Pregnancy and Baby book recommendations

[ShannonCC]

My youngest is 6 and this phase of my life has passed so I didn't have an answer when a pregnant family member asked me for baby book recommendations!

She's already been told by numerous people (like me, LOL!) that What To Expect should be avoided. She is going to a midwife and plans to breastfeed and talks derisively about a local hospitals 49% (not kidding!) c-section rate, but other than that, she's probably not going to agree with most of the MDC ideals. A book that comes down hard on the issues is probably going to turn her off.

So, does anyone have any suggestions for pregnancy and baby books that maybe introduce the idea of things like co-sleeping, not circing (don't know what gender it is), gentle discipline, etc, but basically just suggest them, not push them?

Maybe Dr. Sears? Are his books still good? And does he have a pregnancy one?

[sarah1122]

Dr. Sear's book is great.
Penelope Leach - Your Baby and Child
Susan Weed - Wise Woman's Herbal for the Childbearing Year
I also read Ina May Gaskin's books multiple times

The BEST parenting book is Everyday Blessings by Jon and Myla Kabat Zin

[Ruthie's momma]

I agree, Dr. Sears' books are wonderful. While pregnant, I started to read so many different (AP & mainstream) pregnancy and parenting books. I always went back to those written by Dr. Sears and his wife, Martha. My favorites are...

*The Pregnancy Book
*The Baby Book
*The Attachment Parenting Book
*The Discipline Book

Written by his wife, Martha Sears..

*The Breastfeeding Book

Written by one of his sons, Robert Sears...

*The Vaccine Book

I borrowed all but two of the aforementioned books (The Baby Book and The Vaccine Book).

[annettemarie]

Moving to Books

[ShannonCC]

Thanks!

And sorry Annettemarie, I never thought to put this in *books*

I talked to her last night and she's chatting with a doula online (!!!) and the doula already recommended a Sears book! Very cool. It might be better coming from someone else anyway. She knows how I raise my kids but she also doesn't like the way my kids behave (my daughter in particular is a good example of how nursing til 4.5, co-sleeping longer and practicing AP and GD do NOT guarantee a laid back, mellow child, ).

I'll go to Barnes & Noble later this week and check out some of these titles to see which ones I think will appeal to her. Thanks for the suggestions!

[annettemarie]

No problem-- I figured since you were looking for pregnancy AND baby books, you'd get some good advice here.

[LeighB]

I like all the Sears books. They introduce you to things and then you can decide what you want to do, and how far you want to take it.