My Favorite Books for a New Mom

Being a parent is such a fun, new, exciting thing, but honestly I had never been a parent before, so I needed/still need help. I don't know where I would be without my mom and some really great books. These books have been great in helping me to learn how to get Elanor on a schedule and how to alter it as she gets older, how to feed her, what to feed her, potty training, etc.

Here is a list of books I would recommend to any new or soon-to-be mom:

The BabyWise books are great. There are several more and I also highly recommend Baby Wise Two and the Toddler Wise book as well. This books helps one to understand the whole nursing/feeding, sleeping, awake-time schedule. It was rather mind-blowing. One of the things I did not know before I read it was, you don't nurse your baby to sleep and they need to learn to fall asleep on their own. Because of this book Elanor is a good sleeper. She started sleeping through the night at 2 months. There were occasionally some bad nights, but they were few and far between. Thank you, because I need my sleep.  For more tips, real experiences with the baby wise methods go to this great blog.

This book by British author, Annabel Karmel, is a really great introductory book for starting solids. It had recipes (since we did not do store bought baby food), gives advice on when and how to start solids, etc.

I have only read the toddler book, but she wrote one for babies too that I really need to read. This book is a great read and has awesome advice. I highly suggest reading it and I really want to own it, so I can come back to it at anytime. She gives advice on how to deal with and put an end to tantrums, advice on how to help toddlers get used to a new sibling, etc. Really, every parent should read this book. 

This potty training book by Jill M. Lekovic has a lot of practical advice. I just wish I read it sooner! You are supposed to start potty training at 6 months, I did not read the book until Elanor was 11 months.. It is a really easy going method and we are using it with Elanor.

Although this book is not about parenting at all, it is about food. Food is central to family life and I feel like it is important to be aware of what we put in our and our children's bodies. I am very much into eating healthy, organic, local, whole foods as much as I can. Becoming a mom, made me even more paranoid about food, because I care what Elanor eats. I don't want her starting puberty early because of what I fed her. Plus, it is better for her and our whole family. Tyler an I are a lot more susceptible to getting sick now after eating meat at someones house or a restaurant (not that we ever ate unhealthy food, we are just 10x more careful, especially with meat). There are a ton more books to read on this subject, but this is a really good starter one and really opens your eyes to ins and outs of the food industry. Food Inc. is also a really good, quick movie that gets the point across too. My professor at SVU also wrote the book Poisoned, which I need to read....

Oh, and my mom. She is a great asset to have and answers my baby questions all the time. Moms are the best.

Do you have any favorite parenting books? I would love to read them! Also, any suggestions for good toddler books, specifically how to teach (as in numbers. letters, etc.) your toddler?