Book recommendations!

I've had a couple of questions about books from readers, so I thought I'd talk about that tonight. Here's another don't do what I did: I burned out on pregnancy books and then didn't read any baby books until #1 was already born. You will be too exhausted to read baby books at that point, so please read them BEFORE giving birth. You're not going to remember a lot of it, but enough should stick to be helpful.

Pregnancy books: I just loved Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy. It was a fun, easy read that really covered the down and dirty stuff with a sense of humor. One criticism that I've read about it is that the author is too open to C-sections and pain meds. That's her choice, but I didn't feel like it took anything away from the book. I like that she is completely non-judgemental, even I don't agree with some of her choices. I've heard scary things about the What to Expect books so I skipped them. I really don't want to read about infinitesimal things that can go horribly wrong unless I'm actually at risk. I'm usually in favor of over-education, but when it comes to some stuff, knowing too much will just keep you up at night. I have enough that already does that. I also checked out a book on home births from the library that I enjoyed, but it was British and not terribly applicable. Do go to the library, you don't need to buy a bunch of pregnancy books and sometimes they also have them in the charity sales (my GGTP was $.25).

Labor books: Bradley method. These were the only ones I read (and honestly, I didn't read them all the way through). Natural Birth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon-Rosegg, Erick Ingraham, and Robert A. Bradley and Husband-Coached Childbirth by Robert A. Bradley, Marjie Hathaway, Jay Hathaway, and James Hathaway plus the workbook that comes with the course (actually, the books do, too, so if you're going to sign up for the class, you don't need to buy them separately). The second one should be read by your partner, too.

Postpartum: The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League International. Please read this before giving birth. The only thing I didn't like about the book is that it makes everything seem so easy when it isn't necessarily. There is NOTHING wrong with you if you have problems with breastfeeding! But there are tons of great tips and advice and overall it's a great resource to have.

Baby Books: the two books I liked the best are The Baby Whisperer Solves all of Your Problems by Tracy Hogg and Melinda Blau and The Baby Book by Dr. William Sears. The Baby Whisperer is fantastic in figuring out routines (like don't let your baby sleep for more than two hours at a time during the day, this revolutionized our lives) and how much food, sleep, etc. is needed at what age. She also doesn't like "Crying it Out" for getting a baby to sleep (which I am against) so more points for her. Dr. Sears is THE baby expert and also into attachment parenting, so I strongly identify with him and his ideas. There is also just a lot of basic information. The book is 600+ pages, so I still haven't gotten anywhere close to through with it, but it was also extremely helpful in figuring out why Baby is crying type questions.

My husband read Happiest Baby on the Block and Happiest Toddler on the Block by Harvey Karp which were also lifesavers in getting Baby to sleep when he was teeny tiny. I haven't read them yet, but they're next on my list. The toddler one is working well for my husband communicating with our Terrible Toddler, which is why I need to read it soon!

I've read most of the Baby 411 and Toddler 411 books by Denise Fields and Ari Brown, M.D. but I'm not a huge fan. They're great for straight information on a lot of stuff, but I don't agree with the child-rearing advice. So I suppose useful for when you don't want to slog through the encyclopedia that is Dr. Brown. She also wrote the Baby Bargains book which is mainly useful if you're tempted to buy a ton of baby stuff. I wasn't so it was more useful in explaining to Daddy why the toys he loved as a baby (bouncy seat, walker) are actually death traps that our children won't have.

For partner: Besides the Happiest books above, my husband really likes the series by Armin A. Brott and Jennifer Ash, The Expectant Father, the New Father, and Fathering your Toddler.

There are hundreds of books out there to peruse. These are merely the ones that I've found or have been recommended to me that I thought were helpful, I hope that they're helpful to you, too.