Books for dad-to-be?

[HolidaysQueen]

Hi everyone -
I'm 5 weeks pg and it's Dh's birthday in about 3 weeks time. The book I have on pregnancy seems more geared towards me, and I wanted to get something for DH to read that covers things he might be dealing with - how to deal with me when I'm feeling grumpy/sick/weepy etc., what he can do to help etc., but also answer questions he may have such as should he come to my dr/mw appointments, what labour is like from a bloke's perspective, what a dad should do when baby is born etc.
I think a 'how to manual' rather than writing on individual's experiences of fatherhood is probably better, although something amusing would probably go down well.
Any thoughts? I looked on Amazon but it's very difficult to see which is the best
Thank you!!!
HQ

there is one called 'so you're going to be a dad' by pete downey which is quite fun. i bought that for dh when i ws preg.

Jeff Green's The A-Z Of Having a Baby isn't at all useful, but it is very funny. Just in case you wanted one serious and one silly book.

I bought "From Humor to Hormones: A Man's Guide to a Pregnant Wife and a New Life" for my DH. Its very americanised and seems to concentrate on home birth for a chapter or two but on the whole its really good!

I got it on amazon for about £4.50 plus P+P

HTH

PLP xxx

I bought "The blokes guide to pregnancy" by Jon Smith for dp. He still hasn't read it but I have. It seems quite funny and talks about his experiences on pregnancy but also other fathers he's interviewed. Gives the whole what to expect and how to deal with waterworks/ moodswings/ sex drive/ labour etc. Also gives good advice ie start getting the money in order/ crack on with the diy/ not to go out drinking every weekend. (really wish dp would read it because he has done none of the above!!)

Thanks everyone for your suggestions - there are so many on Amazon and I didn't know where to start, so it's fab to get recommendations.
I think I'll take the list you've given me to Waterstones and see which I think is most like something he'd read.
HQ xx

My DH loves the Haynes baby manual - written like a car manual. I got mine off ebay as I'm not sure it is in print at the moment. It has some class tips in it, like:

Do NOT say: "you used to say that daytime TV was for losers, so why do you watch it all day?"

Do say: "it's so lovely that you can relax when the baby is asleep".

You're Pregnant Too mate is funny. Can't remember who it is by tho.

I got "fatherhood - the truth" for dh and mostly we both got irritated by it - some bits are really useful and interesting but you have to wade through a fair amount of dodgy laddish jokes about how to spend as much time as poss down the pub avoiding the hormonal woman

The best book we had was the 'Rough Guide to Preg and Childbirth", not specifically for men, but it is broken down week by week, and was funny and informative. we used to read each chapter together, in bed at the start of each week. and it was impressive how often the thing she wrote about were happening to us.. anyway, I think it really helped dh understand what was happening to me as well as preparing for birth... and started us off on conversations about all kinds of pg stuff i know we wouldn't have talked about otherwise.

Have just bought "Blokes Guide to Pregnancy" from Amazon. Hopefully it'll turn up tomorrow!

I have heard from a bunch of recent fathers that a book called 'From Here to Paternity' is very good. Haven't read it myself tho, and my DH isn't much of a reader ;)

My DH liked "he's having a baby" by Jack O'Sullivan. It strikes a nice balance as it is pretty broad brush but does assume that dad is a. excited, b. looking forward to being involved and c. going to love being a father. It is written in a slightly magazine style which is great for DH, who isn't a big reader. It doesn't really tackle birth itself though and my DH has supplimented it with odd chapters from some of my books.

I found shopping for this really hard as so many of these books seem to start off assuming that the man involved is not a willing volunteer and that he really just wants to go to the pub without being bothered by wife or baby - which I found really annoying.

I had a quick look at You're Pregnant Too Mate on Amazon and it gives you a few pages from the beginning to give you a sort of taster of what it's like. I have to say i found it quite negative and almost like the woman being pregnant was a PITA! I thought it was very inappropriate for my DP as he's as excited as i am!

Another vote for Haynes here - it's the only baby book my DH has picked up

Hugs,
Artoo.

Dh liked You're Pregnant Too Mate. I thought it was quite good - though it's been years since I read it!

I've heard of the Haynes manual, and it sounded good.

The absolute best book anyone bought my DH was 'My Dad' by andrew browne. He did not read any of the books on pregnancy or fatherhood anyone bought him but this one is to read to dd and he reads it every night. I know lots of others dads who do love this book too.