Anyone else who can't stand Dr. Sears?

[monkeyscience]

I know that sounds like some sort of AP heresy, but I have yet to make it through a single book - or even significantly far in to a single book - by the older Dr. Sears. (I did like The Vaccine Book by one of the younger Dr. Searses.) I've started and dropped The Pregnancy Book, The Breastfeeding Book, and The Baby Book. They all make me feel hopeless, worthless, and totally inadequate. Not to mention that I haven't had a good track record of finding the answers I need in them.

Is anyone else driven crazy by these books? I'm not sure exactly what it is that gets me - maybe the fact that they are written like every moment of pregnancy and parenthood is some sort of soft-focus, candle-lit Hallmark special? Don't know. But I think next time I get pregnant, if I want a pregnancy book, I'm going to try this one!

[UmmZen]

That looks like a funny book! You could also try The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy (I think that's the name). It was hilarious, IMO.

When I was younger, I read a couple of Dr. Sears books. I read for basic information, not b/c I thought he was a guru. I actually don't put a lot of stock in what a man has to say about any of this and if the man practices western medicine, too...meh. That's just me. IMO, their books will generally be written from a perspective that's too objective for me to find it meaningful in a way that endears me to the person.  But, everyone is different. 

As for his tone, it's been some years, but I remember being okay with it. And, I liked that he put his wife in there often enough. I thought they were a cute couple, based on what I read. The son is the one I don't particularly agree with much of the time. LOL 

Most of my issue with Sears probably have to do with my lack of respect for his vocation. I remember thinking he seemed an awfully nice man outside of that.
 

[mamaofthree]

i haven't read him in years, but i remember liking them. not all of parenting is going to be perfect, but it sure of a heck better advice then spanking, cio, and being nasty to your kids. 

that other book looks, hmmmm, well not my cup of tea, but then i loved being pregnant.

[lanamommyphd07]

As I recall (but this has been a while), there were times I was reading his books thinking "huh, the target audience must be really effed up!"....as it felt at times somewhat condescending. 

It was like my first visit to my ND, and she said "I'm not used to having someone like you here. I don't have to sell you on the approach at all. You're going to be so easy". But I so very much appreciated that she passed over the basics with me when I threw the nonverbal of "yep, yep, moving right along" Perhaps we need a Sears book that is not preaching to the choir, so to speak.

The one time I went to a babyparenting book when DD was a babe was to look up hypnic jerks. Sears did not cover it, but one of the nursing books did (I think perhaps companion).

In practice, I tend to recommend the Sears type books for people who are coming from Babywise..it's a nice transition to the other side, if you KWIM.

[monkeyscience]

LOL... so apparently, the answer is No. That's okay, I will stand alone in my irked-ness. :)

[Nazsmum]

monkeyscience- I'm with you. I'm not a FAN of Dr Sears.

[fruitfulmomma]

I really liked his book on SIDS detailing his mother/baby sleep experiments. Other than than I flipped through a few but never really read them. 

The younger seems to be rather ap lite and I just don't really have any need for it.

[boater]

While I find the info in the baby book really helpful personally, I think I'm with you on the tone. It can feel very hunky-dory/heteronormitive/suburban and old fashioned and because it's trying to convince you to tune in to the baby's needs it can negate the needs of the mother. I think also the cloying simplified language and phrases he uses sometimes makes it seem like he thinks mothers are kind of stupid. That said I do find a lot of the info to be very useful so I still read and recommend them.
 

ETA: Wrt The Pregnancy book, I found the outdated advice on "how to flatter your pregnant figure" or something like that super entertaining and hilarious! A must read! There were such gems as: tapered pants are always flattering, and use shoulder pads and big colorful earings and scarves to draw the eye away from your pregnant belly.

Edited by boater - 2/6/13 at 12:00am