FTM- books?

lovelifewife · April 2016

Any recommendations for books to read for a FTM? I've been so exhausted I feel like the most uninformed pregnant person..(I'm really not- in the medical field so know some info but think I need more). What should I be reading?

Katemr1146 · April 2016

Baby books or childbirth? I liked some of the sections in Ina Mays guide to Childbirth. I'm not super crunchy so some of it I skipped over, but the birth stories are fun to read, and I loved most of the birth essentials chapters. Just a different way to think about childbirth vs what we've experienced in the doctors office and from the media.

lovelifewife · April 2016

@Katemr1146 Thanks for the recommendation!.. I'm thinking anything regarding pregnancy, childbirth, parenting an infant.. all of the information I can get!

DunkinDecaf · April 2016

Dr Dan's Last Word on Babies and Other Humans. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's the best. I'm rereading it now. It covers pregnancy through childbirth, and the baby's first year. It's good, sane advice and it's also kinda funny!

lin0442 · April 2016

I'm really liking my copy of Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy. It's very medically sound and not alarmist, and it's easy to pick up, read a bit, and set down in between my seemingly never ending naps. There aren't many anecdotes, but it gives really down to earth advice as to when you need to contact your provider and what to expect each week.

Chcaggie1 · April 2016

I really enjoyed the womanly art of breastfeeding. And if you use/love devotionals I highly recommend "Waiting in Wonder: Growing in Faith While You're Expecting" to every expecting mama!

lovelifewife · April 2016

Thank you ladies for the suggestions!
@Chcaggie1 thanks for the devotional recommendation- I've been looking for a new devotional to start, since I finished one recently!

kms456 · April 2016

So I'm more of a humor book kind of girl and recommend Pregnancy Sucks: What to do when your miracle makes you miserable. Very funny and easy to get through. There is also a version for the Dad's that my DH found hysterical and informative.

mrsmoose5 · April 2016

For preparing for raising a baby/child: The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Whole-Brain Child

MollySm · April 2016

I really loved Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. There are tons of other sleep books out there. Sleep was one of the biggest difficulties for most people on my BMB with my first child, and bringing a baby home with ideas of what we thought about things really helped H and I. No one had the energy to read anything after being at home with a newborn for awhile.

Thewizardofrhythm · April 2016

I second @mollysm rec for healthy sleep habits. You need to have a sleep game plan for when abby comes home. Hopefully, you will have a sleeper. But if not, you will be too tired at that point to formulate a plan. Make one before. For birth, I like Ina May a lot for the positive attention it gives unmedicated birth but there needs to be a chapter in there that says whatever birth ends of being yours is the right one. No guilt or sense of failure. Where I got the most useful information for birth was from my childbirth education class. It was an involved class once a week for 3 hours for 8 weeks. H and I loved it so much. The nursing mother's companion is essential if you plan to breastfeed. Honestly, I never found a pregnancy book I loved. I read the whole pregnancy handbook. Info was good but its disorganized. What to expect is not very accurate or informative but its simple or organized well. I have not read, but heard great things about expecting better.

MrsBigTime · April 2016

I read that stupid Jenny McCarthy one and don't recommend it. It was super dumb. I do recommend Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, especially if you are considering a natural birth.

Chcaggie1 · April 2016

MollySm said:

I really loved Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. There are tons of other sleep books out there. Sleep was one of the biggest difficulties for most people on my BMB with my first child, and bringing a baby home with ideas of what we thought about things really helped H and I. No one had the energy to read anything after being at home with a newborn for awhile.

This! I researched EVERYTHING in detail with my first pregnancy except SLEEP! and guess what?? we did not get a good sleeper :-/ At 14 months he still doesn't sleep through the night, but we have come a really really long way. I heard so many ppl talk about sleep deprivation I just assumed it was what it was and we would "sleep train" once he was older IF we needed to. Well, along the way we developed some bad habits. Lets just say researching good sleep habits we can start from day 1, is at the very top of my priority list this time!

If anyone has a good sleep book that also focuses on sleeping habits of breastfeeding babies, I would love to hear about. Last time I was very concerned about encouraging long stretches of sleep b/c I didn't want my supply to be impacted. The little bit I did read didn't address how to deal with breastfeeding and good sleep. They referenced scheduled feeding which we did not do, we did on demand feeding.

shevaCC · April 2016

I'm copying and pasting from a Seattle area board I've been on for a long time. This is our stickied "favorite books and other resources" post.

In addition to the below, for breastfeeding I really found The Nursing Mother's Companion useful.

For fun, I enjoyed How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm: And Other Adventures in Parenting. I also enjoyed Bringing up Bebe.

Books
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth: amzn.com/0553381156
Penny Simkin's Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: amzn.com/143917511X
Hypnobirthing: amzn.com/0757302661
The Birth Partner: amzn.com/1558323570
Mayo Clinic Guide to a healthy pregnancy (this is a week by week book): www.amazon.com/Mayo-Clinic-Guide-Healthy-Pregnancy/dp/1561487171/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364405595&sr=1-1&keywords=mayo+clinic+guide+to+a+healthy+pregnancy
Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds: www.amazon.com/Natural-Hospital-Birth-Best-Worlds/dp/1558327185/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364405655&sr=1-1&keywords=hospital+birth

And Baby Makes Three: amzn.com/140009738X

Baby's First Year: amzn.com/0553593005
Baby 411: amzn.com/1889392413
The Wonder Weeks: amzn.com/9079208043

Websites
Pregnancy/Labor
Penny Simkin wrote the (literal) book on labor and delivery. And she lives in Seattle. And she teaches labor and delivery classes. www.pennysimkin.com/

Breastfeeding
www.kellymom.com/

Cloth Diapering Info
allaboutclothdiapers.com/
www.greenmountaindiapers.com/

Car Seats
www.thecarseatlady.com/
www.nhtsa.gov/cps/cpsfitting/ak/map/FindFitting.cfm?q_State=&q_Zip=98117 (Of note, the Car Seat Lady will go to your house. All of these (as far as I know of) are free. But the Car Seat Lady thinks it's nice to be tipped, just fyi)

Mommy Blogs/General Information
www.lucieslist.com (particularly the postpartum entry: www.lucieslist.com/the-postpartum-experience/ as well as her registry check list)
www.hellobee.com
Alpha Parent's Timeline of a Breastfed Baby: www.thealphaparent.com/2011/12/timeline-of-breastfed-baby.html
Alpha Parent's Sleep Timeline: www.thealphaparent.com/2013/01/timeline-of-baby-and-toddler-sleep.html
www.thewonderweeks.com/ - I've heard the phone app is more useful than the book fwiw.

Child Care
www.care.com

Eating/Food
wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/index.htm

Thewizardofrhythm · April 2016

@Chcaggie1 Oh mama I feel your pain. I'm assuming your question regarding breastfeeding and sleep to mean this: a sleep plan that takes into consideration the notion that breastfed babies eat more frequently. Tell me if I'm wrong. But if not...
I breast fed my son while sleep training. I fed on demand all the time including all night until 4 months. At that point my son went through an awful sleep regression and woke up every 45min for weeks and weeks. It was unbearable and H and I decided to sleep train at that point. We did CIO and it worked great. He went from waking 12 times a night to two, which we stuck with until he was 10/11 months old and then did the water method (which i've mentioned in other posts). My feeling was that the twice a night wakings were for hunger and I fed then. He still was fed on demand all day and actually, all night, because he was only waking twice to "demand" a feeding. I'll give you my personal (and my pediatrician's) opinion but you may disagree. I think the idea that breast fed babies need to eat all night just perpetuates the damaging idea that mothers who breastfeed are beholden to their children's needs above their own to the point of their detriment. Sleep is essential. for all. Just because your breastfed baby wakes in the middle of the night doesn't mean that he/she is hungry or needs to eat. There is a lot of information out there that encourages breastfeeding women not to sleep train because it contradicts with breastfeeding. That is garbage. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child speaks to breastfeeding mothers and definitely takes it into consideration. I really liked that book. But i also think that most sleep training books are applicable to breastfeeding relationships. But it requires dispelling the idea that you must breastfeed on demand all night in order to properly nourish your breastfed baby. And whether you are comfortable with that is up to you.

Chcaggie1 · April 2016

Thewizardofrhythm that is exactly what I meant by my question! Thank you so much. that's super helpful and I will definitely be reading Healthy Sleep Habits before this lo arrives. Theres so much info out there that will make you go crazy questioning yourself. I feel Iike this time (being a second time mom) I will be able to loosen up a bit and not be so "rigid" on trying to follow every tiny rule.

Katemr1146 · April 2016

I read Jenny McCarthys book too and I DO recommend it for a light funny read. Although I'm not a fan of hers (she lives in my town and everyone around here follows here around) her honesty about the graphic side of pregnancy no one talks about was funny and relatable.

Hedgessm · April 2016

I cannot recommend Happiest Baby on the Block enough. For pre-birth, I also liked Ina May and Expecting Better by Emily Oster. Honestly, and infant books you're interested in, read them now. You'll be tired and already panicked by the time they are here!

aquasocks · April 2016

Another big fan of Happiest Baby on the Block. It's a sleep book FYI. And they have a DVD that I hear is great because it's short, you can watch with your SO, and it shows exactly how babies loved to be swaddled and swayed!

lovelifewife · April 2016

Thank you for all of your wonderful suggestions. I'm looking these all up on Amazon!

They will definitely help me be informed about baby birthing, feeding, sleeping by the time this little one arrives!

stepamos · April 2016

I really liked Baby 411

Amyboxer · April 2016

I second Baby 411, they had a great, simple chapter on sleep and DS slept like a champ from 4 months on. They also have Expecting 411 and Toddler 411, I have them all!

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