Thursday, 10 December 2009

• Books (& DVD) to Bring the Baby Home

  Guest Post by Mama TRUE

   

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  A whole lot of my friends are either pregnant or have just had babies so I’ve been referring to this list a lot. Thought it was time for a re-post of these resources I was grateful for or wish I’d had when we brought the baby home from the hospital. Better yet, I wish I’d at least skimmed through them before the baby arrived so I’d know what resources were available. So here’s my list, in no particular order.

  The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two by Drs. William, James, & Robert Sears, & Martha Sears, R.N. A friend gave me Baby 411 when Cavanaugh was born. It was supposed to be a resource for the baby’s first year. I hated it. It was simplistic, didn’t offer enough explanation, and most of the advice clashed with every instinct I had about how to parent my child. I was so grateful when I found The Baby Book. It’s a comprehensive guide with a great index and detailed table of contents so I could find just about anything I needed to know, whether it was a reminder about how to burp my baby or a question about how to take a rectal temperature.
  
  The Breastfeeding Book: Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Your Child from Birth Through Weaning by William and Martha Sears was my favorite of the bunch I read. It can be read cover to cover because it’s interesting and written in an engaging easy-to-read tone, but it also works very well as a reference if one just wants to look up certain information. The Breastfeeding Book will help teach you how to breastfeed including diagrams of different feeding positions, troubleshoot any difficulties with breastfeeding, support stay at home or working moms, breast-pumping, breastfeeding in public, nursing at night, all the way through weaning. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding from the La Leche League had such a strong agenda that I felt like it was trying not to admit there were challenges with breastfeeding in a way that would allow mom to feel supported and helped as opposed to blamed or like she was failing. I liked the information in The Ultimate Guide to Breastfeeding by Jack Newman, but the index was horrible so it wasn’t a good reference book. The Breastfeeding Book is definitely my favorite.
  
  The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child (Sears Parenting Library) by Dr. Robert Sears or any other vaccine book that will explain which shots they’re giving your baby, what’s in the shots, and when they’ll be giving them. When I was a kid, there weren’t so many vaccines. Now, babies are vaccinated 40 – 50 times by the time they’re six-years-old. That’s a lot of disease for a developing immune system to handle. Maybe you’ll want to give your child all the shots on exactly the schedule the doctor recommends or maybe you’ll decide that you don’t have hepatitis and your child won’t be using needles or having sex for a few years, so you could hold off on this one. Either way, getting a good vaccine book will help you make an informed decision.
  
  Tummy 2 Tummy The Babywearing Instructional DVD While I was pregnant, lots of friends recommended different kinds of carriers, but all we could find to try were Baby Bjorns and Snuglis. It turned out both of those hurt my shoulders, neither were good for a newborn, and we returned those we’d received as gifts. Luckily, there was a sling library in town where we could check out different kinds of carriers and people would teach us how to tie and wear them. This DVD demonstrates how to use ring slings, pouches, Asian back carriers, and pieces of cloth to carry newborns to toddlers. It will help you make sense of the difference between a Mei Tai and a Moby and help you figure out which will work best for you and your baby.
  
  Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year
  Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year by Anne Lamott. She is honest about how miraculous and difficult raising a child is, how confused and tired you’ll be, and her humor and humanity will offer a light to guide you.
  
  The New Father: A Dad’s Guide to the First Year by Armit Brott is split up by months and covers what’s happening with your baby physically, intellectually, verbally, and emotionally/socially and what you’re going through as a parent. There’s a trilogy of these covering dads-to-be, the first year, and the toddler years. My husband swears by all of them.
  
  The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night by Elizabeth Pantley. Most newborns sleep 18 – 20 hours a day. While they’re doing that, learn about all the ways you’re going to teach them to go to sleep so they learn that daddy can put them to sleep too, breastfeeding isn’t the only before-bed cocktail, and that falling asleep in different locations is great stuff.

  For all you new parents, congratulations!!! You have just begun one of the most fulfilling journeys I know of. Happy parenting!

  Any great books or other resources for new parents that I missed?
  

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