With that in mind, I thought I'd recommend the main books that helped me survive the first year of parenthood. From the off, I have to say that I am not including the super duper happy baby books, the ones that proclaim to guarantee a baby who will sleep through the night by 2 months or any such sort. I read a few of these and whilst some had so ok tips, they are a bit more 'Tiger Mom' than my own style of parenting is. These books are ones that are for me realistic, ones that don't make you feel like a rubbish parent and are reads that will make a knowing smile appear on your lips rather than make you question every parenting judgement you've made to date! Here we go...
'What Mothers Do especially when it looks like nothing' this book is amazing! I was leant it by a friend at some point in the first year with Milo and it is one that I would recommend to any new mum. It may not be one of the super famous parenting books that are featured on every top 5 list, but for any mum who is feeling like she is getting nothing done, this is the book for you! It's a real gem and it helped me to stop feeling so guilty and frustrated during the hardest times.
'The Wonder Weeks' This one was also leant to me by the same person who passed on the book above. She was clearly a good source of book inspiration for mums! There will be stages in your first year with your new baby when you'll wonder what in heck has happened to your little cherub. They'll go from being a fabulous sleeper to screaming through the night or from a happy baby to a constantly grizzly one. When you are in the depths of these phases it can feel like they will go on forever or that you had simply imagined what your child was previously like and maybe they were like this all along?! This books was really helpful as whenever Milo's behaviour seemed to change a great deal (usually for the worse), I would flip through this book to the appropriate pages and would discover why it was that Milo was being that way. It would inevitably be down to a growth spurt or major developmental change and whilst the book can't give you the miracle cure to make things any different, just having an explanation for what was taking place was enough to lighten it a little.
'The Girlfriend's Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood' I have read most of the books from Vicki Iovine and I am a solid follower of whatever she comes up with in the future. These books aren't full of facts, they aren't terrifyingly filled with everything that could possibly occur in the first year like the 'What to Expect' book (I dislike these tremendously). It is instead a fun and humerous selection of silly stories from the writer (herself a mum of 4) and those of her close friends. For those days when you are stuck, sat breastfeeding once again, make sure you have this book at hand to give you a giggle. You might even learn something!
'Babies' Last but not least and a bit of a side-step being that this isn't in fact a book, I just had to add the documentary 'Babies' in to the mix. When I watched this film back in 2011 I remember wishing how I had seen this in the early months with Milo or even better, whilst I was still pregnant with him! If you are expecting your first child and are wondering if you will ever have your house clean enough?, if the family pet is going to work with the baby?, how will you cope with a baby and no bath? and other thoughts that most expectant parents go through, watch this film and realise that in reality, babies are born in to worlds so different from our own...
What books or films did you really appreciate reading/watching in the first year of parenthood? Do you have any you would highly recommend? Is there anything you read that you would advise new parents not to read? I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments section below...
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These look good books - I read some awful ones when mine were younger. A friend burnt one she read it made her feel such a bad mother - terrible! I think we can just do our best...we will all make mistakes wont we! Popping in from the blog hop. X
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, some of the books are just horrible. I read a book about raising boys that I generally liked but it also went on about how boys get deep-rooted separation anxiety and how you absolutely must be a SAHM with them for the first 3 years or something. I hate parts like that because that simply isn't an option for a lot of parents and so how are you supposed to feel reading it?! I can also say that my son has had regular periods of over 24 hours away from me since he was 10 months old (because his dad and I are separated and share custody of him) and he doesn't have any separation anxiety whatsoever! Thanks for popping by x
DeleteI would add the Baby Whisperer to the list as that was what finally made my son sleep through the night!!
ReplyDeleteGood to know should I have problems this time around to the extent I did last time!
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