good books for when baby is born

[imissbrie]

Hi, Im 31 weeks pregnant with my first baby. Ive read about 10 pregnancy books, so i feel a little clued up with pregnancy and labour, between that and being glued to 'one born every minute'. Anyway i know that when the baby comes along i will have no time for reading books and i would like to have some background info on bathing the baby, feeding, settling her etc. what im not looking for is some really strict instruction book telling me to ignore her cries etc, can someone give me some recommendations?

Watching with interest. Am in similar position. I have bought the womaly art of breast feeding after a recommendation off here. Don't know if it's any good yet though.

I found new babycare by Miriam
Stoppard v good for the basics (and factual rather than preachy iyswim) - in fact I'm 33wks with dc2 and think I'd better get it out to refresh my memory

Ps love your name! Me too!

Your baby week by week! Bite size chapters about milestones, not prescriptive ideas about routines or techniques. Only one I got on with!

Also 'what mothers do especially when it looks like nothing' helps you readjust to a parental headspace when you think you might be going mad. Which you aren't. I wish I'd read this one before I was even pregnant...

My mother always says "the baby hasn't read the book" and I think she has a most excellent point.

That hasn't stopped me buying or reading a few though! It's useful to get a bit of info about the basics.

What to expect in the first year is good as its got lots of useful medical information, developmental stages & other practical stuff without actually tellin you what to do. I also found Gina Ford quite useful for an idea of how many feeds, naps, nappy changes etc a child should have in a 24 hour period at the different stages but never actually bothered following her routine as I knew I'd never be organised enough.

Totally agree with what KatandKit said, my mum says the same! Just respond to your baby and you won't go far wrong. For example, dd always fed every 2 hours. I had no idea how often babies 'should' feed, but if I'd read the books, I might have thought this was too much. As it was, we got along just fine, and she's now nearly 2!

You can buy it, but you won't have time to read it! :o

No cry sleep solution

What mothers do

Harvey karp baby bliss

I would just respond to your baby-he/she won't have read the same books!

Seriously not being a creepy-crawly here, but I ignored all the books, and just looked to the NHS for the basics, and then MN and my ante/post natal group on here.
Helped me understand what babies actually do, rather than what someone thinks they should do. And you get active support and people to whinge to sympathise!

I would recommend both of these:

Your Baby Week by Week
www.amazon.co.uk/Your-Baby-Week-By-ultimate/dp/0091910552/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332187929&sr=8-1

and

The Wonder Weeks
www.amazon.co.uk/The-Wonder-Weeks-Development-Predictable/dp/9079208043/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332187968&sr=1-1

I buy the baby week by week book for any friend that's a new mum x

3 in a bed was my favourite! Even if you don't end up co sleeping it had a very good overview of different cultures and how they do mother-child relationships. It covers breastfeeding and natural parenting and gave me confidence to ditch the manuals :-)

I loved the Baby Whisperer I found it really sensible and still baby focused.

I loved 'What mothers do' and 'The wonder weeks'.

I think in general, reading these books is a waste of time, because every baby is different, and you'll soon get to know your baby and how to respond to their needs. However, what to expect the first year was useful as it seemed to cover all the concerns that came up for me - like the time my baby vomited blood (shock) and I was ready to rush to a&e, and the book sensibly told me it was probably blood from my cracked (but not obviously bleeding) nipples. This stopped my panic!

Hop down to your local library - mine has loads of parenting books and they're free.

I actually liked Supernanny's book. She spells out everything you probably already know in black and white. Suddenly you realise it's all common sense - you just have to get to know your baby. She doesn't have strict routines, just guides for the number of naps and feeds to expect.

'Wonder Weeks' - not so much about the details of caring for your baby but more about coping with, and helping your baby to navigate, developmental leaps. Good for suggesting games etc to help your baby's development.

The womanly art of breastfeeding and any baby books by Dr Sears are must haves.

Definitely 'what mothers do' by Naomi Stadlen. I read it when I was about 30 wks pregnant and none of it made all that much sense at the time but in that initial post-baby haze it was lovely to have been armed with the knowledge that how I was feeling was perfectly normal. We also bought the Miriam Stoppard one mentioned earlier (sorry forget the title) as we wanted a baby care book and although we've barely looked in there it was a comfort to have and it had good pics in so it was all nice and simple. Congratulations!

I read Baby Secrets by Jo Tantum for my 2nd baby and it was an excellent source of info for feeding, routines, etc which I needed as only had 18months between my children. Several of my friends and one of my sister's since borrowed the book and it is soon to be passed to my littlest sister who is expecting in May. Worth a look.

I read this and found it really helpful

If in doubt 'boob' esp for the first few weeks