Best baby book for first time mum to be?

[Emmaemmaemmaemma]

Hi Ladies!

I’m currently 10+5 and looking for a nice book to read to teach me about pregnancy and maybe when the baby Is here?

Any recommendations please xxx

The Positive Birth Book: A New Approach to Pregnancy, Birth and the Early Weeks www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1780664303/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_lUQBDb35J4NWY?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

For the pregnancy part I loved What To Expect When You're Expecting. Also if you're planning on breastfeeding definitely The Womanly Art Of Breastfeeding.

How to Grow a Baby and Push It Out was my favourite. Written by a midwife/social media type.

I hated WTEWYE! It felt so dated and anti-feminist to me.

Expecting Better is good for pregnancy, myths etc - like "Freakonomics" for pregnancy!

You could try the K Graves Hypnobirthing book if you're curious about that - I've found it interesting and calming my childbirth nerves!

I did get given a very funny one when pregnant (17 years ago now). Can't remember the name but it was more a giggle than proper advice. The best advice I got was when my baby was 3 weeks old. I met a work colleague and she said "You know the baby books? Well the baby hasn't read them". I remembered that and it kept me sane

Hi Op. I found Holly Willoughby's 'Truly Happy Baby' really helpful. Easy to read and covered lots of topics :)

Penelope Leach Your Baby And Child is lovely. Guide to ages and stages that helps you understand what's going on inside your child, with gentle and supportive suggestions that are sympathetic to both the baby's and parents' needs.

Other books can be good for specific issues, but I have reread this with all of our 4 DCs, I find it really helpful and grounding.

The Penelope Leach book is useful as it goes through more than the baby stage. It’s an investment for the toddler years and beyond!

I personally focused on what to do when the baby arrived and the Baby Whisperer was brilliant for me.

I have just read Phillippa Perry's book "The Book You Wish Your Parents had Read" and I wish it had been out when I was pregnant, its a fascinating insight into parenting.

Pregnancy is such a short period, parenting takes a lifetime, get a head start before the baby arrives!

Emily Oster's books - Expecting Better and Cribsheet. Well researched, well presented and has all the data etc she uses so you can do further reading.

100% agree the book you need is 'the positive birth book' . Close second is expecting better.

Love Penelope Leach as well. Glad to see she is still recommended!
I love her advice to crouch down and actually see what your child can see at the same level.

Emily Atkins, First Time Parent

I second (fourth? Fifth?) the Penelope Leach book.

Not a pregnancy book, but for infancy and childhood I'd recommend The Whole Brain Child by Dan Siegel and Tara Payne. Grounded in science and really practical