Books?

[bunhead34]

Hello,
I'm 14 weeks pregnant with my first. I literally know next to nothing about babies - does anyone have any book recommendations that will give me everything I need to know?

For example, I want to breast feed, but I would also like to express so DH can feed the baby sometimes too. Is that even a thing? Is it confusing for baby to go from boob to bottle to boob?
There are many other questions 🙈 help!

As a starting point Clemmie Hooper's guide book is a lovely start. Non judgemental overview.

A lot of people breastfeed and then express one bottle for their partner to feed. But they say only to express when breastfeeding has been established.

I found First Time Parent really good and now reading Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

I've also followed lots of midwives and doctors and feeding specialists on Instagram for bitesized bits of info

I've found Positive Birth Book good, although a bit crunchy and focused on natural birth for my tastes. I wish natural birth and c-sections were presented neutrally!
I recommend doing a class like NCT for practical advice and joining La Leche League on Facebook for practical advice on breastfeeding. My local one does zoom drop ins once a week which you can join eventually.
I found Your New Pregnancy Bible: The Experts' Guide to Pregnancy and Early Parenthood quite comprehensive and netural

I really like What to Expect When You are Expecting.

Check out the Helpful Guide to a Happy Baby by Fiona Cooke. She’s a maternity nurse and so it’s just 0-3 months but really down to earth and practical - pro breastfeeding but loads of tips on expressing and mixed feeds too, for instance (which I guess you might expect as a maternity nurse). It’s short and sensible, anyway.

Thanks for the suggestions! I will check them out xx

For the dad... DH and I both liked the Commando Dad book! Some sad books are patronising and joky, but we thought that one got the tone just right (I also found it useful!)

The womanly art of breastfeeding by la Leche league is lovely. You can also go along to la Leche groups and chat to mums before you give birth.

I was just coming on to say the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding! If you really want to get prepared for breastfeeding, OP, that is the book.

This just arrived from Amazon today. It's huge! But seems really informative.

Best book by far was your baby week by week. Useful, practical information when you need it

Oh I also meant to say for down the line when Labour is looming, there’s a lovely book called ‘stand and deliver: and other great ways to give birth’, or something like that . Full of birth stories that are really positive and empowering. Who doesn’t love a good birth story?!

My daughter has just had a baby. I got her a few including the Self care for new mums book and the lets talk about the first year of parenting one. It's been a while since I had babies but she is enjoying them. I think both cover breastfeeding from what I saw, the second more so though.

Thanks for this tread OP and PP’s, very useful! I know have a couple of books on order :)