Book recommendations

[london2cardiff]

I am expecting my first child in October. I am pretty clueless regarding parenting and was wondering if anyone could recommend any books with tips or just general advice. I have some pregnancy apps but think some books would be more detailed.
Thanks

Following as I'm about to enter my third trimester and my books only cover the pregnancy and birth parts!

Also, if you're looking for pregnancy books, I'd highly recommend What to Expect When You're Expecting; it's very text-heavy and dense so not for everyone, but it's incredibly informative. I also have How to Grow a Baby as I'd read all the hype, but I don't think it's very useful as it's mostly anecdotal tips on stuff. It's probably good if you're after a broad overview of pregnancy in an upbeat tone but it doesn't actually have all that much info in it and the chapters are pretty brief.

I just finished “how to grow a baby and push it out” I would definitely not recommend it. The author has some weirdly sexist views about the role of men and women in pregnancy. It’s also full of really useless advice like “don’t forget to prompt your husband to buy you a gift for having a baby” and information about how good her tan was when she was pregnant. It doesn’t actually have any real information in it.

I haven’t read it myself yet but I’ve heard good things about “give birth like a feminist”

I’ve used what to expect when you’re expecting by heidi murkoff. It cost me £16 in water stones, this is my first and it’s so informative it even has little grey boxes with info for the dads too 😊

Following! I'm due November with my first and am clueless about everything 🤷‍♀️

What to expect when your expecting is a must buy and what to expect in the first year covers after babies born. Pretty much what you'd learn at atenatal classes.

The little book of self care for after birth- tips for healing after c-sections, vbirth, etc.

The positive birth book for your birth plan or no birth plan like me and just want to know what your options are.

Xxx

I read Bumpology and Expecting Better, both of which I thought were good reads. I wish I had bought books on what to do with an actual baby though as once she was born I was clueless.

I found the Baby Sleep Guide by Stephanie Modell excellent. It is a tiny little book quick to read but her advice makes perfect sense to me. It is really rational and practical, and seems to be a sensible approach to take re sleep and to help your baby establish good sleep habits.

Secondly, I would definitely recommend The Book You Wish You Parents Had Read by Philippa Perry. I think all adults should read this book, not just expecting parents. My DH is currently reading it and has got so much out of it and it has prompted some really helpful conversations about our parenting styles.

Finally, I too saw the hype about the "What to Expect..." book, but decided not to buy it based on snippets I saw on Amazon and some of the reviews. It is also American and so a lot of the advice is inapplicable to the UK and many of the reviews on Amazon say it is very outdated now. Just my opinion.

Finally finally I would recommend doing an NCT course with your partner if you have one - I did mine online due to Covid and it was really good - well worth the £.

I would recommend: Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy. It took away a lot of misplaced worry and guilt I had at the start of what is my first pregnancy

Is recommend "the wonder weeks" I'm buying the latest edition for this baby as I loved it for my 1st son

It's different in that it focuses on babies development i.e. what skills they pick up, what behaviours they may display when fussy, games you can play with them and what toys are suitable. You can put in photos and there's also tick boxes so you can see what your baby was doing at those weeks. It was a great insight into seeing babies preferences e.g. whether more into exploring things physically or music and it was lovely to look back on when things were hard or I was wondering how baby was doing.

It's based on the science that at certain weeks e.g 5, 8 and 12 weeks and so forth, generally all babies even the most chilled out ones will get "fussier" as they're about to jump into a new stage of development.

Another note on What to Expect... to make sure you buy the UK edition. Amazon unhelpfully lists both US and UK editions of most books without any clear indication of which edition you’re buying (a lot of cookbooks suffer bad reviews with complaints of US measures because of this). The UK edition was last updated in 2008 but I haven’t found anything that contradicts other more updated advice I’ve read (though I’ve only read up to month 7 so far).

Thanks a lot everyone, very helpful! I'll have a look at all the recommendations!