Giving babies a "voice" helps parents understand their baby's unique strengths and needs. This observational tool and handbook, complete with beautiful four-color photographs by a Pulitzer prize-winning photographer, gives professionals a systematic way to help parents respond with confidence to their baby's individual needs-and build positive parent-professional relationships in the process. Flexible, easy to integrate into everyday practice, and based on more than 25 years of research, this system includes A short, easy-to-use, interactive observational tool. With the Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) system, professionals will have a structured set of 18 observations (see sidebar) for infants from birth to approximately 3 months. Including parents as partners, professionals guide the observation, discuss the baby's abilities and behaviors with parents, encourage parent insights and questions, and suggest specific ways to support the child's development. (Appropriate use of the NBO tool in clinical practice requires training through the NBO training program.) A complete guide to the NBO system. Through realistic case studies, step-by-step how-to instructions, and color photos illustrating each NBO item, professionals will understand how to use the NBO effectively with a wide variety of families. Invaluable professional guidance. More than a tool, the handbook helps professionals improve their daily work with in-depth information on infant and parent development, cultural competence, premature and at-risk infants, family-centered care, and more. An essential resource from the co-author of the highly regarded Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) and his colleagues, this system is just what clinicians in hospital, clinic, or home settings need to help new mothers and fathers get to know their baby, increase their confidence and competence as parents, and support their child's growth and development.

Child Care and Culture examines parenthood, infancy, and early childhood in an African community, revealing patterns unanticipated by current theories of child development and raising provocative questions about the concept of "normal" child care. Comparing the Gusii people of Kenya with the American white middle class, the authors show how divergent cultural priorities create differing conditions for early childhood development. Combining the perspectives of social anthropology, pediatrics, and developmental psychology, the authors demonstrate how child care customs can be responsive to varied socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural conditions without inflicting harm on children. This text will be of interest to researchers in child development and anthropology.