Thorsons
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
This edition published by Thorsons 2016
FIRST EDITION
Text © Holly Willoughby 2016
Photographs © Ellis Parrinder 2016 except where indicated
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016
Cover photograph © Ellis Parrinder
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Holly Willoughby asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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While the author of this book has made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this book reflects NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) and NHS guidelines at the time of publication, medical knowledge is constantly changing and the application of it to particular circumstances depends on many factors. This book is intended as a reference volume only, not as a medical manual. The information given here is designed to help you make informed decisions about you and your baby, and it should be used to supplement rather than replace the advice of your doctor or other trained health professionals. Therefore it is recommended that a qualified medical specialist is always consulted for advice. The author and publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors and omissions that may be found in the text, or any actions that may be taken by a reader as a result of any reliance on the information contained in the text.
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Source ISBN 9780008172527
Ebook Edition © June 2016 ISBN: 9780008172534
Version: 2016-06-24
CONTENTS
COPYRIGHT
INTRODUCTION
01 The need-to-knows and the know-hows
03 Growth spurts and developmental milestones
03 Support for you and your new baby
SOME EXTRA ADVICE
INDEX OF SEARCHABLE TERMS
THANK YOUS
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
I knew I would write this book when I had my first son, Harry. I couldn’t believe how many times I thought – and indeed heard fellow parents say – ‘Why didn’t anybody tell me about this?!’ There’s no two ways about it, becoming a new mum or dad can be incredibly daunting. There’s no other job on the planet this important where you wouldn’t be given first-class training to prepare you, but as babies don’t arrive with an instruction manual, this is me passing on all the things that I found worked for me, in the hope they might help you too. I’ve been blessed with three very different babies, so whilst I don’t profess to have any official childcare qualifications (although all the advice in this book has been checked by a medical professional), I have had a lot of varied experience, coping with, and getting to know, each of my children. In this book I’ll share all the best bits I’ve learnt along the way for how to look after my family.
The best piece of advice I can give you, and which you should try and keep at the forefront of your mind, is YOU KNOW BEST! Albert Einstein himself said, ‘The only really valuable thing is intuition,’ and who are we to argue with a genius?! Listen to intuition, switch off fear. When you first have a baby, you might feel bombarded with advice from friends, family and medical professionals, and some of that advice can be conflicting. This is when you have to sift through what you’ve been told, and then listen to you. I’m going to be really honest with you throughout this book about the decisions I made for my babies and my reasons for