Besides Babycenter.com and What to Expect When You are Expecting series (I think every parent needs to have these), these are a few others that have helped me coping with the ever changing landscape of parenting.
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding is by far the best book for any mama. I call it the bible and have referenced in tough spiritual nursing times. Like the time that I was not sure I could keep nursing through the worst case of an internal breast yeast infection with my first son which were immediately followed by several bouts of mastitis. This book kept my faith alive that 'breast is best' and that this act of nursing would give me healthy young boys. It also was there when my 14th month old told me he was done nursing, which caused me great grief---if you have ever weaned you know what I am talking about.
The Vaccine Book is also a must own for any parent. WARNING: do not read this while you are pregnant---it will terrify you. Dr. Bob Sears puts vaccine language in common language so that you really do understand the risks in vaccinating and not vaccinating your children. AND yes he does go into gory details about what is really in them---monkey tissue, brain slurry---I am not joking here folks. Read it and weep. But on the other hand, this book put the power of medical decisions in our hands and helped us create our own schedule of shots that we were comfortable with ---and thankfully we found a pediatrician at Kaiser that supported this.
The No Cry Sleep Solution...ahhh...the title kinda says it all, though I have to warn that what I have learned as a parent of two is that no baby is alike and no baby can do the same as another so you have to take this kind of advice with grain of salt. With that being said, this really helped me to understand HOW babies sleep and if I was a stronger parent I would wean my baby off night feedings and get him to sleep through the night with no crying...but man, having second-baby-tired syndrome makes this kind of parenting almost impossible. So really this books spells it out for you but it really is what you do with the information in it that counts.
Games Babies Play is a quick reference for playing with your child. If you were like me the idea of parenting a child seemed overwhelming and this book helped me to calm down a bit in terms of knowing how to play with the baby appropriately. This may seem like a no-brainer for some people but it was one of my big worries as an expectant parent.
Siblings Without Rivalry is about how to help your children live together so you can live too as stated in the title. Without this book, I would be pulling my hair out on how to parent two boys that both are strong willed and stubborn. During the times when they are arguing, and yes although Aram is only 1 year old he can argue with screams and yelps that grate the soul, this book gives me the tools to make sure I am fair and not siding with one or the other child. It also helped me to find the language to speak with my little children so that they felt empowered to use emotion words as well.
The Expectant Father is the first in a series of books by Armin Brott that really helped me understand the father side of having a baby. There were several moments were my husband would read a section or tow to me and I would ask, "do you feel that way?" and the answer was always "yes." to my misconception or disbelief. This book was a tremendous help in giving us a space to talk about parenting, feelings, and plans for our future together. This a must read by not only the dad to be but also the mom to be to understand what is going on with her partner during the process of parenting or becoming a parent.
And Baby Makes Three by Julie and John Gottman, who are leading psychologists on this matter, really helped us figure out how to be a couple again after our first child was born. This book saved our marriage...ok not really, but it was a step in helping us learn to take time for each other, and was a great reminder that we are a unit romantically not just in parenting. It gave me a reminder that it was ok to leave the baby and spend time with my life-long best-friend and husband and to re-learn how to be in love with each other.
Last but not least...I am looking forward to reading
The Rough Guide to Traveling with Babies and Young Children to help inspire us to go abroad next summer!
