So Many Parenting Books, So Little Time

A first time pregnant lady starts her maternal education, typically, with a pregnancy book.  Makes sense.  I've previously given you a list and some reviews of not-so-serious pregnancy books (here).  Eventually the education turns to the actual labor and delivery, then parenting.  Also makes sense.  At a certain point one can become saturated with pregnancy knowledge.  A mom-to-be is naturally freaked out curious about the next step (aka the arrival of the baby) and a little knowledge can prevent curiosity from turning into anxiety.

What does a newbie mom-to-be read when she wants to learn about childbirth and parenting?  Well, turns out that childbirth is usually covered in the pregnancy books.  Easy enough.  It's the how-to-parent guides that come in separate manuals.  There are many books and many theories about the perfect techniques for helping babies smoothly transition from womb to world.  So, choosing the right guide can be a little overwhelming.

In a previous post, I (briefly) covered the method of attachment parenting (more on that here).  But even for this one parenting style there are a bazillion book choices...one of which is entitled Beyond the Sling and written by Blossom.

Side note: Blossom currently stars on The Big Bang Theory.  

Remember when Blossom was on Blossom?

Back to the topic at hand - how can you successfully sift through all these parenting styles much less all these books about parenting styles?  I have no idea.  Yeah, not the answer you were hoping for.  I can share that my circle of friends recommends The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp.  I've heard it called the sleep bible.  Apparently it helps your baby be happy (hence the title), which in turns helps your baby sleep.  

There's also Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman, which is SO hot right now.  Even if you're not a first time mom-to-be you probably know about this book because it's been all over the news this year (here, here and here).  Apparently it's the next Tiger Mom style, a reference that will only make sense to you if you remember how hot the Tiger Mom book was last year.

Starting with personal recommendations is a great tool.  General surveys work, but make sure to ask those friends whose parenting style you admire.  Peruse the reviews on Amazon.com.  People are overly detailed and often brutal in their Amazon reviews, which is quite helpful.  Use your local library to test the waters on a couple books that seem like good fits.  Or be the obnoxious person in Barnes & Noble who basically reads the book before purchasing.  Keep in mind that there's no wrong choice.  The idea is to get you excited for the next step, so if it takes a couple tries then so be it.  

If you've read a parenting book and have some solid advice - Leave A Comment!  Sharing is caring.