First-time Mum Review: The Essential Baby Care Guide

By Claire Williams

I watched the Essential Baby Care Guide from the position of being a pregnant first time mum whose closest previous contact with babies was seeing them on pampers adverts.  I had been pre-warned that the full set of DVDs took 8 hours to watch, so that was no surprise, though I must confess that I took so long about getting through them that my husband and I watched the final DVD post-birth.

As set out in the other review, there are 4 DVDs covering 1. Feeding, 2. Care & Development, 3. Sleeping, and 4. First Aid and Accident Prevention.  Each DVD has a good menu, allowing you to either watch an entire section, or to skip straight to the information you are interested in (e.g. baby resuscitation).  Each DVD includes interviews on the relevant topic with various parents, who are happy to explain the issues they faced with their children and how they overcame them. The real value of the DVDs however is that instead of just describing something, you are show (e.g. the ‘poo’ gallery clearly shows what you might see in the nappy of a breast fed baby, a constipated baby, what nappy rash looks like, etc).  For the clueless first time parent, being able to see what I might need to be looking for was invaluable.

The Feeding DVD covers breast feeding, bottle feeding and weaning.  Most time is spent on breast feeding advice, as the DVD goes through various problems that parents may encounter (such as mastitis and latching issues) and suggested solutions.  In contrast, the bottle feeding section is very short and essentially says you should follow the manufacturer’s instructions.  While the section on weaning looked useful, it will be a while before my daughter is ready to be weaned, so it felt a bit too soon for me to watch that section.

I found the Care & Development DVD extremely useful, with basic advice on baby hygiene and care, such as how to give baby a bath, plus information on games and toys that will interest and stimulate babies as they grow.   The Sleeping DVD was also eye-opening, as prior to watching it my husband and I hadn’t given any thought at all to questions such as when we would like to set up some sort of routine, what time is sensible for a baby or toddler to go to bed, how often and for how long children need to nap…

The final DVD, on First Aid and Accident Prevention, is perhaps the most vital to watch.  It covers basic first aid from dealing with cuts and burns right through to resuscitation and choking.  Techniques are repeatedly demonstrated, which helps fix them in your memory, and I now feel a bit more confident that I could deal appropriately with an emergency. 

All in all, the DVDs were useful, although I should note that they can seem very slow – sometimes I did start thinking ‘yes, I know, please move on’.  They can be purchased as a set, or alternatively as separates (enabling parents to only pay for the ones relevant to them).    

If you wish to buy the full set, you can get £5 off  and purchase at reduced price of £30 by purchasing direct from www.essentialparent.com and entering the code ElyNCT at checkout. For each DVD set sold The Essential Parent Company will donate £5 to the branch.