Book Review: The Wonder Weeks: A Stress-Free Guide to Your Baby's Behavior (6th Edition)

A Book Review on
The Wonder Weeks: A Stress-Free Guide to Your Baby's Behavior (6th Edition)

Xaviera Plas-Plooij, Frans X. Plooij, Hetty van de Rijt (New York, NY: Countryman Press), 2019, 464 pages, ISBN:978-1682684276.

Positive psychology and education start from the first days as a baby. Education is learning, and learning is knowledge acquired by study. Babies study. During studies, a baby constructs moods. This happy or bad “weather” a baby has during development, is an example of how children develop in their education, with moods. When you understand the relationship between brain development and moods, you can keep the baby and child happier during their development, and create an upwards spiral while learning. You can understand the bad weather moments of a child when the brain is learning new things and can help the baby learn in the most positive way, and will see a happier child when learning is done and a stronger bond. After the development phase, the child finds the learned skills easier. Every phase/leap, the child will learn new skills. We should know all leaps of the entire development of a child to help a child overcome bad moods, and help the child learn fitting to their growing brain and own pace of learning, and give the fitting input per leap.

In the wonder weeks, you can find 10 leaps explained in baby development, an understanding of the leaps and a prediction, according to science, how the child will behave in a new phase. The baby will start with sensing through their own senses and will discover their parents, and the world nearby. Later on, the child will expand their world, games, and studies, and will be focused on preferences.

The book explains the child development process, of standard development, cumulative development and development toward bigger complex, which all children will have, but it also explains the exact mood per leap, how parents will respond to the baby, and how the baby will respond to the parents per leap, and what games you could play with the baby before a leap, during a leap, and after a leap.

The entire psychology around the leap is explained as well. The book is explaining what a child can do by themselves and what it needs from the parents. The book has a very clear explanation of what one can do for a child and what to expect per phase. What toys are fitting, and what games to think of to play with the child that will help the child further develop in a positive way.

This book is very much about creating a very positive environment for a child to develop in. It is typical positive psychology and uses the technique of empathy, the understanding what to expect in a child's development, and bonding with the child, encouraging a child in the ways the child will understand and need, to make the entire process of development easier and get more out of the development phases.

This book is based on research in the homes of families with children and babies. Fifty-two babies were visited in the first research. The half were girls, the other half boys. Parents were asked to look at the progress in the development of the baby, but also if everything went smoothly during the development of the child. The moods of the child and the parents were monitored too. Parents explained every week how everything was going. And the researchers and parents researched how the child shows their moods, how their development is visible, and what a child can do per stage from all possibilities. So, they discovered the fastest development possible as well in babies. And made lists for fast babies. And you can find the fastest ever possible things a child can do as well. So, if you would have a fast child you can find the child can do all of the lists. Other babies pick out some things.

The book leaves room for the preferences of a child. And is fitting with neuroscience about brain development and brain growth, related to new possibilities. And is fitting with studies about memory and input processing.

The book also tells you when the new leap is coming, how to recognize the new phase coming. And the actual leap, and all psychology around that, how the leap is working out in the life of the baby, and the family. And when the phase is done.

Supporting the child, giving confidence, having empathy for the child is a foundation in this book. Also, suggestions about how you can help your baby/child learn.

The book is an overall report on how your child is developing. Your child will go some steps forwards, and some stop back every phase of growth.

The mood calendar should be created and be expanded to the end of the brain development around 28 years, where all moods and stages are explained. This would help all parents stay positive during development, and will help positive psychology in education.

Author Contributions

The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.