Product Spotlight Series: Books! 1/18

Re: Product Spotlight Series: Books! 1/18

• themadcamel member

  January 2019

  What book/s on pregnancy/motherhood/maternity/parenting do you own?

  • What to Expect-- the First Year and What to Expect When You're Expecting (most recent edition)
  • And Baby Makes Three (John Gottman)
  • Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child (John Gottman)
  • Dude, You're Gonna Be a Dad (John Pfeiffer)
  • The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be (Armin Brott)
    
  • One other that I don't remember the name of... lol
    

  What about that/the book/s drew you to it/them?

  • I went with the What to Expect books because those are the ones I'd already heard about. The two Gottman books look at pregnancy and parenting from a social emotional standpoint. And Baby Makes Three is about how to maintain emotional intimacy with your partner/spouse and is researched based from the Gottman Institute. I chose Gottman because DH and I spent some time with a couples therapist who used the Gottman approach.
    

  Any books on your radar that you don't own yet that you're hoping to get your hands on?

  • I'm curious if anyone owns or has used The Whole 9 Months (Jennifer Lang). It breaks down pregnancy nutrition week by week and includes recipes.
    

  
  

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• mommyshark13 member

  January 2019

  I have the latest edition of What to Expect When You're Expecting. I had an earlier edition with DS & DD. I also had previous editions of Baby Bargains and Baby 411. From the reviews of current editions, I do not plan on purchasing Baby Bargains again. I do plan on purchasing the new Baby 411 because I imagine a lot has changed. DH had The New Dad's Survival Guide. 
  
  I basically went with recommendations from friends on what to read.
  
  
  

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• janat1717 member

  January 2019

  Birthing From Within is a really great book if you are going for a natural birth. 
  
  The Dr. Sears Baby Book has everything you need for after baby and I love his non alarmist take on issues.

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• cmdesigner member

  January 2019

  These are my book recs from my very pregnant librarian friend:
  
  

  Pregnancy Books:

  Mayo Clinic Guide to a healthy Pregnancy

  The New Pregnancy Bible by Joanne Stone

  The Pregnancy Encyclopedia by Paula Amato

  Raising Green Baby by Alan Greene

  Active Woman's Guide to Pregnancy by Aneema Groenou

  Powering Through Pregnancy by Jane Simons

  
  

  Parenting Books

  How to Talk so Kids will Listen & Listen so Kids will Talk by Joanna Faber

  No Drama Discipline by Daniel Siegel

  Voice Lessons for Parents by Wendy Mogel
  

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• knottie0e5fbdf29cc9acc9 member

  January 2019

  
  Like a Mother -Angela Garbes 
  Expecting Better - Emily Oster
  
  Both are new books that review the data to help you make informed decisions about decisions during pregnancy while avoiding fluff and too much “should” or “should not” without real back up. 

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• ternsetc member

  January 2019

  The only pregnancy book I own is the Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy - I got that one because for over a decade their website has been the only place I ever look up symptoms when I feel crummy or get a weird pain because their site never freaks me out! So I trusted I'd feel the same way about that book. I thought it was a good overview.

  Though it's not a book (so a million apologies for mentioning it here - this thread made me think of it and I'm not sure where else to put it!), the Birth Hour podcast was something I started binging in the 3rd trimester when I was pregnant with my son. It's women telling their birth stories and there are all kinds of stories on it, and pretty good synopses on the episodes (you don't get blindsided by content you don't expect). Although there were some I skipped because they were too difficult for me to handle, I listened to so many different stories and credit it with giving me a much stronger grasp of the wide range of things that can happen in labor, which I was really glad I had during my delivery. I often got really emotional listening to it, and am not sure I'd recommend it to everyone, but it's something I plan to start listening to again once I'm farther along.
  

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• cmdesigner member

  January 2019

  @ternsetc I love the birth hour podcast. I listened to it before I ever got KU and I am a FTM. It is so informed with a wide variety of birth experiences. It's definitely not for everyone, though.

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• kagesstarshroom member

  January 2019

  @cmdesigner Thanks for the book list! I was coming back to this post to see if anyone had specific reccs, (see below) and your list had that green baby one so--helpful!
  
  @ternsetc Definitely going to check out that podcast!
  
  Anyone have any specifically feminist or environmentalist book reccs for books on parenting OR pregnancy?
  
  Prev. answers the the "feminist" question via some googling has led me to a shortlist--if I had unlimited funds, I'd buy them all-- Like a Mother by Angela Garbes, Expecting Better by Emily Oster, The Hip Mama's Survival Guide by Ariel Gore, and Up the Duff by Kaz Cooke. As is, I haven't decided which to buy yet. 

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• tallulahtallulah member

  January 2019

  STM here. These are the books I found most helpful during my first pregnancy:
  
  Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck - Planck's diet philosophy aligns pretty closely with my own, so I found it helpful as a more specific guide to nutrition during pregnancy. It also introduced me to the idea of baby-led weaning, which my DD (now 15 months) had a great experience with. Some of her ideas are a little out-there (feeding my infant raw ground beef? thanks but no thanks), but overall I got a lot out of the book.
  
  Expecting Better by Emily Oster - The ONE book I'd recommend. Oster is an economist and mother who evaluates the science behind conventional pregnancy rules and lays it out in a non-judgmental and easy-to-comprehend way. This book cut through so much of the anxiety and confusion I felt during pregnancy and empowered me to be an informed advocate (both medically and socially) for myself and my baby. 

  
  Great with Child by Beth Ann Fennelly - This is a beautiful, poetic collection of letters from the author to a young friend who's pregnant with her first baby. It's not a traditional "how-to" book, but it's full of wisdom about pregnancy, parenting and life in general. Highly recommend!
  
  The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp - A wonderful resource in the early, disorienting days (and nights!) of parenthood. There is SO MUCH conflicting advice out there on how best to comfort and care for your newborn. My best advice is to pick one method and ignore all the others. In my experience, The Happiest Baby on the Block is a good way to go.
  
  The Expectant Father and The New Father by Armin Brott - My husband's recommendations. Unlike many other books geared towards new dads, this series treats the reader like a mature, evolved human being who genuinely wants to a supportive partner and engaged parent.
  
  As others have mentioned, podcasts are also a wonderful resource. I spent many hours walking and listening to the Birth Hour, as well as the Longest Shortest Time (a parenting podcast with a few fascinating episodes on pregnancy and childbirth) and the Pea in the Podcast (an older show that's no longer in production but has episodes offering practical, straightforward advice that are still available for streaming).
  
  As for books that I don't own yet but am hoping to get my hands on, I would love to read Waiting for Birdy by Catherine Newman. I've heard that it's a funny, sweet memoir about expecting a second baby while raising a toddler  

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• kaitlyntu14 member

  January 2019

  @janat1717 I really like Daniel Siegel's books.  I'm a FTM but am also a primary teacher so I recently read The Whole Brain Child by him and it is great, it also gives kid friendly language to help explain things to them as well.  I'll definitely be ordering the No Drama Discipline as well. 

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• kagesstarshroom member

  January 2019

  @tallulahtallulah Thanks so much for a comprehensive take! You've sold me on Expecting Better. Looking forward to checking out some of the other titles you've mentioned as well.

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• klpv415 member

  January 2019 edited January 2019

  I need some non-book help, but it's book related so I wanted to post here. MH doesn't like to read at all, for any reason, at any time, etc. etc. but he's wanting information about pregnancy. Does anyone know of any alternative guides for men other than books? Maybe a quick email/text newsletter, video game (kidding, mostly.), etc.?
  

  
  

  ETA: I think it'd be helpful for him to get information from a scientific non-biased source instead of me just telling him everything I'm reading.
  

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• dolewhipper member

  February 2019

  A lot of really great recommendations in this list. 
  
  One I’ll add is The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. This book helped me so much when I had questions in the MOTN and how to get those damn clogs out, along with a multitude of other questions and inspiration to just keep going. I credit this book along with a few good friends from my Bmb with how I was able to breastfeed as long as I did (2y4m). 

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• dolewhipper member

  February 2019

  @klvp415 podcasts helped my H. 

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• janat1717 member

  February 2019

  @tallulahtallulah I read Real Food for Mother and Baby last time. That's basically how we eat although I'm not quite as on it this time. 😁

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• mamaber2204 member

  February 2019

  The three I loved were:  Yeah, Baby! By Jillian Michaels, Baby 411 by Ari Brown and Brain Rules for Baby by John Medina. 
  
  The first one is really helpful for planning meals and workouts during pregnancy. The latter two give scientifically founded research on parenting through years 0-5.
  

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• ternsetc member

  April 2019

  @justhereforthemusic this is from so long ago, but there are some book recommendations in this!
  

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• cheshyre319 member

  April 2019

  Emily Oster just released a new book titled Cribsheet. I haven't read it yet, but the reviews look good already. 

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