Book recommendations

Little Miss Cutie

Hi all,

We are due out first baby in Janurary and I would like to get a book or two about baby's first year.

I know all babies are different but I would like to read a little about their development etc.

Could anyone recommend any books you thought were good?
Thanks in advance

Penny Dreadful

I just winged it for the first year pretty much. I did download an app called The Wonder Weeks which was good as a general guide.
When my little girl turned one I did buy What to Expect - the Second Year. Its been helpful as a book to dip in and out of in terms of what teeth come in when, what they should be able to do by stage X of their development.
However again I've used it as a guide as my daughter seems to be getting along just fine. Some things she did early for her age, others late and the rest bang on schedule.
My take on things is that they're all a series of averages and if your GP/PHN is happy with how they're doing then you can take it easy on that particular worry front.

Little Miss Cutie

Thanks Penny, it is really just something to refer to every so often that I am looking for.

LegacyUser

I admit to also winging it - mostly.

I had signed up to Babycentre.co.uk which does a week by week email, but I found some of those were a bit ahead of themselves. They were a useful guide though.

I didn't actually have a book if I'm honest. I bought Anabel Karmel books for weaning recipes. I was recommended "Feed your Child Well" by our PHN, which on second thoughts, you may actually find very useful because it's chock full of step by step advice on feeding, from birth to 10 years old. It also deals with problems like constipation, reflux, breastfeeding, weaning etc, which are quite common, but when you're a new mum anything like that is a big deal to you at first (seriously). It's a book to dip into.I got it on Amazon.

I also got a book on sleeping from a friend when baby was 12 weeks old. It was a godsend, because I hadn't a clue really.But really, most of my knowledge came from friends who had babies in the year or two ahead of me, my parents and other family members - and random googling whenever a problem popped up. I also asked the PHN endless questions!

Depending on what area of the country you are in, some PHN's give you information sheets or booklets about what the baby should be doing. My hospital (Dublin) gave me a few single page info sheets about what sounds they should be making at certain months and that kind of thing. I actually steered clear of books on the basis that there are literally tonnes of pages written about baby development, baby sleeping and baby eating and it is possible to worry yourself sick while trying to seek advice. The whole thing is so average and kids all develop so differently that trying to pin them to a book is often just putting pressure on yourself. You'll also have GP and PHN check ups which are a good guide in themselves too.

Penny Dreadful

Little Miss Cutie wrote: »

Thanks Penny, it is really just something to refer to every so often that I am looking for.

I also had the Baby Whisperer book by Tracey Hogg (hope I got that right) for the early days. It was good in that it helped identify the type of baby you have and how to care accordingly.
I liked it as I'm very much about the "organised fun" but it was a far gentler approach than the Gina Ford was of doing things. That said I didn't use it a whole lot but my baby was freakishly good about sleep and all that jazz.

Little_cub

When our son was born we were given a copy of a book called "Baby" by Desmond Morris as a gift. It's a beautiful hardback book with lots of info about newborn & toddler development and amazing pictures. I'd highly recommend it, I found it great to dip in & out of in the first few months.

An Bhanríon

I've had The Baby Whisperer recommended to me by a couple who had their first baby around a year ago. Will probably get a copy myself as well!

mapaca

What to Expect: the First Year. I found this excellent.

Little Miss Cutie

I was just having a look and there seems to be a few baby whisperer books. Can you recall the name of the book? The secrets of the baby whisperer? Baby whisperer solves all your problems?

tinkerbell

Are you planning on breastfeeding? If so, do not buy that baby whisperer book. Her "advice" is terrible for a breastfed baby.

Little Miss Cutie

tinkerbell wrote: »

Are you planning on breastfeeding? If so, do not buy that baby whisperer book. Her "advice" is terrible for a breastfed baby.

Yes I plan to breastfeed, I am reading the womanly art of breastfeeding.

moving_home

Little Miss Cutie wrote: »

Yes I plan to breastfeed, I am reading the womanly art of breastfeeding.

Stick with this and the wonder weeks app for developmental milestones. Don't bother with Gina Ford or any of those routine driven books would be my advice. Read up about the fourth trimester and like the Janet Lansbury and the Gentle Sleep book pages on Facebook.

Little Miss Cutie

Has anyone read "save our sleep" by Tizzie Hall?

Penny Dreadful

Little Miss Cutie wrote: »

I was just having a look and there seems to be a few baby whisperer books. Can you recall the name of the book? The secrets of the baby whisperer? Baby whisperer solves all your problems?

It was the secrets of the baby whisperer.

tinkerbell

Little Miss Cutie wrote: »

Yes I plan to breastfeed, I am reading the womanly art of breastfeeding.

Great! Seven natural laws of breastfeeding is also an excellent book.

Definitely stay away from that awful baby whisperer book so. The author was (she is now deceased) very anti-bf and her book is full of rubbish trying to put down the benefits of breastmilk and she has no clue on how a bf baby is fed which is "on demand", not driven by a schedule. Also steer clear of Gina Ford. The baby whisperer and Gina ford books are specifically mentioned on the kellymom website under "books that can sabotage your bf relationship".

Oh and Tizzie Hall is also full of utter nonsense when it comes to bf. Google her name and Ireland AM and you will read all about the dreadful advice she was giving for bf babies.

Your best reading material is Kellymom, Jack Newman's website and a breastfeeding support group. Also a lot of PHNs give terrible breastfeeding advice so take what they say with a pinch of salt.

Sorry I'm being a bit negative here but just want to make sure your bf journey starts on the right foot

lazygal

I hated the womanly art of breastfeeding.

I didn't find many books great. Breastfeeding can be really hard at the start but get onto a support group on Facebook for proper advice. Ignore 99% of phn advice and ask loads of questions here instead.

moving_home

Oh and the single best piece of advice I can give you is babies can only stay awake for 1 - 1.5 hours at a time before getting overtired and hard to settle. The first couple of weeks we let baby get too tired and she was so hard to settle.

Tizzy Hall should be gagged. She recommends something ridiculous like 12 layers of blankets on a newborn to make them sleep. Very very dangerous. She's also recommended tucking blankets in under carseat straps. Also extremely dangerous.

tinkerbell

moving_home wrote: »

Oh and the single best piece of advice I can give you is babies can only stay awake for 1 - 1.5 hours at a time before getting overtired and hard to settle. The first couple of weeks we let baby get too tired and she was so hard to settle.

Tizzy Hall should be gagged. She recommends something ridiculous like 12 layers of blankets on a newborn to make them sleep. Very very dangerous. She's also recommended tucking blankets in under carseat straps. Also extremely dangerous.

I forgot about that about the blankets!! She was on Ireland am again recently talking about that - I think she actually mentioned 20+ blankets. Nobody should be giving that woman airtime.

Marz66

I second What to Expect: The First Year. It's really easy to read and you can dip in and out of it. It has a few general chapters and then a chapter for one month, two months etc so when you're tired you only need to read one chapter at a time!

I would leave getting a sleep book til after baby is born as most books don't recommend sleep training til 4/6/8 months. Also baby feeding on demand means you won't really be able to have any routine in first few months. After that you might want to get a sleep book so you know how often baby should go down for a nap and how often etc

How Strange

I got Penelope Leach Your Baby and Child as a present when my first child was born and I really liked it and found it useful. She is very child centred and talks about stages of development, caring for your baby etc. I didn't know it at the time but it suited my style of parenting. She's very supportive of breastfeeding but she doesn't preach or tell you what to do. She recognises that babies are individuals not robots. I got the baby whisperer and thought it was awful.

Neyite

The baby whisperer is an ok book.

Where it falls down is where it's clear she has only basic knowledge of a breastfed baby /breastfeeding mother /feeding on demand, and much of her breastfeeding advice is contrary to best practice. It is a book based on set routines of a bottle fed baby, and its very clear she only gives breastfeeding a cursory nod. For breastfeeding advice, nothing beats direct face to face help. Some of the best advice I got was from women and nurses who had breastfed themselves.

Having said that, I liked the gentler way of sleep training with her methods, (I hate the cry it out method) but as I was feeding on demand it had limited success with my guy. I liked her approach to communication with a baby too, and when she describes what stimulates a child and how easily a baby can get overstimulated.

Ultimately, books can be good at giving you ideas to try, but your own instinct and judgement of your baby's needs is far superior and its worth trusting and exploring that as well.

LegacyUser

Do you see the problem OP?Every baby is actually different and the methods outlined in one book may not work for your baby...but you may break your heart and completely stress yourself out trying to force them to work. I learned that early on and that was my basis for actually steering clear of books.We did actually have the Penelope Leach one, donated by a co-worker, which was handy to look at but to be honest, there's a few key things you learn about your baby early on and you have to just go with your instinct on them.
Someone else said that a new born gets tired after 1-1.5 hrs....invaluable advice.Mine never ever showed signs of tiredness and I hadn't a clue how to know when to put her to sleep, until I got that sleep book at 12 weeks.It was an eye-opener. 2 hours since they last woke up is a good guideline from about 12 weeks on ;-)
I know you just want something to dip into, but I guess I'm just trying to say, be wary of buying a couple of books and taking them as gospel-when you're a new mum,you can be very lost and not know any better.Your instinct and the experience of those around you will help more than anything else