Parenting book recommendation (for first-time parents)

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Workingmom1975

Registered User
Hi experienced moms,

My husband and I are expecting our first baby soon and wonder what are good parenting books that provide clear guidelines/instructions for first-time parents (e.g., what to expect/do every week/month). Any recommendation would be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
 
What to Expect the First Year is good, I like it. I read some of a friend`s week by week guide and I found it was almost too detailed, especially as a developmental guide for your individual baby. I also read and really like Babysense: a guide to your baby`s sensory world. And I also wish I read the Baby Whisperer when I was still pregnant.
 
I read the "Baby Whisperer" while still pregnant - it gave me a good idea of what to expect once the baby arrived as I had absolutely no idea. I didn't end up following the schedule as it didn't really work out, but it was nice to know approximate timings. I have "What to Expect the First Year" I use it more as a reference than a guide as I think it adds some stress when you think the baby should be reaching various milestones. I also reference "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding", which is really good for breastfeeding advice. I've glanced through and/or read many other books that I decided weren't right for me and I tried to read about as many different parenting ideas before the baby arrived to understand what my options were. I really didn't find one book that gave me all the information I was looking for.
 
There is a book called Dr.Spocka baby and child care....(i just had my first baby 2 months ago) it is our BIBLE! I have used it so many times already....Its a big book full of everything you need, it will answer all questions you have and questions that will come up the first few weeks you come home from hospital...you just look in the index for what your looking for! I got it at Metro at elements mall!
 
Baby Love by Robin Barker has been my bible. As a clueless first time mother I find this book to be a great reference and guide for all my silly worries. I also read Baby Whisperer and Gina Ford, I loosely followed the routines in Baby Whisperer and I threw away Gina Ford as it was way to strict.

Read a few books and take what you like from each one. I don't think one book can tell you everything as each baby is different.
 
Baby Love by Robin Barker is the bible.
It's a great reference for just about everything you need to know in he first year.
It's laid out in an easy way so you can find the info you need.

Eg: Weird rash, go to the index and she will list all the examples of what's normal and what's not, and what to do about it.
Don't like the look of baby's poo?, again she describes all the variations of what is normal and not, with simple solutions.
Baby not sleeping? She gives you some great ideas without making you feel like you are doing everything wrong.
 
i have to agree with the posters above. I've been reading Baby Love now and its been very re-assuring. Granted I'm only 16wks in and have no practical experience but this book was a gift from a mother of 2 who said it was her bible so I"m pretty sure it will deliver.
 
I totally second all the posters who recommend Baby Love by Robin Barker. I wish I had known of it before my baby was born - or even before I had read all the other books! I read it when my bub was about 6 weeks old and it taught me a really important thing: how to relax. How? By providing much reassurance to first-time mums who have no idea what to expect. I really like the author's approach in addressing concerns because she starts off by laying out what is normal - and you find your fears assuaged. I also learned that there are a lot of weird, wonderful and inexplicable things that babies do that you totally needn't worry about. Somehow she manages to address the typical, almost-trivial concerns a mother has - missing in many of the 'how-to' books, IMHO. She also doesn't send you off on a guilt trip if you don't practise a particular method of looking after or playing with your baby (she just tells you what is being done out there and that it's fine whichever you choose to do) and recognises that new mums are generally quite stressed so why add to the mix? She says you don't need to sit down and read it from cover-to-cover either - you can just jump to the section you want, using the contents page.

It's important to manage your expectations with regard to how your new baby will grow, develop and behave/respond. Mine were raised really high after reading a few books out there (brought down to earth with a crash after the first night home and buried 6 feet under within 3 weeks).
 
I think that Secrets of the Baby Whisperer was by far the best book I read and I wish I had read it before I had given birth.

But, honestly, I've learned more from talking to other mothers (ones with grown children and ones with babies still at home) than I have learned from the plethora of books and self-help guides out there. Also, anything you really want to learn/know is already on the internet. Not a big fan of the "What to Expect" series of books--find them to be a better doorstop than anything--I've never actually gained anything helpful from any of them but they are a really popular buy for first-time moms. (All of mine were given to me by first-time moms who bought them and found them just as useful as I have). I've heard that "The Girlfriend's Guide to..." series of books is hilarious and a great, fun way to relax into motherhood but I haven't read them yet.

I guess, I never found myself too paranoid over anything in my son's first year, apart from the disastrous first six months until I picked up Secrets of the Baby Whisperer and got him on a good schedule. My husband, however, would be a good candidate for "set-your-mind-at-ease" baby books--well, he would have been in the first year but by now he's adjusted.

I have a friend in the States who took her baby to the emergency room so often she was on a first-name basis with the staff there--because every little thing she would over-react about. I guess it also comes down to personality then too, right?
 
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