading this book, things in my household have certainly changed for the better. Certainly a great recommendation to any parent!"

Tantrums - by Eileen Hayes

"'Tantrums' is an easy book to read quickly. Rather than waffling on about the subject, the chapters are divided up into mostly bullet pointed facts and suggestions that get straight to the point and might be handy for busy parents who can only snatch ten minutes here and there to read it.

It's divided up into chapters that range from the reasons why some children (and some adults) throw tantrums, to how to react when you are in specific "tantrum" situations with your child, which I think could be very useful to some parents who are experiencing problems in those areas.

However, I found that the book started off in quite a depressing way with results of research into tantrums, linking it to problems later in life, although the author was not explicit about the sources of her information. I also found it odd that she makes no mention of the proven links between tantrums and food additives, which I feel is quite a worrying issue that more parents should be made aware of (see www.foodcomm.org.uk for more information on this.)

I found that where the author says in the introduction "…yet I just don't remember tantrums being much of a problem with any of my children…" and later on where she writes " I do not consider that any of my children had what could be described as full-blown tantrums" slightly patronising to say the least! If she has had no experience of her own children throwing wobblers, what authority has she got to tell the rest of us where we're going wrong?

Once the book gets onto the subject of positive parenting and the ten point action plan at the back, it is much more useful and informative. Also the soundbites from other parents relating their own experiences are helpful as it's nice to know that everyone experiences some problems (apart from the author of course!)

In conclusion, I think that this book is aimed at parents who want to dip in and out of the book, much like a magazine, but at £6 I would probably prefer to invest in a book that goes much deeper into the subject and get this one out of the library!"

Annabel (mum of two!)

www.amazon.co.uk

There appears to be nothing new in the book, but it is handy to have all the information in one place and comforting to have in writing such things as "it is natural to feel a sense of relief when, after a hard day, you pass your grandchild back to their parents"! It is also good at the end of a tiring day to read what he has to say about grandparenthood being a two-way relationship, and realising that your grandchild has as much to offer you as you have for him."

www.parentalk.co.uk

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