Written by Dr. Penelope Leach, the leading international expert on child development information and childcare, The Essential First Year is the one book every 21st-century parent needs. Providing all the tools to nurture and care for an infant-from how to meet the baby's physical needs, to how to stimulate their intellectual development and ensure their emotional well-being-Penelope Leach offers proven advice on practical issues including feeding, sleeping, dealing with crying, and keeping your baby safe. Dr. Leach culls her more-than-ten years of recent research into infant development, especially in brain growth, showing parents how helping a baby to be calm, contented, amused, and interested leads to optimum development of body and brain.