The Best Pregnancy and Baby Books To Buy

Take it from someone who has read more than 100 books about pregnancy and parenting, these are the best available guides. Here’s why:

1. These selections are recent. Information about pregnancy, birth, and the newborn stage has changed rapidly, and books that are more than a couple of years old can be wildly out of date. This is especially true of books about birth, which may needlessly alarm you with disturbing statistics and “routine obstetrical practices” from the previous century. For that reason, I don’t recommend purchasing used books unless you know you’re getting the latest edition.

2. These selections are balanced. Rather than assuming you’ll be doing things their way, these books factually present the pluses and minuses of different choices and make evidence-based recommendations.

3. These selections are comprehensive and useful. I’ve picked the book you should read if you only read one book in each category with a *.

Pre-conception

* Taking Charge of Your Fertility

Getting Pregnant and the first chapters of The Mother Of All Pregnancy Books

Pregnancy

The Mother Of All Pregnancy Books

BabyCenter.com weekly pregnancy updates

Labor and Birth

The Big Book Of Birth

Breastfeeding

The Nursing Mother’s Companion

Baby Names

The Baby Name Wizard

Baby Gear

Baby Bargains

Child Development

What’s Going On In There? How The Mind and Brain Develop During The First Five Years Of Life

Wonder Weeks

First Year Guide

The Mother Of All Baby Books

 

Preventing SIDS

Image via www.prevent-sids.org 

SIDS is the leading cause of death in healthy babies over one year of age.

From Wikipedia:

Prenatal risks

• inadequate prenatal care ^{[citation needed]}
• inadequate prenatal nutrition
• tobacco smoking
• use of heroin
• subsequent births less than one year apart
• alcohol abuse
• being overweight
• smoking and taking other drugs while pregnant

[edit] Post-natal risks

• low birth weight (especially less than 1.5 kg (~3.3 lb))
• exposure to tobacco smoke^[2]
• laying an infant to sleep on his or her stomach (see sleep positioning below)
• failure to breastfeed
• excess clothing and overheating
• excess bedding, soft sleep surface and stuffed animals
• gender (61% of SIDS cases occur in males)
• age (incidence rises from zero at birth, is highest from two to four months, and declines towards zero at one year)
• premature birth (increase risk of SIDS death by 50 times)

As you can see from the chart at the top of this post, being a second or subsequent baby or being the child of a single parent also puts children at a higher risk of SIDS.

Some other tips:

1. Always put your baby to sleep on it’s back. The Back-To-Sleep campaign has helped dramatically reduce crib deaths.

2. Always keep your crib free of blankets, stuffed animals, toys, extra clothing, and loose or soft bedding.  NEVER USE PILLOWS OR SOFT BUMPER PADS IN A CRIB.  Most SIDS is caused by suffocation. Use a wearable blanket.

3. Get a new (not used) crib mattress and either wrap it in a cover specially designed to prevent SIDS or buy the HALO airflow mattress — the only mattress proven to reduce SIDS — and clean it regularly.  Make sure your mattress fits tightly and that the sheets and pad fight snugly (but not so tightly they might pop off.) Use only 100% cotton sheets and wearable blankets.

4. Never allow a young baby to sleep on a sofa, pillow, cushion, or in adult bed that doesn’t meet the above requirements for cribs (i.e. being totally free of soft bedding).

5. Consider short-term pacifier use as a means of reducing your baby’s risk for SIDS.

Getting a Good Breastfeeding Start

From AskMoxie:

“Most of us are going to need more resources, in book form (The Nursing Mother’s Companion by Kathleen Huggins is extremely factual and covers a zillion scenarios, while So That’s What They’re For by Janet Tamaro has a bunch of actual information but also humor and commiseration) and on the internet (kellymom.com) and in real life (an IBCLC lactation consultant, La Leche League meetings, breastfeeding support groups run by hospitals and women’s centers, or even just another mom you see nursing at the bookstore).”

Moxie suggests putting the number of a local IBCLC lactation consultant on your fridge so you’ll have someone to call on your first day home with the baby.

She also has an important pdf of ways to prevent post-partum depression (ppd).

Tips: Preparing For A Newborn

1. Have all of the gear you will need on-hand. “Quick trips” to Target will suddenly become a major ordeal. So get a 2-3 MONTH supply of diapers, wipes, breastfeeding supplies, bottles, and basic baby clothing like onesies, blankets, socks, and hats.  Pre-launder clothing items, and get every bit of 0-3 or 0-6 month gear out of the box, assembled, tested, and in the exact place you’ll want it when you come home from the hospital. The crib and basinett should be ready to place a baby in — not covered with stuffed animals or things you haven’t opened yet. Practice handling the car seat and opening and using stroller so you’ll know how they work. Do a mock diaper change and make sure everything is within easy reach.

2. Get up-to-date on the rest of your life: your oil changes, financial records, home improvements, scheduling service workers, etc.

 3. Outsource as much of the non-sleep, non-baby care tasks as possible. Plan to use services like Peapod (grocery delivery), Let’s Dish (prepared freezer meals), Amazon.com prime, and/or a cleaning service for a few weeks. Consider getting a Roomba, and have your floors professionally cleaned (you’ll be spending a lot of time down there.)

4. Get round-the-clock, hands-on help for at least one week. If your mom or other close relative or friend with baby experience isn’t available, seriously consider hiring a postpartum doula or baby nurse.

5. Nightlight the place up and prepare some good lullaby tunage.

Low Cholesterol Puts Moms At Risk Of Having Premature and Low Birthweight Babies

Yahoo! News: …new research suggests that very low cholesterol levels in pregnant women may harm the health of the fetus. 

Expectant mothers whose total cholesterol levels were under 159 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) gave birth — on average — to babies weighing about one-third of a pound less than babies born to mothers whose cholesterol levels exceeded 159 mg/dL, the researchers found. Additionally, 12.7 percent of white women with low cholesterol levels gave birth prematurely, compared to just five percent of those with higher cholesterol levels. No such association was found in black women, however.

 

Twins and Other Multiples

Twins may seem like a desirable outcome: one pregnancy, two kids. My husband is a twin, and the relationship he has with his brother is extremely special.

But consider the outcomes for the children (from Raising WEG:)

Mothers of multiple-birth children show higher rates of post-partum depression than mothers of singletons.  Mothers of multiple-birth children are slower to attach to their infants, and they learn their infants’ cues and personalities at slower rates than parents of singletons.  Multiple-birth children are delayed in language acquisition by, on average, 6 to 12 months, even adjusting for prematurity and other medical delays.  The early cognitive deficits that result from the suboptimal environment of a multiple-birth environment persist at least through age 8.  Raising multiple infants places enormous stresses, physical and psychological, on parents.  Parents of higher-order multiples in particular have higher divorce rates than other parents.

Preventing Food Allergies

From The Mayo Clinic:

Can food allergies be prevented?

Although there is no surefire way to prevent your child from developing a food allergy, introducing foods at the right age may help. Experts still need to do more studies to find out exactly what works best, but here are some steps you can take:

• Avoid peanuts during pregnancy and while nursing. Eating peanuts during pregnancy and while breast feeding may increase your child’s risk for developing a peanut allergy and other allergies — especially if you have a family history of allergies.
• Give your child only breast milk for the first 6 months, if possible. This is the best source of nutrition for your infant — and it may help prevent your child from developing food allergies that can last well into childhood or even adulthood.
• Wait until your child is 6 months old to introduce solid foods. Especially if you have a family history of food allergies, taking steps to prevent early exposure to foods that can cause allergies is a good idea. As a child grows older and the digestive system matures, the body is less likely to absorb food or food components that trigger allergies. Experts believe that waiting to introduce solid foods until your child is 6 months old may help prevent allergies to those foods.
• Introduce cow’s milk after one year. Studies show that waiting to introduce cow’s milk until your child reaches age 1 reduces the chance your child will develop a milk allergy.
• Introduce eggs at age 2. This may help prevent your child from developing an egg allergy.
• Introduce nuts and seafood at age 3. This may help prevent your child from developing an allergy to these foods. (Do not give your child whole nuts until he or she has molars and can chew them well.)
• Introduce all new foods gradually and one at a time. Before introducing mixed foods that could cause an allergic reaction, introduce each new food on its own. Don’t mix foods until you’re sure each individual food is tolerated.
• Give your child cooked or homogenized foods. Many foods are less likely to cause an allergic reaction after they are cooked. (However, be careful. A few foods — such as cod and celery — still contain allergy-causing proteins after cooking.)

New and Innovative

Belly Bra maternity support belt

Angel Milk protein shakes for pregnant moms

Baby Bed Blocks to elevate one end of a crib

Stroller or “Buggy” weights

Tadpole iPod case for kids

Piccolini quilted pacifier holder in 12 colors

Pop up Travel Cot from Samsonite

Gogo Kidz car seat hauler for airports

pacifier drier

Razbaby keep-it-kleen pacifiers

Tub Tints

cool bath mats

Frubis or Baby Banz sunglasses for babies

Manified fingernail clippers at One Step Ahead

Hello Ink business cards

SIGG bottles are available at MySIGG and at Amazon

Viking Tee

Kaboost lifts your normal chairs so you don’t need a booster seat

The Ultimate Take-To-The-Hospital Bag

Insurance cards and hospital pre-registration forms

Copy of birth plan

Chapstick, Lotion, and Cornstarch

Sealed bottle of olive oil

4 pairs thick socks

Sponges

Tupperware rolling pin or tennis ball

Checkbook, c.c., coins, and $1 bills for the vending machines.

Water bottles, Gatorade, energy bars, hard candy, mints, and single-serving snacks in a small cooler.

Prioritized list of phone numbers

Cell phone and charger

Camera

Robe

Body pillow or two regular pillows with colored cases
Swimsuit for dad and swimtop for mom

Change of clothing for dad and mom

GlamourMom Nursing top, other comfortable clothing

Three nursing bras

Six pairs of cheap, dark-colored underwear

Slippers

Toiletries: hairbrush, bands, shampoo, soap

Pump, shield, shells, pads, cream

Depends, Tucks, and Maxi pads

Diaper bag

Side-snap shirt and take-home outfit

4 diapers

1 receiving blanket

1 take-home outfit for Mom

Car seat

Phone number for the closet pharmacy amd taxi service.

Pre-stamped and addressed announcements

Notepad, pens, and pre-stamped thank you notes

Breastfeeing Manual and magazines

Morning Sickness Aids

 

erbavia Quease-Ease Lip Balm, $9

Red-e-Bag, $15.95

Sea Bands, $9.95

Preggie Pops, $3.75

Various supplements