Book recs? birth/bf/first year

MrsHahn11062010 · December 2011

I want to start checking out books from the library to help me decide which ones I might want to purchase to have on hand for birth, breastfeeding, and a guide to the first year.

Today I'm going to pick up

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and What to Expect the First Year.

I have Birthing from Within reserved on interlibrary loan.

Any other recommendations that were your go-tos?

MaineIslandBride · December 2011

I picked up a book at my library called "Eat, Sleep, Poop" and I love it. It's very straightforward and easy to reference. I've had it for about 3 months...I keep checking it out. I should probably buy my own copy at some point.

Here's a link to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Sleep-Poop-Common-Sense/dp/1439117063

Glitzyklm · December 2011

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth is really good.

I also have two copies of Your pregnancy week by week (I am happy to give you one of the copies) My insurance company sent one to me when I enrolled in their healthy futures program- It's silly to have two.

What to expect when you are expecting- I really don't care for this one- there is some good information but some that is really fear based.

Bellylaughs by Jenny McCarthy is crude and funny and a really easy read.

SBTibbs · December 2011

I loved Belly Laughs! Baby Laughs is pretty funny too.

I had a bunch of books (which I have given away so can't remember the full titles.) I had a Mayo Clinic Pregnancy Week by Week which was really good and a Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy that I liked. I didn't really care for the What to Expect Ones.

For the baby, I really like Happiest Baby on the Block and Baby 411. These were our bibles for the first few months. We now have the Toddler 411 book and again, it's a great reference.

For breastfeeding I have the Womanly Art and a few others. I think that was my favorite though.

shuga_23 · December 2011

This was my guide through pregnancy:

http://www.amazon.com/Hips-Comprehensive-Open-Minded-Uncensored-Pregnancy/dp/0307237087/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322838394&sr=8-1

When he was here I referred to WTE The First Years.

For breastfeeding I just leaned on my LC for info.

Mrs.ErikaMay · December 2011

I LOVED the Girlfriends' Guide- but then I'm not much for reading reference or serious medical stuff.

I did have a copy of What to Expect the First Year that was really helpful. It helped me know what to expect (teeth, feeding patterns, sleeping, developmental milestone estimates, etc) during those first months where you have the actual kid around and don't know what to do.

I never considered getting a BFing book. I relied on human contacts and just knowing that it pretty much was going to suck for weeks and I just had to push through it, drink, eat, &sleep enough, and do what I had to do to make sure my kid was getting nutrition. I'm not sure what I would have learned from a book that I couldn't get online, through the pamphlets at the hospital/doctors, and from the nurses at the hospital.

Mainer-in-Texas · December 2011

Baby 411 (and now Toddler 411) have been my go-tos for general advice. I love them. The only more detailed books I bought were sleep books - my favorites were Happy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child (Weissbluth) and Solve Your Children's Sleep Problems (Ferber). I wish I had read Weissbluth before DD arrived because he has good info about newborn sleep - it would have made things easier in the beginning to know things like how long I should expect her to be awake between naps. Once I did read it (at around 3-4 months), it really helped me figure out how to get her on an age-appropriate schedule, which made life so much easier. I had all of the pregnancy books (I was a wee bit excited to be pregnant

and actually liked WTEWYE the best.

MainelyFoolish · December 2011

When you need a break from all the real parenting books, the book Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay was pretty funny.

kristen80 · December 2011

For birth/pregnancy, I read Your Pregnancy Week by Week. It wasn't too detailed re: birth, but really my hospital birthing class covered all that. Breastfeeding was covered really well in the Sears' book. Also, Sears' Baby's First Year and Karp's Happiest Baby On The Block were perfect for the first year.

MrsHahn11062010 · December 2011

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I appreciate the diverse range of books!

MrsHahn11062010 · December 2011

Mainer-in-Texas:
The only more detailed books I bought were sleep books - my favorites were Happy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child (Weissbluth) and Solve Your Children's Sleep Problems (Ferber). I wish I had read Weissbluth before DD arrived because he has good info about newborn sleep - it would have made things easier in the beginning to know things like how long I should expect her to be awake between naps.

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely check them out!

mjellison81 · December 2011

I really liked "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" as far as helping me build confidence before I had Will and answering some questions, it helped put my mind at ease. I will say that since diving into breastfeeding, I feel like it lacks on some of the technical questions, but still a great book.

When I was pregnant, I LOVED my copy of The Mother of All Pregnancy Books, and referenced it all the time. It's really straight forward, with some humor and good practical advice from real moms.

The only other book I reference regularly is the American Assoc. of Pediatrics Caring for Your Baby and Young Child (through age 5). It does a great job at answering all my funny little baby care questions, and breaks down the first year into concise sections. For the most part, Will is a pretty easy guy, so I haven't had to dive into the copy of Happiest Baby on the Block (touch wood!) that I purchased before he was born and a lot of the time I come on here or check in with my Mommy group on day to day advice and whatnot.

Hope this is helpful!