Rebecca Abrams Three Shoes, One Sock and No Hairbrush

I found this book scary when i read it the first time while expecting No. 3 and was left feeling "Oh God what have I done?" It was really pessimistic and focusses on the mainly on the downsides. It also specialises in post-facto advice - i.e you can't do much about the situation you find yourself in! Example: She would say things like having an age gap of less than 3 years inhibits the IQ of the youngest (oops I have 18 months) and then you look at the photo of her smiling with her family and work out that of course, HER gap was the optimum 3 years...Aghgh! However have since re-read it and found it quite sympathetic to the emotions you are likely to feel as a parent of 2+ (tiredness mainly)...but a little low on practical advice. Give it a miss and do yourself a favour.

Terrifying. I was convinced I would be stuck feeding the baby for hours while the toddler drowned in the toilet or drank bleach. My overall feeling from this was that it overstated the case a bit but at least I was prepared for the worst, I suppose. It did have some practical suggestions which I found helpful.

"After the hours of classes I attended for my first pregnancy, all I had time for for the second was reading this, but at least I felt as if I'd done some preparation!" "Really good for suggesting coping mechanisms and highlighting problem areas you might not have thought of." Some found it "a tad depressing, all those potential problems are not always what you want to read about when you're anxious about having number two", but others raved: "excellent" "loads of her advice worked, especially buying my daughter a present from the new baby - they bonded immediately."