The Sh!t No One Tells You: A Guide to Surviving Your Baby's First Year


Dawn Dais - 2013
    She believes that a vast conspiracy exists to hide the horrific truth about parenting from doe-eyed expectant mothers who might otherwise abandon their babies in hospitals and run for it. In The Sh!t No One Tells You, Dais tells it like it is, revealing what it’s really like to be a new parent and providing helpful insights, humor, and hope for those who feel overwhelmed by the exhausting trials they’re suddenly facing. Eschewing the adorableness that oozes out of other parenting books, Dais offers real advice from real moms—along with hilarious anecdotes, clever tips, and the genuine encouragement every mom needs in order to survive the first year of parenthood.

The Pocket Parent


Gail Reichlin - 2001
    Or when brother and sister discover that they can't stand each other. Or when your son can't say no to video games.The Pocket Parent is, literally, a pocket-size book of tried-and-true advice, common sense, parental wisdom, and sanity. Written by two professionals who've reared six children between them and made a career out of helping others with parenting issues, this handy book will be a lifesaver for every parent of a 2-to-5-year-old. It begins with an overall view of the Pocket Parent approach to discipline. Based on unconditional love but firm limits, and aimed at keeping the child's dignity and self-esteem intact, here are strategies that include "I" statements, modeling, family meetings, and "one word" requests. Once the ground rules are set, the guide moves to an A-to-Z compendium of common problems. Just look it up-Anger, Bad Words, Biting, Chores, Doctor Visits, Fears at Night, Lying, Separation Anxiety-and find the "Sanity Savers" list of suggestions, easy-to-follow bullets, anecdotes, and more.For the bag, glove compartment, backpack, or shelf in the kitchen, it's there for you whenever you need it.

Strong As a Mother: How to Stay Healthy, Happy, and (Most Importantly) Sane from Pregnancy to Parenthood: The Only Guide to Taking Care of YOU!


Kate Rope - 2018
    Everyone knows the secret to having “the Happiest Baby on the Block.” This is your guide to being the Sanest Mommy on the Block. It will prepare you with humor and grace for what lies ahead, give you the tools you need to take care of yourself, permission to struggle at times, and professional advice on how to move through it when you do. This book will become a dog-eared resource on your nightstand, offering you the same care and support that you are working so hard to provide to your child. It will help you prioritize your emotional health, set boundaries and ask for help, make choices about feeding and childcare that feel good to you, get good sleep, create a strong relationship with your partner, make self care an everyday priority, trust your instincts, and actually enjoy the hardest job you will ever love. This book is here to take care of you.

How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids


Jancee Dunn - 2017
    After Jancee Dunn had her baby, she found that she was doing virtually all the household chores, even though she and her husband worked equal hours. She asked herself: How did I become the 'expert' at changing a diaper? Many expectant parents spend weeks researching the best crib or safest car seat, but spend little if any time thinking about the titanic impact the baby will have on their marriage - and the way their marriage will affect their child. Enter Dunn, her well-meaning but blithely unhelpful husband, their daughter, and her boisterous extended family, who show us the ways in which outmoded family patterns and traditions thwart the overworked, overloaded parents of today. On the brink of marital Armageddon, Dunn plunges into the latest relationship research, solicits the counsel of the country's most renowned couples' and sex therapists, canvasses fellow parents, and even consults an FBI hostage negotiator on how to effectively contain an "explosive situation." Instead of having the same fights over and over, Dunn and her husband must figure out a way to resolve their larger issues and fix their family while there is still time. As they discover, adding a demanding new person to your relationship means you have to reevaluate -- and rebuild -- your marriage. In an exhilarating twist, they work together to save the day, happily returning to the kind of peaceful life they previously thought was the sole province of couples without children. Part memoir, part self-help book with actionable and achievable advice, How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids is an eye-opening look at how the man who got you into this position in this first place is the ally you didn't know you had.

How to Grow a Baby and Push It Out: Your no-nonsense guide to pregnancy and birth


Clemmie Hooper - 2017
    From how to prevent tearing during birth to what you really need in your labour bag, Clemmie reveals everything pregnant women and new mums need to know with a good dose of humour and wit.

The Whole 9 Months: A Week-By-Week Pregnancy Nutrition Guide with Recipes for a Healthy Start


Sonoma Press - 2016
    Lang has put her valuable knowledge into these pages. With this book in your hand, you are on your way to putting your health first and setting your baby up for lifelong wellness.- -JESSICA ALBA, co-founder of The Honest CompanyGood For Baby, Good For YouDr. Jennifer Lang has worked for decades in support of maternal and infant health. As an OB-GYN, activist, and mother herself, she knows the importance of pre-natal nutrition to mother and baby and how overwhelming all of the information available can be. The Whole 9 Months is your all-in-one pregnancy book to answer the questions you'll have at every trimester. Through simple nutritional guidelines, up-to-date pregnancy research, and real mom-to-mom advice, you'll discover how easy it can be to make good food choices for your body while growing a healthy, happy baby.This invaluable pregnancy nutritional guide contains:Information on essential baby-building nutrients, daily consumption needs, and where to find them in foodsMore than 100 quick and easy recipes for a variety of diets--including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free--with nutritional information for each recipe Suggestions and swaps (and other helpful tricks) to combat nausea and cravings Eating guides that outline what to eat (or not) while pregnant, best food choices if you have gestational diabetes, foods that stimulate breast milk production, and much more!-Eating for two- is the most important eating that you'll ever do--and The Whole 9 Months is the most comprehensive pregnancy book to help you do it right.

The Impatient Woman's Guide to Getting Pregnant


Jean M. Twenge - 2012
    Jean Twenge covers everything you'll be wondering about and advises what you can do at home, before getting a doctor involved.Twenge explains how to prepare mentally and physically when thinking about having a child, how to talk about it with family, friends, and your partner, how to know when you’re ovulating, and when best to have sex, how to tilt the odds toward having a boy or a girl, how to handle the great sadness of a miscarriage, and what to do when you do get pregnant.Trying to conceive often involves an enormous amount of emotion, from anxiety and utter disappointment to hope and joy. With comfort, humor, and straightforward advice, The Impatient Woman’s Guide to Getting Pregnant is the bedside companion to help you through it.

What to Expect the Toddler Years


Arlene Eisenberg - 1994
    Complete with information on self-esteem; emotional, physical, and social development; discipline; eccentric behaviors; and making time for yourself in the midst of it all.

And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready


Meaghan O'Connell - 2018
    O'Connell addresses the pervasive imposter syndrome that comes with unplanned pregnancy, the second adolescence of a changing postpartum body, the problem of sex post-baby, the weird push to make "mom friends," and the fascinating strangeness of stepping into a new, not-yet-comfortable identity. O'Connell brings us into the delivery room rendering childbirth in all its feverish gore and glory, and shattering the fantasies of a "magical" or "natural" experience that warp our expectations and erode maternal self-esteem.And Now We Have Everything is an unflinchingly frank, funny, and intimate motherhood story for our times, about needing to have a baby in order to stop being one yourself.

There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)


Linda Åkeson McGurk - 2017
    In Sweden children play outside all year round, regardless of the weather, and letting young babies nap outside in freezing temperatures is not only common—it is a practice recommended by physicians. In the US, on the other hand, she found that the playgrounds, which she had expected to find teeming with children, were mostly deserted. In preschool, children were getting drilled to learn academic skills, while their Scandinavian counterparts were climbing trees, catching frogs, and learning how to compost. Worse, she realized that giving her daughters the same freedom to play outside that she had enjoyed as a child in Sweden could quickly lead to a visit by Child Protective Services. The brewing culture clash finally came to a head when McGurk was fined for letting her children play in a local creek, setting off an online firestorm when she expressed her anger and confusion on her blog. The rules and parenting philosophies of her native country and her adopted homeland were worlds apart. Struggling to fit in and to decide what was best for her children, McGurk turned to her own childhood for answers. Could the Scandinavian philosophy of “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes” be the key to better lives for her American children? And how would her children’s relationships with nature change by introducing them to Scandinavian concepts like friluftsliv (“open-air living”) and hygge (the coziness and the simple pleasures of home)? McGurk embarked on a six-month-long journey to Sweden to find out. There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather is a fascinating personal narrative that highlights the importance of spending time outdoors, and illustrates how the Scandinavian culture could hold the key to raising healthier, resilient, and confident children in America.

The Informed Parent: A Science-Based Resource for Your Child's First Four Years


Tara Haelle - 2016
    But more and more parents and parents-to-be prefer to make up their own minds, based on the latest findings as well as their own preferences. Science writers and parents themselves, Tara Haelle and Emily Willingham have sifted through research studies on dozens of essential topics, and distill them in this essential and engaging book. In the era of questionable Internet "facts" and parental oversharing on social media sites, it's more important than ever to find credible sources of information in order to make the most informed decisions. This book fills that gap.

HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method


Marie F. Mongan - 1998
    With HypnoBirthing, your pregnancy and childbirth will become the gentle, life-affirming process it was meant to be.In this easy-to-understand guide, HypnoBirthing founder Marie F. Mongan explodes the myth of pain as a natural accompaniment to birth. She proves through sound medical information that it is not our bodies but our culture that has made childbirth a moment of anguish, and that when we release the fear of birth, a fear that is keeping our bodies tense and closed, we will also release the painHypnoBirthing is nature, not manipulation. It relaxes the mind in order to let the body work as it is designed. The HypnoBirthing exercises - positive thinking, relaxation, visualization, breathing and physical preparation — will lead to a happy and comfortable pregnancy, even if you are currently unsure of an intervention-free birth. Your confidence, trust and happy anticipation will in turn lead to the peaceful, fulfilling and bonding birth that is your right as a mother.More than 10,000 happy couples have had their lives changed for the better by HypnoBirthing. More than 500 news organizations — including Good Morning America, The Today Show, Dateline, The Richard & Judy Show, Time, Newsweek, Parenting and Better Homes & Gardens — have joined the movement for better birthing.Why is HypnoBirthing changing the way the world gives birth? That's simple. Because it works.

The Baby Bump: 100s of Secrets to Surviving Those 9 Long Months


Carley Roney - 2010
    Ease all worries with The Baby Bump, a comprehensive guide that offers expert and real mom advice on surviving those all-important nine months. Featuring tips and advice on everything future moms really want to knowincluding what is safe to eat, how the baby develops week by week, and what to expect in the delivery roomreading this book is like chatting with a been-there, done-that best friend. The Baby Bump offers a wealth of fun features such as Birth Plan Checklists, a Kick Count Tracker, and a Work Your Wardrobe outfit assembly guideall wrapped in a bright, cheerful package. It's the must-have resource for any mom-to-be.

The Caveman's Pregnancy Companion: A Survival Guide for Expectant Fathers


David Port - 2006
    Every man should read it!What’s a clueless caveman about to become DAD to do?  After all, it’s tough carrying a child for nine months—for him as well as for her. He’s just not sure how to behave. But help is on hand, in the form of a reassuring (and hysterically funny) course for the totally perplexed. Along with a large dose of humor, it provides the father-to-be with all the know-how he needs to become a well-prepared, well-heeled partner who’s really ready to stand upright and embrace his new responsibilities…rather than cowering from them. Every cave-student will find out how to support his mate through this emotional time, cope with his own feelings, deal with baby-related projects, and perform admirably during labor and delivery. So whether it’s catering to his exhausted companion’s needs by preparing a nutritional and tasty meal or engaging in a snuggle session when she craves a little cuddling, with the help of this book a guy will become the proud Cro-Magnon caregiver he longs to be!

What to Expect When Your Wife Is Expanding: A Reassuring Month-By-Month Guide for the Father-To-Be, Whether He Wants Advise or Not


Thomas Hill - 1993
    In this classic parody, Thomas Hill presents the testosterone-inspired answer to the best-seller What to Expect When You're Expecting.* This completely revised and updated edition of the best-selling parody humorously guides fathers-to-be through nine months of 21st-century baby preparations.Complete with weird baby names, tips on how to avoid a sympathetic pregnancy, and a discourse on the evolution of ESPN and the role it plays postdelivery, Hill's tome has been thoroughly revised to account for not only the usual father-to-be questions but also the often baffling and amusing technological and medical advances awaiting today's four million expectant dads.* This hilarious month-by-month guide offers new and veteran dads solace, laughter, and a bit of useful information, including a question-and-answer chapter covering basics like "How much does having a baby cost?"; visual charts assessing such things as the breakdown behind the mom-to-be's weight gain; sidebars covering common wife complaints and anticipated purchases; and much more.