These are my favorite parenting books but I also include some books other parent friends swore by, even if I didn’t agree with the advice.
The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age 2 (Revised and Updated Edition) by Sears and Sears. This is my go-to guru. But that is because I am a “family bed” proponent which is not for everyone. He writes this with his wife who is a nurse and they have 6 kids, including one with special needs.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting (series) by Heidi Eisenberg Murkoff. This is a classic series and very good. I bought this through age 5, I think. It’s wonderful! You can probably find this used somewhere so look around, particularly at yard sales held at preschools!
Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems by Dr. Richard Ferber. Other parents swear by it. If you MUST have your baby sleep through the night, this is a method that is difficult to implement, but once implemented, really does work. A caveat, you must duplicate the “method” 24/7 even when you are on vacation or it’s back to square one. It’s you vs. baby and if you have a strong willed baby, it might take up to two weeks to kick in, I’m told. ”Ferberize” is now an actual word! Of course, it’s not your child who is necessarily having sleep problems, it’s you who has issue that your child’s sleeping patterns do you mimic your own. Here’s an interesting link from NPR about Dr. Ferber revisiting his theory.
Here’s an interesting link pitting my favorite Dr. Sears against Dr. Ferber on their sleep theories!: http://sleep-disorders.suite101.com/article.cfm/dr_ferber_versus_dr_sears
The Portable Pediatrician by Dr. Nathanson. My baby parenting books are long gone but I still have this one. It’s a keeper! I wish she could be my pediatrician!
Expectant Father. This is the book that first-time dads always seem to get as a present. There’s not much meat to it, but it’s better than nothing, I suppose. I wouldn’t buy it, though.
Girlfriends’ Guides by Vicki Iovine. These are the best; you need these to keep your sanity and sense of humor intact! Who knew a Playboy Bunny could be this funny?!
Touchpoints by Dr. Brazelton. 10 years ago, this was the well-known baby book. I do really like Dr. Brazelton and I wished my pediatrician made house calls like he seems to, but I have to say that I found it difficult to translate his book into advice to follow. If I recall correctly, his book is mostly made up of case studies, and while interesting, did not relate to me or my situation. And when sleep is scarce, I probably should have been doing other things like sleeping rather than reading this book. But it was a book that I kept in my library for all three kids.
Dr. Spock. He’s Dr. Old-School. I bought a copy and tried to plough through it, but I just couldn’t. Too long and boring.
The Paranoid Parents Guide: Worry Less, Parent Better, and Raise a Resilient Child by Christie Barnes
My neighbor grew up in South Africa during Apartheid and I had a discussion with about my irrational fear of my children being abducted. She thinks I am totally nuts, as statistically in our town, it’s quite unlikely. Another Mom Friend who is a school psychologist says that I should really stop worrying about the unlikely abduction scenario and focus on sex abuse as the stats are significantly higher. Great!
Another thing to worry about! So, it was with great interest that I read The Paranoid Parents Guide because compared to the things in that book that parents worry about, I feel perfectly normal, and, in fact, relaxed and downright mellow. What I like about this book is that it gives actual stats for the likelihood of each parental fear which puts everything into perspective. This is not a parenting book that everyone needs, but if you are paranoid or know someone who is, it would be a kind gift to give them this book! And it might knock some sense into their heads. It helped me!
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