Baby Books

[SuzySunshine]

So for those of us that are first timers - what book or books did you buy with your first or since that you thought was a good resource.

A friend recommended Baby Bargains and another recommended Baby 411 but other friends have said you can find all the Baby Bargains info on the web.

Suggestions? I have my pregnancy books but would like to start looking at some baby info books.

TIA!

[Vanquisher]

I found that I didn't have time to read anything.

I find that personal help from people you trust is always so much more sage. I suggest this board.

[Auspicious]

I haven't read the What to Expect books, but I'm told they are kind of alarmist and have some outdated information.

My favorite part of What to Expect When You're Expecting is the footnote that tells you how if you must go out to eat, you should bring your own wheat roll with you from home, so that you don't have to eat the (less healthy) white rolls from the breadbasket at the restaurant.

Bring my own food to the restaurant? Thanks for the sage and practical advice, guys! You've saved me from killing my baby by eating a white dinner roll.

[SuzySunshine]

I didn't get What to Expect for that reason, several of my friends said it was silly. My pregnancy books are the Mayo book and Great Expectations but of which are good resources for week by week development, what drugs you can can't take, etc. but I'm not sure what to buy for baby books.

Of course there is so much info on the web these days maybe I won't buy any...

[rainbabies]

I found that I didn't have time to read anything.

I find that personal help from people you trust is always so much more sage. I suggest this board.

ditto

I enjoyed The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy, but I agree that advice from people who have BTDT is really the way to go as far as what to buy , etc.

I went so all-out when pregnant w/Jacob that I even bought "What to EAT when you're expecting". Nazis. One treat a month? Nothing canned, nothing made w/white flour ... I realized that if I had that kind of willpower when NOT pregnant that I'd be skinny in the first place. That's when dh pulled out his "Jenn, as long as you stop smoking crack in the 1st trimester, the kid will be OK!"

[Michele]

For fun, short reads I REALLY enjoyed Jenny McCarthy's books....Belly Laughs and Baby Laughs.

I agree with what has been said about the WTE books. I have the Sears Baby book and another baby's first year book but I use them to check milestones more than anything.

I also agree that moms you trust are the best source of advice etc....like here!

I've heard good things about Pantley too.

[migirl]

For fun, short reads I REALLY enjoyed Jenny McCarthy's books....Belly Laughs and Baby Laughs.

I second the Jenny McCarthy books, they're hysterical.

I never read What to Expect When You're Expecting (was also scared off the alarmist reputation), but I do have What to Expect the First Year and I actually really like it. It's divded up into chapters by month and I thought it was a handy little guide to the first year with a baby. I also swear by Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. DS is a great little sleeper, and I attribute most of it to applying things I learned in this book!

Two others about motherhood that I really liked:
-Mother Shock: Loving Every (Other) Minute of It by Andrea J. Buchanan (recommended to me by other iMSN mommies, I LOVED IT and tell all my new mommy friends to read it)
-The 7 Stages of Motherhood by Ann Pleshette Murphy

[samssugarmomma]

I loved the Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine for its humor on pregnancy.

I also liked Your Pregnancy Week by Week by Glade B. Curtis and Judith Schuler - but I think that you listed that you already have a 'week by week' book.

I also got the Dr. Sears book - The Baby Book.

For sleeping, we used a combination of The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. Neither of those really *worked* as our child hates to sleep, but we use some of the techniques from each. I've heard good things about Nighttime Parenting: How to Get Your Baby and Child to Sleep by Dr. Sears but I've just started looking into that one.

[Cumberland]

I liked Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin, and Babycatcher by Peggy Vincent. Both are about natural childbirth, but even if you arent remotely interested in that, they still are both focus on the beauty of pregnancy and bringing a baby into the world.

[houseelf]

Two others about motherhood that I really liked:
-Mother Shock: Loving Every (Other) Minute of It by Andrea J. Buchanan (recommended to me by other iMSN mommies, I LOVED IT and tell all my new mommy friends to read it)
-The 7 Stages of Motherhood by Ann Pleshette Murphy

Here, here to these two. I love that both of the works deal with the murky depths of emotional side of the mother's growth. In actuality, most of the mechanics of parenting can be found by googling the topic or starting a post at a place like here. Most of the "sage advice" written is just a little too out there. See, e.g., everyone from Dr. Laura to the "What to Expect" series. (Great analysis Auspicious!)

Even my beloved montessori education movement offers a couple of titles that almost bash the parents for being lazy bastards. Gee, I'm taking time out of my day to inform myself about being a better parent and you're critiquing me. THANKS!

A baby pretty much gives you on the job training from day one.

Kelly

[DCJenn]

I loved the Baby Bargains books because all of the information is right there at your finger tips.

I got my brother the Baby:Owner's Manual which looks and reads just like a car manual- he loved it and found it very helpful.

I read a boatload of adoption manuals and they're mostly alarmist and/or extremist. I used my n=1 sample of my adopted husband and he basically felt that most of the stuff discussed was crap.

I personally recommend being married to a pediatrician- he's so damned handy sometimes. (although, really- I need a veterinarian much more often)

and in all honesty- I come here, first.

jenn

[Gwendolyn]

I give all of my preggo girlfriends the Girlfriends Guide and Belly Laughs. There is so much to agonize about and so much free advice you get from others I loved being able to read something funny that would share some info and help me relax. I agree other moms are the best...the other stuff stressed me out and didn't really change much of what I was doing anyways. The only other books I would recommend would be more philosophical books about parenting or motherhood. Books that examine the state of, rather than tell you what you should be doing. My opinion

That's when dh pulled out his "Jenn, as long as you stop smoking crack in the 1st trimester, the kid will be OK!"

[Michele]

Ooooh...I also liked the BabyCatcher.