Two Baby Books
You’d think that sometime in my three months off, I would have found time to post, but no. So now I’m back to work, and I’m sure that I don’t even remember everything I read anymore, but the Show Must Go On, so I’ll type up what I can remember, and hopefully keep up with my current reading, too. Anyway, first installment, yet more parenting books.
Mothering the New Mother by Sally Placksin Amusingly enough, this the last book I finished before Mr. Froggy Pants made his arrival. But this is a really great book that I’d recommend for any new parent, and selective bits for anyone whose friends are having children. It starts out by going over customs for taking care of the new mother in other cultures - with the point that modern America is pretty much alone in expecting new mothers to be able to take care of themselves plus the new baby by themselves within days of having the baby. It talks about how to take care of yourself, and how to recognize, prevent (as much as possible) and treat postpartum depression. It also has chapters devoted to the challenges of dealing with staying at home, working at home, and going back to work. All of the chapters have large lists of resources, all given twice - once with extended annotations, and once just with contact information. I somehow got the 10-year-old edition, but I’m sure that the new edition includes urls as well as phone contacts.
Infant Massage by Vimala McClure Another great book, which my sister gave us for Christmas. I’ve read lots of places how important touch is for babies to develop properly, but how to do it? We tried once from the instructions in The Baby Book, and found them not really complete enough. Not the case with this book - complete photos with detailed instructions on individual moves and suggestions for building up a massage routine with your baby. It also includes background information on the benefits of massage - although the photos of calm and smiley babies could be convincing enough - and special chapters on routines for colicky babies, preemies, working with siblings, and teen parents. Whether you fall into the cry-it-out camp or the attachment parenting camp, or somewhere in between, you and your baby will benefit from this book.
Mothering the New Mother by Sally Placksin Amusingly enough, this the last book I finished before Mr. Froggy Pants made his arrival. But this is a really great book that I’d recommend for any new parent, and selective bits for anyone whose friends are having children. It starts out by going over customs for taking care of the new mother in other cultures - with the point that modern America is pretty much alone in expecting new mothers to be able to take care of themselves plus the new baby by themselves within days of having the baby. It talks about how to take care of yourself, and how to recognize, prevent (as much as possible) and treat postpartum depression. It also has chapters devoted to the challenges of dealing with staying at home, working at home, and going back to work. All of the chapters have large lists of resources, all given twice - once with extended annotations, and once just with contact information. I somehow got the 10-year-old edition, but I’m sure that the new edition includes urls as well as phone contacts.
Infant Massage by Vimala McClure Another great book, which my sister gave us for Christmas. I’ve read lots of places how important touch is for babies to develop properly, but how to do it? We tried once from the instructions in The Baby Book, and found them not really complete enough. Not the case with this book - complete photos with detailed instructions on individual moves and suggestions for building up a massage routine with your baby. It also includes background information on the benefits of massage - although the photos of calm and smiley babies could be convincing enough - and special chapters on routines for colicky babies, preemies, working with siblings, and teen parents. Whether you fall into the cry-it-out camp or the attachment parenting camp, or somewhere in between, you and your baby will benefit from this book.