THE UNICORN BABY BY OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST ROXANNE ATKINSON

If you have read a few baby books or searched the internet for parenting tips, you have most likely stumbled across the mythical Unicorn Baby. This is the baby who feeds every four hours and sleeps through the night, sits at six months, pees pure gold and poops rainbows. Whether this baby exists or not does not matter. What matters is this: You did not get this baby. If you are looking to answer the question: “Is my baby normal?” then you are in the right place.

The Unicorn Baby is an honest and hilarious account of parenting. Roxanne Atkinson uses her professional experience as an OT to identify and debunk 10 modern myths that cause all kinds of anxiety for new parents and often leads them down the wrong path. For example:

■ MYTH You need to get your baby into the perfect routine.

REALITY There is no such thing as the perfect routine

■ MYTH You should only feed your baby every four hours.

REALITY You should practise responsive feeding, not scheduled feeding.

■ MYTH You must teach your baby to sleep through the night.

REALITY There is no magic formula that will make your baby sleep through the night, no matter what you do.

■ MYTH Your baby grows and develops every day.

REALITY Your baby will grow and develop in leaps and spurts

The myths are explored and then debunked in the book, helping us understand biologically why our babies may not be behaving as we were told they would. Acknowledging that every baby is unique, this book helps new parents navigate the first year and explains the latest neuroscience in understandable, practical terms before sharing some fascinating stories of other real-life babies.

R250, Jonathan Ball Publishers