The American Academy of Pediatrics Guide to Your Child's Symptoms: The Official, Complete Home Reference, Birth Through Adolescence
By Donald Schiff M.D. F.A., Steven P. Shelov M.D.
The most complete, authoritative, and up-to-date guide to
It would be nice to have pediatricians at your beck and call for every cough and wheeze, but the era of house visits is past. When the weather's raw and your child's in pain, start with your reference shelf. Donald Schiff and Steven Shelov have arranged the contents of the Guide to Your Child's Symptoms by the child's age: you'll find symptom guides from baby's colic, diarrhea, and spitting up to your adolescent's anxiety, depression, and skin problems. For each symptom, there's a description of usual causes, a chart of questions to consider, and what action to take. There's also an illustrated "First-Aid Manual." Guide to Your Child's Symptoms is a first-rate resource that explains when bed rest will do and when to get on the phone to your pediatrician.
From Library Journal
With a planned 100,000-copy first printing, this will help many parents find the answer to "What's ailing Junior?"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Inside Flap
The most complete, authoritative, and up-to-date guide to
children's symptoms available--from the most respected authority on child and adolescent heath care in America
"Keep it close at hand."
--Sesame Street Parents magazine
When an infant or small child is ill, it is often very difficult for a parent to understand the nature of the problem. The American Academy of Pediatrics Guide to Your Child's Symptoms enables a parent to identify a symptom quickly, learn its possible cause, and determine how best to proceed. More than one hundred symptoms are listed alphabetically, and the text and illustrations that accompany each one are arranged in easy-to-follow charts. The Guide also includes:
¸ Advice and guidelines on evaluating the seriousness of the symptom
and what action a parent should take, complete with a specific
section on when to consult a pediatrician
¸ Comprehensive entries covering all children from birth
through adolescence
¸ Scores of sidebars on important topics such as recognizing language
milestones, correcting eye problems, and stopping a nosebleed
¸ An illustrated guide to basic first aid
¸ Guidelines for safety and accident prevention
Widely praised for its unprecedented user-friendly style and format, the hardcover edition of the Guide to Your Child's Symptoms was a number one Library Journal reference bestseller and a selection of the Literary Guild. The book also won the 1998 American Medical Writers Association Medical Book Award for Lay Readers, as well as a 1998 National Health Information Award.
Credible, sound, helpful
Don't let some of the negative reviews that appear here put you off -- this is an excellent resource. Essentially the book lets you diagnose what your child might have and then lets you know whether you a) need to take your child in to the doc or b) you should relax. Anybody who expects more out of a book like this is dreaming. As for organization -- I recommend using the index in the back of the book. Helps you find things fast. My wife and I swear by this book; it is something we give any friends or families who have children for the first time. Highly recommended.
Wonderful Reference!
I can't tell you how many times I have referenced this book in the middle of the night. It has been a tremendous source of comfort. I like the reference format with the grid of symptoms. The only thing that could make this better would be pictures of what rashes (like the trademark bullseye of a Lyme's disease-infected tick bite or a chicken pox mark) look like.
Ideal for its purpose
Let me start by stating clearly that this is not a book of home remedies for children's illnesses. If that's what you're looking for, you will be disappointed with this book. If, however, you are looking for a book to tell you whether a certain set of symptoms requires no treatment, a morning call to the doctor or a midnight trip to the hospital, you won't be disappointed. This basic format of the book is simple. For each condition (say, spitting up), there is a page or so of general information. Then, there's a chart of possible symptoms (ie, Does your child spit up excessively when played with after nursing?), what the cause could be (ie, If yes, the cause could be overstimulation) and what kind of action should be taken (ie, let the baby rest quietly after nursing). Basically, I think of this as my "Should I worry?" book. When I'm not sure whether I need to call the doctor or not, I pull out this reference and find out. A definite "must" for the bookshelf of any parent. Incidentally, this book comes in both hardcover and softcover. Based on some reviews that complained about the small typeface in the softcover, I bought a used hardcover in perfect condition for less than what was being charged for the softcover version - there seem to be a lot of hardcovers for sale in good condition pretty cheaply through Amazon, so I'd check that out before buying a softcover.
