Which baby/parenting book do you like best?

s@sha

Hi, my baby son is 3 months old and as he's my first child I'd like to get one or two books on parenting, as I don't really know what to expect month to month and I'd rather invest in a decent book than buy all those parenting magazines every month. When I was pregnant I simply went onto Amazon, looked at the reviews & just bought the most popular pregnancy book. But there are so many parenting & baby books, covering so many different aspects of childcare, that I don't know where to start!

I'd be very grateful for any recommendations for general parenting/ baby care books, basically any books you all have found useful. And any that you thought were a waste of time, so I can avoid them!

patchwork_cat

What to expect in the first year is great as is toddler taming. Beyond that I haven't found any books that are brilliant maybe someone else has some ideas for teens and preteens?

leftieM

'What to expect in the first year' is good as it covers all of the issues you might be concerned with and it's non-judgemental. It's a good reference. I read 'The best friends guide to motherhood' and I liked it as I felt okay about being a less than perfect mother after reading it. I couldn't relate to the one about toddlers at all though.

quietheart

read loads and loads of these and what to expect the first year was head and shoulders above the rest for me, would definitely recommend it.

SammyD_2

Penelope Leach "Your Baby and Child". Thought it was great and I have read it a lot. It was recommended to me by a the facilitator of a parenting course I did. It is very child focussed and quite a different style from Gina Ford for example. It covers all the pre school years and after 2 and a half years it is still read by me at least monthly.

I bought quite a few books from Amazon before I had my babies, and one caution I would add is not to buy American books - they just seem to have different ideas than here and I found them a lot less helpful especially on their baby advice.

jellyhead

i think toddler taming is excellent, so is his other book about ADHD but not really about babies. i'm not sure, i bought the big hardback miriam stoppard book but it doesn't really say much, if that makes sense? lol!

s@sha

Thank you all for the replies so far..please keep them coming! I was thinking about getting the 'What to expect' book as another new mum I know mentioned that she had it & found it useful, but when I looked it up on Amazon I think one of the reviewers said it was an American book that was very poorly edited for the UK (or something like that) which put me off a bit.

As Sammy D said, I try to avoid getting American books because when I was looking for books on IVF I bought one from Amazon that I didn't realise was American & of course half the info didn't relate to the UK system at all.

But 'What to expect' seems popular with most of you , and I like the sound of the 'non-judgemental' bit...I'm not really into trying to be a perfect mum or trying to impose strict routines or ideas on the baby, I'm still getting used to him finally being here after 10 years of infertility

Queenie

I loved: "Toddler Taming" (Dr Christopher Green - I think) But, ultimately, nothing can replace *your* instincts!!

mae

Gina Fords 'Contented Little Baby Book' was the best thing I ever bought and I've recommended it to loads and they loved it too. She does other books in her range too like weaning and potty training etc.

purplepurple

mae wrote:

Gina Fords 'Contented Little Baby Book' was the best thing I ever bought and I've recommended it to loads and they loved it too. She does other books in her range too like weaning and potty training etc.

me too! I know some "experts" think the routines are a bit too regimented, but honestly... they work! My two are still brilliant sleepers, happy to be in bed and asleep by 7.30pm every night and both were sleeping through very early (both breastfed) because we followed the routines.
I buy a copy for all my friends that are having babies!

Also "The Best Friends Guide" to pregnancy and toddlers... very very funny but informative too.... takes the "scary" factor out of it all :snow_grin

liney

The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg was very helpful.