Being a first time parent can be hard. But one of the key factors to succeeding and rocking parent-hood like a #boss includes two things.
- Having a great tribe-which you already have with us
- Having a few great books!
Between my love for audio books and my general obsession with the variety of products, I am a huge fan of amazon. After doing a significant amount of research, amazon became my main source of finding the right book at a great price- not to mention the brutally honest reviews.
Here are a list of my favorite 15 books for First-time parents, that have heavily informed me and my husband and help save us calling our doula every 15 seconds.
The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth by Genevieve Howland
Order on: kindle,audiobook,paperback or spiral-bound
For generations, pregnancy and birth have been treated as medical “conditions” as opposed to normal biological processes.
Mama Natural is one of the queens who has enormously helped me shifted my idea of birth and what it means to have a natural birth and a healthy delievery.
Genevieve Howland, the woman behind the popular Mama Natural website and YouTube channel, helps to bring every new momma an empowering guidance of pregnancy.
From water births to just wanting to enjoy a healthier pregnancy, The Mamma Natural Week-by-Week Guide to pregnancy and Child birth is a must have for all first time parents! Not only has it helped break down every stage of my pregnancy, but it has also helped me put together a positive birth plan and work through every week of my pregnancy.
The Expectant Father (The Ultimate Guide to Dads-to-Be) by Armin A Brott & Jennifer Ash
Order on: kindle, paperback or Hardcover
We love our women on this blog, but dads we got you too.
The Expectant Father (The Ultimate Guide to Dads-to-Be) is a great book for first time fathers and will help guide dads into the perfect rhythm of fatherhood.
Armin A.Brott gives a month-by-month overview of what to expect throughout their partners pregnancy and gives a clear guide on how to be the best support system every step of the way.
Each chapter covers a detail guide on:
- What’s going on with your partner, emotionally and physically.
- The stages of your babies development, from the fertilized egg to a newborn.
- What’s going on with you, assistance in helping you adjust throughout this new stage of life, and the changes that fatherhood brings.
- How to stay involved as a dad, giving specific ways that can help dads feel included, that will include everything from birthing classes with your partner to starting a college fund.
This book is literally the pregnancy bible for first time parents, but specifically first time daddy’s.
Expecting 411: The Insider’s Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth by Michele Hakakha and Ari Brown
Order on: kindle & paperback
If you are looking for light humor and a conversation tone. This book is for you!
This book is great for helping to break down and digest overwhelming amounts of information. Instead of panicking about what’s happening in your body or to your developing baby, this book is filled with medical advice written by an ob-gy and a pediatrician. Definitely guaranteed to help put your mind at ease.
Personally, I found this was a great book to help provide the medical advice all first time parents need when trying to identify what’s normal and what’s not throughout pregnancy.
The Conscious Parent: Transforming Ourselves, Empowering Our Children by Shefali Tsabary, PhD
Instead of being merely the receiver of the parent’s psychological and spiritual legacy, children function as ushers of their parents development.
The approach Leach takes to this title sets it apart from other must-reads for first-time parents. The book offers the same—or similar—advice you may find in other baby books, but the author’s advice is far from limited to simple tips around childcare. She considers what your child is doing, experiencing, and feeling, adding important context to the conversation.
Your Baby and Child is also a great choice because it advises parents through the first five years, (which are usually the most challenging for first-time parents). Any new parents that take to this author’s method will likely peruse her pages for years, making it a worth while investment!!
How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids by Jancee Dunn
Order on: kindle, hardcover paperback, audio Book
If you are looking for a candid, witty account of how to keep your marriage spark burning after a baby. This book is definitely for you.
Dunn gives a realistic account of what happened to her after having her baby. Like most women , she found herself doing virtually all the household chores, balancing her life, while adjusting to a new baby.
She literally became the ‘expert’ at changing diapers.
Let’s be honest, having a baby can be a big adjustment to a marriage/relationship, and Dunn creates an amazing story behind her account and quest to bring her post-baby marriage back from the brink. From her account of life-changing events to her very practical advice, this was a great tool that has assisted me in knowing the do’s and don’t if planning to not hate my husband after our baby is born.
And now We Have Everything by Meaghan O'Connell and Hachette Audio
Order on: kindle, audio book, paper back, hardcover
Not all pregnancies are planned and before Meaghan O’Connells account, I had no idea on what books would offer the beauty of a brutal, agenda-free account of the existential impact of motherhood.
And Now We Have Everything is O’Connell’s exploration of cataclysmic, impossible to prepare for experience of becoming a mother. If you are a fan of dark human and also a B.S doctor, your connection with O’Connell is guaranteed to be as strong as mine.
Covering eroded maternal self-esteem , postpartum body and sex issues, O’Connell gives the perfect insight into how to deal with stepping into a new, not-yet-comfortable identity.
The Fifth Trimester - The Working Moms Guide to style sanity and success after baby by Lauren Smith Brody
Order on: kindle, audiobook, paperback
This is the book for our tribe! It is a necessary read for all working mothers!
Naturally every mother thinks about the first three trimesters, because that is the trimesters we are told about. But from my own personal research there are definitely five trimesters, and Lauren brings that Fifth Trimester to life.
For a funny tell it like it is guide, this is a great read to help all new parents (especially new moms) to understand the demands of returning to the real world after giving birth.
This book is packed with an honest, funny and comforting tone of advice from 800 moms, with guidance on everything from, how to know if your experience more than just “baby blues” to how to pump breast milk on an airplane. This book helps provide a practical guide to all things covering the final trimester that most first time parents don’t think about.
Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting by Dr Laura Markham
Order on: kindle, audiobook, audio CD, paperback
Peaceful parenting comes down to two simple ideas:
1. Remaining calm
2. Connecting with your child and coaching, but not controlling.
Based on around the latest research on brain development and clinical experience with parents Dr Markham’s approach has been broken down so simply yet effectively.
Teaching all first-time parents how to foster emotional connections with their child, her message helps parents overcome the idea of nagging, pleading and even punishing their child.
Prepare for toddler years and above with this amazing insight that is revolutionizing the art of parenting.
Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs' by Ellen Galinsky
Order on: kindle, audiobook, paperback, audio CD
If you don’t have a highlighter than your going to need one girlie!
With a detailed guide like this, it is essential that you keep track of all the helpful and essential advice Ellen Galinsky has to offer first-time parents. Galinsky helps walk us through important skills that make up focus, self-control, communication, making connections, critical thinking, self distracting, taking on challenges and while giving an insight into engaged learning.
It is easy to find hundreds of books that can give an insight into the ‘how-tos’ of weaning a baby and toilet training as well as nutrition. And with all the overwhelming information you may receive, you may find that a very small percentage of that information is research based.
Unlike most of those books, Ellen Galinsky spent her career pursuing these essential life skills through her own studies and through years of talking with more than a hundred of the most outstanding researchers in child development and neuroscience.
Galinsky helps simplify everyday things that most parents can do to build their knowledge of the everyday skills parents need to build their future today.
'Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby' by Tracy Hogg
Order on: kindle, paperback, hardcover, audible
This New York Times bestseller by Tracy Hogg is known as the miracle book.
Imagine understanding every whimper, and cry that you will experience with your baby. Hogg provides every first time parent with the ability to connect with their baby in ways that we all need.
Helping first time parents to decipher when their baby is hungry, tired angry or in need of a cuddle, this book is the game changer when learning the possible different ways your baby will communicate.
Through her program, “Tracy’s Three Day Magic,” she will teach you how to work through and change bad habits in yourself and your baby!
'Einstein Never Used Flashcards: How Our Children Really Learn — and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less' by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D., and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Ph.D., with Diane Eyer, Ph.D.
Order on: kindle, hardcover, audiobook, paperback
Another book with a great insight of child psychology. This book illustrates the development of a baby from a child’s pyschologist perspective. Before you enroll your little on into preschool, this is a definite must-read!
This award-winning book is the creative work of multiple highly credentialed child psychologists that illustrates the trend of accelerated learning. Before you enroll your little one in preschool, read this book! The psychologists’ message to parents is to let your child learn through play rather than academics. Research shows that play is essential for child development skills like verbal communication and self-awareness in addition to academic subjects such as math, reading, science.
