HappyBaby: The Organic Guide to Baby’s First 24 Months is the latest offering from Dr. Robert W. Sears, co-written with Amy Marlow, the dietician for HappyBaby organic baby food. Dr. Sears co-wrote The Baby Book, that classic tome on Attachment Parenting you’ll either embrace or—overcome by a creeping sensation of guilt and inadequacy—throw across the room. HappyBaby is a kinder, gentler introduction to the world of the Drs. Sears. In fact, the mantra in this new book may very well be “Relax! Don’t worry too much. Just take it one small thing at a time.” This attitude makes it easy to digest the information inside without worrying about doing something wrong—either for your baby or the planet.
happybaby book cover by Dr. Sears

This “organic guide” devotes almost half of its pages to feeding, with forty pages on breastfeeding alone. Some of the nutrition tips are very basic (instead of French fries, eat roasted potatoes!), but there is a wealth of information on avoiding pesticides, understanding labels, choosing the type of milk to feed your youngster, and selecting and preparing foods to maximize the nutritional content. You’ll also find some baby food recipes that go beyond the typical purees; babies will love the oatmeal pancakes, eggless banana muffins, and the “hidden veggie burgers.”

The book provides very comprehensive guidelines on toxins without managing to freak you out.  The suggestions for making changes come in “pale green,” “a little greener,” and “deepest shade of green” levels, so you don’t feel pressured to raise a baby and save the planet all at once. The authors guide readers through the process of picking out a safe mattress, carpet, paint, and nursery furniture—and offer tips for reducing toxin exposure when you’ve already purchased your conventional gear and aren’t in the position to replace it all.

Two chapters on the “Green and Happy Home” discuss reducing the amount of stuff we acquire and the energy we consume when a new baby enters the household. This section suffers a bit by being too general and too—well, “pale green.” “Dr. Bob” assures us that we don’t need to keep our houses warmer in the winter or cooler in the summer with a new baby—but never throws out any actual numbers. The diaper-washing tips in chapter eight are unnecessarily energy extensive–but you will find a great discussion of the whole cloth vs. disposable debate.

This “organic guide” offers a grab-bag of information. It’s part breastfeeding manual, part baby food cookbook, part green living handbook—with a sprinkling of product placements and coupons for eco-friendly goods. HappyBaby is more than The Baby Book’s green companion—it’s a stand-alone guide to  raising a healthy baby, naturally.

We have two copies of this excellent resource to giveaway! Each book comes with more than $100 dollars’ worth of coupons for green baby goodies. Just post a comment before Tuesday the 17th and you’ll be entered to win! (If you don’t win our giveaway, don’t despair—it appears to be 32% off on Amazon right now, so you can get it for just over eleven bucks.)

And congratulations to Shauna, who won our Grandparents Handbook giveaway a few weeks ago!