Baby Facts: The Truth About Your Child's Health From Newborn Through Preschool.

BABY FACTS: The Truth About Your Child's Health From Newborn Through Preschool. Andrew Adesman, M.D. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. 288pp. Paperback, $15.95. Dr. Andrew Adesman, a pediatrician and father of three, wrote Baby Facts to help dispel common myths about raising children. He helps parents sort through the bombardment of myths offered by well-meaning grandparents, friends, and even the media. This easy-to-read book, in a question-and-answer format, identifies a myth, then counters with facts and a detailed explanation. Dr. Adesman intersperses his own parenting experience, which allows the reader to see that even pediatricians can get caught up by these cultural myths.

Dr. Adesman explains that medical science is changing rapidly and that information is updated continually. Many long-standing doctor-promoted practices become discredited as new research emerges--for example, for years doctors told parents to put babies to sleep on their stomachs; now, it is considered safer to have a baby sleep on his back.

Dr. Adesman dispels more than 200 myths, many commonly held because public information has not kept abreast of new medical facts. He cautions parents to carefully investigate new ideas when they first appear in the news or are circulating in the neighborhood rumor mill. In medicine, studies must be replicated in order to determine that the results first reported from one study are accurate. As an example, Adesman tells about the hype when numerous media outlets reported that the use of nightlights causes children to become near-sighted. Based on their desire to protect their children, many parents turned off nightlights in their young children's bedrooms, causing much distress. When hereditary factors for near-sightedness were included in the later studies, findings did not support the connection between near-sightedness and nightlights. Dr. Adesman reports that the powerful saturation of the first sensationalized report on the negative use of nightlights was not duplicated with the same fervor when more accurate information was discovered.

Baby Facts provides a handy reference book for parents seeking accurate information about child-raising issues they continually face. The detailed table of contents points the reader to the correct page for a particular question. The book hooks the reader, as the myths are all too familiar to parents. Armed with the contents of Dr. Adesman's book, parents can confidently provide answers and a rationale when their choice of practices is questioned by advice-giving grandparents, friends, and co-workers. Reviewed by Janet Arndt, Ed.D., Assistant Professor of Education, Director of Teacher Licensure and Placement, Gordon College, Wenham, MA.