Description
Price: $9.99 - $7.66
(as of Mar 21, 2025 11:31:57 UTC – Details)
Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, renowned pediatrician and author advises parents on home treatment and diagnosis of colds and flus, childhood illnesses, vision and hearing problems, allergies, and more. PLUS, a complete section on picking the right doctor for your child, step-by-step instructions for knowing when to call a doctor, and much more.
Publisher : Ballantine Books (May 12, 1987)
Language : English
Mass Market Paperback : 304 pages
ISBN-10 : 0345342763
ISBN-13 : 978-0345342768
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 4.15 x 0.78 x 6.83 inches
Customers say
Customers find the book informative and helpful for parents. It provides a good background on childhood diseases and illnesses, as well as how to treat them safely at home. Many readers consider it an important medical resource, especially for those with children. The book covers basic topics like fevers and controversial issues like whether or not to vaccinate. However, some customers feel some of the information is outdated.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Dallas Barnes –
The only book you need to raise a child
This book provides such sound advice for parents that will calm any worrying mom in the middle of the night. Covers most every topic that comes up with littles, gives you logical direction that stands the test of time. Highly recommend.
whitecastle –
My number one go-to reference
Mendelssohn was ahead of his time with this book. Decades ahead of his time. He was railing against the medicalization of people back in the 80’s – I can only imagine what he would think of things now.
Mendelsohn had two main objectives with his book. The first and most obvious was to help people learn how to differentiate between which symptoms of illness in children could be managed effectively at home and which symptoms warranted medical attention. He was concerned with the tendency of doctors to intervene where no intervention was necessary and often harmful to the patient.
His deeper meaning was to help parents understand that their most important function was to provide a loving home for their children and to cultivate a relationship with them that would facilitate their emotional and physical wellbeing. He observed that parents take their children to the doctor to treat their own anxiety around their children’s health as much as to obtain medical treatment for the child. He wanted parents to learn how to effectively manage their anxiety so that it did not negatively impact their children.
He provides parents with a reassuring, empowering guide to decide when they should seek medical care for their children or if simple home care will suffice. Each chapter is broken down by condition – ear infection, stomach ache, sore throat, etc and he walks you through the exact steps he as a physician works through with each of his patients to rule out more serious conditions and determine the course of treatment. Spoiler alert: most symptoms and conditions are easily treated at home, often only with time.
Early on in his career Mendelsohn worked in the practice of an older, more experienced pediatrician and observed that he obtained the same or better results than Mendelsohn did in treating his patients’ health conditions despite providing very little intervention in the way of drugs and medical procedures. Mendelsohn eventually abandoned the use of antibiotics and procedures for most common childhood ailments and observed that his patients healed on their own anyways.
Two gems from the book:
Mendelsohn states that treating step throat with antibiotics interferes with the body’s ability to produce antibodies, which in turn increases susceptibility to future strep infections. He cites research around real world antibiotic compliance rates to conclude that strep throat was very unlikely, if ever, to cause scarlet fever and its complications. He reasoned that because compliance was so poor that there should be an epidemic of scarlet fever at all times and yet there is none.
Mendelsohn states that a fever from infection is never dangerous because the body has a built in mechanism that will not permit the temperature from rising above 105 degrees. The only way a temperature can be harmful is when it results from outside forces that overwhelm this homeostatic control mechanism – heat stroke, over exposure to saunas, jacuzzis, etc. A fever above 100 degrees in children under two months should always be evaluated because it is likely to be prenatal in origin or related to the delivery.
And many more. The book is an enduring guide for empowered parents everywhere. I can’t recommend it enough!
R. LEE –
Could be published as-is in 2014 – NOT OUT DATED
It is so refreshing to read a book articulating the problems I have with modern medicine. Although published in 1984, the book remains relevant and eerily helpful. With only a few minor points, this book could be written today and still reflect reality. Doctors have changed…for the worse. They are legalized drug dealers earning a living by peddling visitations, procedures, and products you don’t need! The core tenet here is stuff you DO NOT NEED. Seek out technical skills when required. Personally, this segways into my nightmare of CPS knocking on the door so I wish there was more material addressing that (he does mention this as an off-hand remark but there is no discussion).
PRO:
-Targetted at nervous parents that “need to do something” to help their kids.
-All of the advice is sound (read the book to know more). However, do not take everything at face value. Dr. M wants the PARENT to learn and balance risk/benefit before making any decision to include following his advice. Some reviewers here miss the mark on that point.
-Discusses effectiveness of treating children’s illnesses with age-old methods.
-Breaks ingrained behaviors such as popping drugs to break a fever (bad!)
-Discusses the quackery known as psychology and psychiatry. Over-active kids? Have them pop drugs to make them more manageable for teachers.
-Vaccines have changed for the worse. His chapter is short and to the point. All the relevant data can be confirmed with updated books such as Dr. Tenpenny.
-I especially liked the chapter discussing how parents are better caregivers than doctors, simply because they are more capable of in-depth observation. No doctor or hospital will ever be committed to the level of detail and care of a parent.
CON:
-Needs updating to reflect 2014. Specifically:
*Ultrasound replaced x-ray as the fetal scanner of choice. The evils of x-rays are discussed ad nauseaum but they have been phased out in the OB world. Still used widely in other purposes. Although it’s been more than 30 years since publishing, not much research has been done on ultrasound safety for fetuses. Wife and I asked the OB/GYN to limit the scans, but each monthly visit had a “must-have” scan because “I need to know the baby’s measurements.” No more routine visits for us!
*Discusses “natural foods” and nutrition. If this book was updated, Dr. M would roll in his grave knowing about GMOs and the exponential rise of Dow and Monsanto. Finding “natural foods” these days is not easy.
*Mentions several side effects of antibiotics. Some recent research has shown antibiotics also damage the body’s intestinal flora (commonsense to think a bacterial poison would also kill your little friends?). I wonder what Dr. M would have to say about that.
*Whole cell DPT has been phased out in favor of DTaP.
-Would like more in-text references or footnotes. There are many references and allusions to a vast body of literature but some readers may feel his facts are based solely off personal experience or thin air.
Ella –
Great book
Every parent should read this book to learn how much they are risking their children’s health by strictly following doctors’ recommendations.
Dr. Stingl –
man an einer “alternativen” Sicht eines Arzt interessiert ist.
Es ist die Sache der Meinung, ob man Impfungen anerkennt oder nicht oder ob man die heutige Pädiatrie mag oder nicht, aber dieses buch stellt in vielen Bereichen die Medizin aus völlig anderer Perspektive dar, sodass man sich nach Durchlesen für eigene Meinung entscheiden kann.
Ich würde es allen Ãrzten und Eltern empfehlen, damit sie die Gesundheit der Kinder und die Gesundheit und Heilung an sich mal von einer anderen Seite anschauen und den eigenen Standpunkt überlegen. Es wird nämlich sicher nicht alles so wein, wie es heute Medizin empfiehlt (bin selber Facharzt, also ich weiÃ, wie Medizin funktioniert), denn auch medizinische Emfpehlungen sind Sache der “Mode” und aktuellen Empfehlungen, an die man zu der Zeit glaubt. Dieses Buch stellt einiges ins Licht des gesunden Verstandes der GroÃ-groÃ-mütter dar.
Beatrice –
It is one of the most important books I have read about health and definitely the most important and valuable when it comes to your childâs health .
Asha P.R –
Amazing Book: wonderful reading….. I love the Book. Thanks to the Author.
Andrei –
Highly recommended reading and still very actual even if it was written some years ago during a time when the medical industry were more honest than they are in the present.
Anna –
Fascinating read & confirms to me that we donât need the medical establishment in our childrenâs lives. We have been conditioned to bring our children in for the smallest ailments but most of the time it is not necessary. People need to educate themselves on how the medical system brainwashes & insinuates the need for their interventions. I have aided an allergic reaction from a bee sting on my sons foot, molluscan, eye infections & much more. One book to start you off that I would recommend is The gift of healing herbs by Robin Rose Bennet. Beautifully compiled & very easy to follow, specially for the young family starting out.