Pregnancy and baby books

jayandaplus · January 2017

I looked back a few pages and didn't see any threads dedicated to this, so I apologize if it's a repeat.

What are your pregnancy book recommendations?
What are your baby (first year) book recommendations (particularly STMs, what helped you in real life with your LO?)
Must haves? What was a waste?

chickyclg · January 2017

I really liked The Happiest Baby on the Block.

https://www.amazon.com/Happiest-Baby-Block-Harvey-Karp/dp/0553381466/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1484690311&sr=8-3&keywords=happiest+baby+on+the+block

SKZW · January 2017

As a FTM, I was given a copy of WTEWYE, What to Expect When You're Expecting, and while I don't necessarily recommend it strongly and lovingly, it's a helpful book to dip into for specific Q&As. The downside is that it answers every single possible question you can think of, and thensome, and presents every possible medical issue and symptom you can run into. I initially sat down with it and cozied up and read a few chapters straight through and promptly freaked out for a few days. So, that's my take on that one: Read it with a handful of salt.

I also read Happiest Baby on the Block looking for soothing solutions during a particular rough few weeks, and it offers helpful tips for swaddling and calming baby, as well as Baby Bargains, which is all about which high and low items to buy, for all things baby. Happy to have read those!

nda_roxybabe · January 2017

You mean like advice type books, not journals, yea?

jayandaplus · January 2017

@nda_roxybabe Yes, advice type books. Or "style" type books. I'm not a parent yet, so I keep wanting to know what I don't know. What methods are there that I don't know about? What are the options (i.e. sleep training, baby led weaning)?

Thank you @SKZW and @chickyclg .

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot · January 2017

I think Baby 411 was ok. I also recall the Jenny McCarthy books being good for a laugh, but I can't get past her brand of crazy. The Shit No One Tells You was good. I highly recommend watching the Happiest Baby on The Block video your first night home from the hospital.

pshaortao · January 2017

Ive heard good things about happiest baby on the block though we never read it.

We did check this book out from the library before starting baby led weaning and read maybe the first half to help us prepare.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/161519021X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484692449&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=baby+led+weaning&dpPl=1&dpID=51shLgmcHHL&ref=plSrch

The wonder week book is nice too in term of understanding whats going on with the kid when they go through a developmental leap. I only checked out a few chapters and pretty much used the app. The app was enough for me.

WombThereItIs · January 2017

Someone gave me the Dr. Sears book which was only useful in teaching me I am not an attachment parent person and I love vaccinations.

Overall I wasn't into books the first time until I had a shitty sleeper. Ferber and sleep blogs were my saving grace. Also the kellymom website for my millions of nursing questions.

Squirtgun · January 2017

For sleep, I like healthy sleep habits happy baby. I don't 100% agree with all of it, but it goes into detail for each age and lots of different sleep problems, which I found super helpful.

If you have a Publix near you, sign up for the publix baby club! They send you a free book of health and development for the first 5years of life. (I haven't read it through, more use it as a reference book.)

I don't honestly like a lot of baby development books, mainly because they tend to 1. Assume baby is at the top of every category with development. And 2. Don't really give any reference for what is concerning as far as development. So, unless your kid is super wonder baby, there will be a lot of times where the book worries you more than anything else! So, use them as a reference for the order of stages of development, but trust your pediatrician over the book for the actual age ranges that are normal development.

And and as long as we're talking about books- if you have a Dolly Parton Imagination Library in your county, take advantage!! Register your baby as soon as they are born!! You get a free book in the mail every month until your kid's 5th birthday! And they are good books, too. (It's not just in the US any more, I know there are many locations doing it in the UK, but I'm not sure of all the countries.)

kns1988 · January 2017

I'm currently reading It's a Boy: Your Son's Development from Birth to Eighteen by Michael Thompson, who is a child psychologist that's written a few books about boys. His whole thing is that humans are largely the same, but there are some gender differences in the way boys and girls develop, learn, and express emotions (whether biological or societal) that are important to understanding them.

One of the things I've taken away from it so far is that society will put expectations on kids (boys are rambunctious, girls are sweet, that kind of BS), and to actively push against that. I've always pushed against it for girls, but I never thought too much about how it impacts boys.

KMD1106 · January 2017

What are your pregnancy book recommendations?
I liked The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy. It's a easy, humorous, helpful read.

What are your baby (first year) book recommendations (particularly STMs, what helped you in real life with your LO?)

We watched The Happiest Baby on the Block video and it was helpful. We'll probably watch it again before this one is born.

The Wonder Weeks app was helpful in explaining what kind of development things were happening at a certain time.

Must haves? What was a waste?
What to Expect...was a waste for me. Anything in there I could ask my doctor about or find the answer online.

n&a0630 · January 2017

Looks like I need to find The Happiest Baby on the Block!!

I've been reading What to Expect When You're Expecting and Your Pregnancy Week by Week. Oh and Chicken Soup for the Expectant Mother's Soul. :-) I have an older edition but the stories are still great.

I also have Dr. Oz's giant pregnancy book (You: Having a Baby or something like that?) but I don't refer to it that much.

n&a0630 · January 2017

And I know you didn't ask for cookbooks, but I'm enjoying The Well-Rounded Pregnancy Cookbook.

slowmo · January 2017

For pregnancy, I loved Expecting Better. Learning about the research behind the dos and don'ts of pregnancy helped me make more informed choices for myself and cut down on some unnecessary stress.
For baby: The Happy Sleeper was the gentle push I needed to sleep train my then 7-month-old when I thought I was literally going insane with lack of sleep.

BeachMommy2B · January 2017

I know you mentioned advice books, but I have to throw this one out there. It's hilarious! I love reading it during my 1st pregnancy. It's written from the perspective of the baby!

What to Expect When You're Expected: A Fetus' Guide to the First Year
https://www.amazon.com/What-Expect-When-Youre-Expected/dp/0385526474

SKZW · January 2017

@BeachMommy2B: (that link has too many https in it to work, want to edit it?) This is great! I just looked at this book's description, and had to share!

Product Description

This new second edition is filled with the latest, most accurate wombhood information, including comforting answers to hundreds of questions, such as

• “My mother just took a sip of white wine. Am I going to end up looking like some Chernobyl baby now?”
• “So far Mommy is spending most of her pregnancy in a state of stress, anxiety, and depression. Which one should she focus on?”
• “I’m kicking as hard as I can, but Mom says it feels like ‘butterflies fluttering.’ Am I doing something wrong?”
• “Why do my parents blast Mozart at me every night right when I’m trying to sleep?!?”
• “To the nearest hundred, how many people should Mommy invite to my birth?”

LMAO

Kipperoo · January 2017

Another vote for Happiest Baby on the Block! We just watched the video, which I think is under an hour. It hits all the important points, if you don't want to read the whole book.

And I second the recommendation for Expecting Better--really great book to help ease your mind during pregnancy.

BeachMommy2B · January 2017

@SKZW thanks I didn't even notice that. link should be good to go now!

laurapalmier · January 2017

For standard all-encompassing pregnancy books, my favourite has been the Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy. My mom got WTEWYE for me but I really didn't enjoy the writing style and found all the "for dad" sections kind of assuming that fathers aren't invested in the pregnancy at all/recommending them to do bare minimum stuff.

I've also been reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and another book, Natural Birth in a Hospital and while sometimes I find they make some unfortunate generalizations about doctors and hospital, both have really made me feel capable of childbirth, more informed about natural childbirth and able to make some decisions I had no clue about before.

Finally, What to Eat When You're Pregnant and The First Forty Days have been good for food/nutrition info. I really liked What to Eat When You're Pregnant because the chapters go week by week and explain a nutrient that might be most crucial during that time and recommend a single food to focus on that week, as well as give you some recipes to try. Makes trying to think of dinners a bit less daunting.

Expecting Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding to arrive in the mail today so can update about that book soon

sorry for ultra long post, my ob is so far 30 minutes late

sls · January 2017

I've posted this elsewhere, so this is copy/paste... I think I still agree with myself, though. ;-) The What to Expect book was fine, but I found it just as useful to talk on the baby boards with other women in my birth group. I mean 90% of the time, whatever your symptoms are, are normal for you anyway. The scary stuff at the end of the book was good to read because then you know what's a problem, but it's scary. So.

My recs:

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin - I was one of those women afraid of childbirth. This calmed me down and got me looking forward (if somewhat nervously) to labor and delivery. This is the only book I'd say is mandatory reading if you're not, like, a midwife/doula already.

The Wonder Weeks by Hetty Vanderijt - Repetitive but super helpful in specific new skills to watch for. You could probably get away with getting just the app of the same name--I got both. And the timing was pretty accurate as to when to expect the brain "leap" (which results in fussy/grumpy/clinginess).

(Not a book, but...) https://purplecrying.info/ - Will keep you sane when purple crying peaks around 3-4 months old.

The Sleep Sense Program by Dana Obleman - This is NO CRY sleep training. I followed it to the letter starting at 10 weeks old, enforced it consistently, and my 2yo has never had any problems with sleep that last longer than a few weeks--to which we continuously applied the method (except when sick/teething). I'm planning on co-sleeping until 3-4 months this time, but then we're doing this again, assuming we don't go insane with twins.

Oh Crap! Potty Training by Jamie Glowacki - Um, we're still working on this, but the method makes sense to me.

chailife34 · January 2017

I second Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, funny and quick read.

I didn't have a lot of money to spend on books my first pregnancy so I went to the bookstore for a while and skimmed through a lot of the titles suggested here.

Here's a few others:
- Zero to Five: 70 Essential Parenting Tips Based on Science (and What I’ve Learned So Far)
- How to Behave so your children will too
- Babywise

CherryBananas · January 2017

Thank you do much for all the book recommendations! I already have Ina May's Guide to Childbirth which I thought was great, and Happiest Baby on the Block. Now I have a few more I can go hunt down.

onebadmotha · January 2017

My friend lent my husband and I a huge stack of pregnancy/baby books when I was pregnant with my son. While I admittedly did not read all (or most), I did enjoy Happiest Baby on the Block.

My husband loved Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads and read it cover to cover (laughing a good deal).

Maybe this belongs in the UO thread, but I really did not like Ina May's Guide to Childbirth at all. It was way too granola for my taste, and I did not like the anti-obstetrics bias that she could not seem to drop. I wanted to go med free with my son for as long as I could, but went into the process knowing that I had no idea what labor was going to be like, so was open to changing my mind. I felt like the book was geared towards scaring people away from medical intervention, which is not an angle I agree with at all. Also, some of the stories were super weird and made me roll my eyes. But maybe that's just me being way too cynical.

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot · January 2017

kayemjay2 said:

My friend lent my husband and I a huge stack of pregnancy/baby books when I was pregnant with my son. While I admittedly did not read all (or most), I did enjoy Happiest Baby on the Block.

My husband loved Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads and read it cover to cover (laughing a good deal).

Maybe this belongs in the UO thread, but I really did not like Ina May's Guide to Childbirth at all. It was way too granola for my taste, and I did not like the anti-obstetrics bias that she could not seem to drop. I wanted to go med free with my son for as long as I could, but went into the process knowing that I had no idea what labor was going to be like, so was open to changing my mind. I felt like the book was geared towards scaring people away from medical intervention, which is not an angle I agree with at all. Also, some of the stories were super weird and made me roll my eyes. But maybe that's just me being way too cynical.

yes! Far too much woo in that one.

sls · January 2017

Re: Ina May's - I get that perspective, but I feel like our whole culture is built around deriding anything but medicine as "woo / too granola." It was nice, for me, anyway, to have an alternate viewpoint. I fundamentally agree with her premise -- that doctor treat childbirth as a medical event -- but it isn't. It's a natural, albeit rare, bodily process. It can turn into a medical event, but in what percent of cases? Not the majority.

Some of the stories were a bit out there, I totally agree there. I have met one woman my entire life that claimed childbirth felt like "a big wave crashing over her" instead of pain. It's great that Ina May found that woman to write about in her book, but let's get real here.

So, yeah, grain of salt. And I would never feel comfortable giving birth at home or in a birth center. Maybe if I was 20 and svelte and still thought I was invincible.

jayandaplus · January 2017

Haha, I had to read Ina May in nursing school and hated it. I think I'll get it back out and reread it now that I'm crunchier and having a birth center birth.

I know she comes on strong, I agree. But I think the take away can be useful, especially if you're doing a home birth/birth center birth.

Thank you for all the suggestions! I just bought like 8 books on Amazon. Overkill? Nah! I can't wait!

Kipperoo · January 2017

I was so close to buying the Ina May book because I feel like I haven't really done any pregnancy related reading this pregnancy, but I'm glad I read through the comments. To each their own, but I have a feeling my thoughts would mirror @kayemjay2 and @NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot, so I'll save myself the time!

Has anyone (especially those with two + kids) read Siblings Without Rivalry? I'm thinking I need to read some kind of book about how to help my toddler deal with this transition...

BabyMC517 · January 2017

I haven't read much for this pregnancy like I probably should being a FTM. H has read a couple of books and tends to tell me everything! I do have What to Expect When You're Expecting and The Shit No One Tells you on audio, but haven't started them yet. So, I'm loving the input from everyone! I'm trying to find the Happiest Baby on the Block video, but I keep finding clips and not one that looks like it is an hour long...anyone want to post the link??

jayandaplus · January 2017

@BabyMC517 You have to purchase it as a DVD. Here's the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Happiest-Baby-Block-Crying-Longer/dp/B0006J021C/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1485189973&sr=1-2&keywords=happiest+baby+on+the+block

BabyMC517 · January 2017

Gotcha! Thanks, @jayandaplus ! I must have missed that when I looked up the book on amazon

laurapalmier · January 2017

This is not a book but there's a documentary on the Canadian side of Netflix called "the Beginning of Life" and I thought it was good! It basically talks about how children develop and what is really important in the end (not fancy toys and baby einstein). And the ways that some cultures/countries fail to fully recognize raising a child as the ultra valuable job that it is. I definitely plan to watch it again closer to my due date

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