(**Article first published as Book Review: Help! There's a Toddler in the House! by Thomas M. Reimers on Blogcritics.)
I am very happy to be able to review this book as it was purely out of coincidence (and tons of luck!) that I was browsing through the list of books on the website and I decided to drop an email to the publishing company rep asking whether I could review this book that caught my attention. I got this book for my review about a week before I delivered my baby girl and honestly, this book came at the right time! Below is my review for the "Help! There’s a Toddler in the House!" book:
Title: Help! There’s a Toddler in the House!
Author: Thomas M. Reimers
Publisher: Boys Town Press (March 10, 2011)
ISBN-13/-10: 978-1934490198 / 1934490199
Paperback: 260 pages
Dimension: 5 ½” x 8 ½”
Description from the product page:
" Toddlers and preschoolers are unpredictable, and their antics often keep parents guessing: Why won’t my five-year-old eat his veggies? Why does my two-year-old keep biting her sister? Why can’t my three-year-old stay in his own bed? Why must I repeat myself every time I tell my daughter to do something?
The naughty as well as challenging behaviors of young children can drive even the most patient parents to their wits’ end. In these pages, parents learn how to cope with and correct many of the most common behavioral problems that little ones demonstrate:
* Hitting, kicking, pinching and biting
* Refusing to eat at mealtime
* Refusing to sleep at bedtime
* Throwing tantrums for attention
* Ignoring instructions
* Fighting with siblings
* Having meltdowns in public places
Each chapter examines a specific problem, from the mildly irritating to the downright maddening, and describes practical strategies to rein in, correct and prevent it. Also included are special chapters on how to use time-out correctly, potty train a toddler, and how moms and dads can create a more rewarding and enriching family life.
Packed with straightforward techniques and sound advice, this book will help parents rediscover that having a toddler in the house can be more fun than frustrating. "
About the author:
"Thomas M. Reimers, Ph.D., is Director of Boys Town’s Behavioral Health Clinic, which provides outpatient services and counseling to youth and families. He also is a licensed psychologist and Clinical Associate Professor in Pediatrics at the Creighton University School of Medicine. The father of two daughters, Dr. Reimers has more than twenty years of experience as a clinician and researcher, and he has authored numerous articles on child and adolescent behavior."
** Btw, this book is the 2011 Winner of The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval
I like that the author presents some scenarios and choices for us to choose (as in what would you do if you were in that situation) and then explained through each choices given and why the choices are better suited to overcome the situations.
I learned that although some situations might warrant certain actions, you have to look at other factors before deciding to take actions.
I like that the author stated in page 9 that we should not make the mistake of taking good behaviour for granted just because 'that's what our child is supposed to do'. I truly agree with this because as parents, too often we tend to look and stressed on the negative behaviour we see in our child and did not praise our child when they did do something good or was on their best behaviour. As mentioned on page 24, I love it when the author mentioned we should practise 'catching our child being good' because by doing this we will encourage our child to engage in behaviours we will want to see more of.
Another point that I would want to mention is I particularly love chapter 10 ("Time Out") as from this chapter, I learned to understand the concept, purpose and how to use time-out effectively on my 2.5 year old boy.
I think with his new baby sister around now, Ben started to misbehave and throws tantrums easily. With this book, I shared with my hubby on how to manage Ben's tantrums and use time-out on Ben effectively. I'm happy to say that we're happy with the results so far (though I still prefer not to use it unless we absolutely had to)
I know I've always maintained that there is no Terrible Twos stage, only Terrific Twos stage when Ben turned 2 years old, so I feel that "Help! There’s a Toddler in the House!" is a good choice for parents if they want to know more on what strategies they can try and apply to survive with a toddler in their house and not be stigmatised with the Terrible Twos perception.
I personally learned a lot from this book and I shared them with my hubby too and we are seeing the results in Ben! Do get a copy of this book!!
You can get this book from Boys Town Press, Amazon
and many more.
I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a softcopy of the book by Boys Town Press in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"
