Best baby book for first time parents..

[thedrunkenduck]

Any recommendations??

None.

Use mumsnet!

What mothers do when it looks like nothing at all. It's not advice book but helped me so much with how I felt as a mother.

I really love Anne Lamott's 'Operating Instructions'. It's not a guide manual for parents, it's an autobiography of her first year as a single mother. Really funny and made me feel sane. Don't let the thing about her having faith in God put you off (if that would put you off)- it's not at all preachy.

www.amazon.co.uk/Operating-Instructions-Ballantine-Readers-Circle/dp/044990928X/ref=la_B0034PEWO8_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395829599&sr=1-6

(Also doesn't seem to be in print any more but still worth getting second hand in my opinion)

What to expect when you're expecting.

Its divided into sections for each week of your pregnancy, what to expect, physical and emotional changes, whats normal etc.

There are also sections on trying to conceive, labour and childbirth, postnatal, dads section, miscarriage/stillbirth support.

I found it so useful, and just read the section relevant to me each week so no info overload!

i found Rachel Waddilove's book good as long as you apply it loosely.

it works on the idea of a structured day. But she is very clear that the routine has to be flexible and appropriate for the family. Its been misrepresented generally, I find, with some people saying it's too rigid. But she herself is clear that it has to work for the family itself and be flexible.

Others prefer a baby-centred approach which is probably do-able for a first baby, though how anyone manages that with say 3 I have no idea.

Mumsnet

This
www.amazon.co.uk/Baby-Book-Revised-Everything-Parenting/dp/0316198269/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395866878&sr=1-1&keywords=the+baby+book

Your social baby:)

Yehudi Gordon's Birth and Beyond for something a bit different to the standard kind of book. Probably not to everyone's taste though. I borrowed it from the library.