Mom to Be Seeking Good First Year Book

I got the "what to expect the first year" book. I found it very helpful. It talks about milestones, and illnesses and has a question and answer part for typical questions for each month. I like it so well that I just bought "What to expect: the toddler years." Because my son will be one tomorrow. Hope this helps.

I swear by the Dr. Sears 'Baby Book' its great in all aspects and helped me through my kids first year more than anything.

I always go back to the What to Expect... series. I personally think they're the best reference books out there.

What to expect the first year is a GREAT book.
Jade

Close the book and open your eyes and ears, in particular for the first few weeks let baby tell you what to do. And they will.
You will have the instinct, and the baby will tell you exactly what they need in their gestures and you will be able to help them be content. Relax and know that you were built with more instinctive knowledge than you ever imagined.

Wear your baby for a while. Being very close will help you better understand the little person you once carried on the inside.

Hoping that you enjoy learning about each other! Sometimes you don't need a book for it.

just my 2 cents.

AND CONGRATS!

I agree with another mom:
The Baby Bargins book
the AAP Birth to 5 book

What to Expect also - but I used to compare it to the AAP book.
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding is good to have, but a better resource for breastfeeding is a friend or two that have done it, plus the phone# of a lactation consultant and/or your local La Leche League. Breastfeeding is more perserverance (sp?) and dedication once you get the technique right for you and your child. We had issues the first week (used the Supplemental feeding system with a tube taped to my breast attached to a formula bottle), so that was helped by the nurses in the hospital. Then I had issues with holds as my daughter had a slight tongue tie - friends helped me realize that the football hold was best for us and we used it until she got too long to sit with me in the chair:) Good luck!

I liked the Baby Whisperer book. I don't recall the author but I am sure you can find it on Amazon.com.

The Baby Book - Dr. Sears (Also the Vaccine Book - read before your first doctor's visit to make informed choices).
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding - LLL
The No-Cry Sleep Solution - Pantley

I second the opinion to fully check out BabyWise and Baby Whisperer reviews. Depends on your parenting style and whether you breastfeed, but I don't feel babies should be "scheduled", esp. that young.

Congratulations! I have to give my recommendation also for the Dr. Sears books. The Pregnancy booka and The Baby Book were wonderful resources. If you're planning on breastfeeding, there's also a really good La Leche League book that I can't remember the name of right now - something like "The Mom's Guide to Breastfeeding"? I'm sure you can Google it. I have a copy around that I would give you if I can find it. That was also very helpful to me. Don't worry too much about sleep books - so many different approaches out there! Just wait and get to know you're baby first! Good Luck!

On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo & Robert Bucknam - it's a great resource.

Good luck!!

someone gave my the book by the american academy of pediatrics called your child birth through 5 years as a baby shower gift when i had my first baby. i thought it was a little strange but i have to say that even as a pediatric nurse i go back and read things in the book all the time. the girlfriends guide to the first year is also a great read, it is funny as well as informative. good luck with the birth of your little one!

Hi! I'd like to throw out a recommendation for a different kind of book. I really enjoyed "The Girlfriend's Guide to the First Year". This is not a book on babycare. Rather, it is a book about how you will feel postpartum and beyond, how a baby changes your outlook on life and your relationship with your husband. It prepares you for handling the overload of conflicting advice you get from friends and strangers when you have a newborn. Also, it is written in a very funny way and will make you laugh.

As for sleeping, it is hard to recommend a book ahead of time, in my opinion. How you handle bedtime depends on both your and your baby's temperments - you may think you want to try one way (eg, cry it out, or the no-cry sleep method) and then have a baby that will for whom that method doesn't work. I agree with another poster on this - get to know your baby first, and then think about what method is most likely to work for him! There is not a single fool-proof way that works for every child. Also, you may find that your own perspective on this changes drastically once you have your child. I know mine did!

Best of luck!

Hi S.. My girls are 16, 14 & 11 and the best books I ever bought and read (and still reference for the little one I babysit) is the What to Expect series! I wish they had one for Teens!LOL I have the What to Expect when you're Expecting, What to Expect the First Year, What to Expect the Toddler Years. All three books are written in a month to month format with benchmarks, questions & answers, quick medical information, and diet information. I also recommend just about anything Dr. T. Berry Brazelton has written. I wish his parenting shows were still on TV! I used to watch his series everyday when my girls were babies. But don't rely totally on books. You have to have a great working relationship with your family doctor, and you have to listen to your common sense! Plus you have Mamasource...which is another great resourse...learning from "old" Mom's is great too! Congrats and best wishes!

I have a 12 week old and my favorite book is Your Baby's First Year Week by Week, by Glade Curtis and Judith Schuler. I really liked your pregnancy week by week by the same authors. A newborn is overwhelming and there wasn't a lot of time for reading books. I found I could squeeze in a chapter each week and it was pretty on point to what was going on. Plus I had total baby brain so I only had to remember what was relevent to the week. Each week has some general milestones, talks about their development, gives you some games to play that are appropriate for that age, and covers issues like baby acne, vaccines, colic, etc. It also has a really good index.

S.,
Definitely get "What To Expect The First Year" AND "What to Expect The Toddler Years" They were both invaluable to me.
I do NOT believe that after "delivery day" that you will somehow automatically tap into this wealth of instinct and knowledge that has always been there, somewhere. You need to LEARN a great deal of the stuff involved with babies and children. You may feel very overwhelmed, emotional, frazzled, isolated and sad with a newborn--even though you love your baby very much. If you do feel that way after the birth--please know that it's OK to have those feelings and very normal. Having a baby is wonderful thing, but those mythological images of total baby-bliss are often just that--a myth. As your baby grows, so will your confidence in your decisions, actions and choices. I believe good mothers are MADE, not BORN and no better way to get going than reading the books that have been suggested in response to your post! Congratulations and best wishes!

Any and all books by Dr. Sears and / or his wife Martha Sears are wonderful!

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

Save your money. The internet is a wonderful font of information. Subscribe to babycenter.com, and you will get a weekly email with age appropriate info for your toddler. I also find that the info provided there is very balanced -- if you want to cry it out, fine, if not, there are other methods described. Dr. Greene also has a good website. Why clutter up your home with a book when you can get what you need online?

I can't remeber who the author is but, the books I read were really helpful. What to expect when your expecting and what to expect the 1st. year. I think she made another one also.

Congratulations! And good for you for getting started on this-- once baby comes, you won't have time! :-) The Baby Bargins book (which you need, if you don't have) is great. I also recommend Ferber (which they also recommend). For a first year book, I'd recommend I'm a Mom, Now What? because it goes month-by-month, and something else like the AAP Birth to 5 book that goes by topic. I have the What to Expect books, too, but I don't reach for them as much. And I'd try to find a good breastfeeding book-- I don't much like the Womanly Art book-- it kinda glosses over the hard parts of bfing.

Hope this helps...

I don't know if anyone said "The Happiest Baby on the Block", but it was a lifesaver in our house.

I highly recommend "What to Expect the First Year" (I think that's what it's called). It was a lifesaver for me. I also had a friend buy me the same title, but about breastfeeding (if you're going that route). Same thing, was a huge help. Be careful with the internet, some sites don't have the best or most accurate info.

Hi S.,

Congratulations on your baby-to-be! How exciting for you! My favorite 1st year book is the Girlfriends Guide to the 1st Year. I like it because it is funny and it is all about mom instead of being all about the baby. It is a good read. I also like Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry sleep solution - it is great for tools to get your baby to sleep - but you probably won't need that for the first few months - as newborns do not sleep - so you will be up anyway. Whatever you do - don't read the Expectant Mother's Guide to the first year - it is a horrible book and has a lot of really inaccurate information about breastfeeding and taking care of your baby.

Congrats again!
J.

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Congratulations S.! I'm a new mom of a 5 weeks old and have enjoyed 'What to Expect the First Year' which is the companion to "What to Expect When you are Expecting". I leave it near my nursing chair and read it while I am pumping. It's been a great reference thus far for any little questions that pop up on a day to day basis.

The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp. I saw this guy speak and sooth every baby in the room. It was amazing, I only wish I had the info in this book when my boys were babies. BEst of luck with your little one! There is a toddler one too, The Happiest Toddler on the Block which I also like but it starts around 1. I thought the baby book was only for babies with colic but I was wrong. It is for all babies.

Morning. I have two little ones and i read through What to Expect When You Are Expecting. Some things i found helpful and some not at all. i feel that each baby and situation will be different so you take what you read and use it how it helps you or do what you feel is best for your baby and the situation. Hands on experience is much more different than what you will read.
Congratulations and best of luck.

The best book I read and still have next to my bed because it takes you into transferring your child to a big-person bed is "Good Night, Sleep Tight" by Kim West. It talks about schedules and how to gently teach your baby to learn to sleep on their own. It truly was the most help to me and I plan to use it for making the switch to a big boy bed for my son sometime in the next year and half- when he is ready:).....Jen
PS- she also has a wonderful website with a message board that allows you to talk with other moms going through the same issues you are according to your child's age level. (birth-3 months, 3 months to 6 months, 6-12 months, ect)That support was helpful too!

Wow, you got all kinds of advice, it doesn't look like you'll be narrowing down your list anytime! For what it's worth, I loved the books by the Sears. I think it is Dr. and Mrs. or something, but they have "The Baby Book" which extends, but includes the first year. Very diverse topics. Plus there is a second book in their series solely about breastfeeding which I really appreciated. My absoLUTE favorite though are these little "users manuals" which look like they are supposed to be funny, but are actually very useful. Maybe hubby could relate more than to all he "mommy" books? Best wishes! It's called "The Baby Owner's Manual" and there is one for Toddler too. Good luck!!

Congratulations! So, the books are overwhelming, I agree. And everyone suggesting a book is also kind of overwhelming.....
If you are going to breastfeed, make sure you have people support, call a lactation consultant, etc.....reading a book is helpful, but talking to people is WAY more effective/supportive.
For the first 0-5 months: Happiest Baby on the Block, by Dr. Karp.
For sleeping: No Cry Sleep Solution - don't read anything else, I did, I went crazy and finally realized that kids under 2 just don't sleep regularly, ie. they have periods of waking up that come and go.
For general reference, although I had to put it away because it made me paranoid when my daughter didn't do things "on time" - Dr. Sears the First Year book

For 12-24 months: Happiest Toddler on the Block, Dr. Karp

Also, I have read some of the funny narratives about mothering that made me laugh: The Fourth Trimester; The Second Nine Months, and things like that are kind of nice to just validate what you're going through.

As for the real advice of how to be a parent, I have found the Dr. Karp books really useful as it gives actual methods, and the sleep book helped my husband, duaghter and I find a way to get enough sleep - it had different ideas/advice and really emphasized knowing your child.

Good luck, happy birth, and congratulations again!

I love "the baby book" by dr. sears. I highly recommend it. It has info about what to expect at what stages and also is a great reference book for when the baby is sick. It has been helpful for deciding when to call the doctor (i think my husband would call the doctor with every bump or slight fever if it were not for this book). You should check it out. It has info about newborns through the toddler years.

Good luck and congratulations!

The What to Expect the First Year is good and also the Sleepeasy Solution (has lots of practical advice and is an easy read).