Your Babies First Year by the American Academy of Pediatrics

The third edition of this encyclopedia of infant care, is updated with the latest information on vaccines, diseases, disabilities, in addition to basic facts on health and growth.    A huge resource at 800 pages, this book is inexpensive and can be an asset to parents and caregivers alike.

The coverage of injuries, diseases and illnesses is in depth which is one of the reasons I recommend the updated version for caregivers.  Having a guide to scan or search when a child is symptomatic helps determine the immediacy of contacting parents during the work day versus over reacting to something as simple as a running nose or normal ear tugging. 

As with any resource, nothing can be all seeing and apply to every child.  That is the nature of children, they are all individual and special with patterns of learning unique to themselves. 

Your Babies First year (3rd ed.). (2010). New York: Bantam.