Well, I never read The Happiest Baby on the Block, but I did check out the video from the library. I would totally recommend watching it. It basically gives you the tools to calm your baby when he/she is crying. The best part- it works! Generally, I only have to use 1 or 2 of the 5 techniques and Caleb is quiet as an angel. (no promise on him remaining that way after I stop the techniques, but it is very helpful to relieve stess in both mom and baby). Plus, if you don't have swaddle blankets (which I would recommend) it teaches you a really good swaddling technique.
What to Expect is a classic baby book. It has information on each month of life, developmental milestones, baby care, sickness, nursing, and many more things. It is nice to have a "go to" book for most things. I really like the section on nursing in the beginning. I wish I would have read it before I started nursing!
What to Expect is a classic baby book. It has information on each month of life, developmental milestones, baby care, sickness, nursing, and many more things. It is nice to have a "go to" book for most things. I really like the section on nursing in the beginning. I wish I would have read it before I started nursing!I like Your Baby's First Year: Week by Week because it always has a new section to read. It does not go as in depth as What to Expect, but rather than grouping chapters by month, it groups them by week. I love being able to open the book and read something specifically about my baby's development each week. Overall, it is your basic baby book with similar information to What to Expect: developmental milestones, sickness, child care, etc. 
BabyWise was unfortunately the only parenting strategy book that I read before having Caleb. Now, don't get me wrong, there is some good information in the book and I actually do follow some of the principles, but the book presents caring for a baby like it is a formula. Because my baby didn't respond perfectly to the formula, I felt like a failure at first. The basic idea of the book is that you follow a parent-directed feeding schedule, which involves a cycle of feeding, awake time, naptime. This in turn will help your baby sleep through the night by the time they are 8-10 weeks old. They have a TON of research to back it up too. Sounds good, right!? The problem that I had with Babywise is that it presents its strategy as the "correct" and "only" way to properly care for your baby. When things weren't working as Babywise said they would, I was baffled because it seemed to me that if you followed the strategy, your baby would be an angel. Well, I've learned in the past 2 months that babies do not necessarily follow formulas. Overall, I just wish that it was not so hardnosed about its specific technique and gave parents other options for what to do if things aren't working out perfectly. All that to say, I do generally keep Caleb on a 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hour schedule and generally try to follow the feeding, awake time, naptime schedule. The main difference is that I do more comforting and responding to Caleb than the book seems to recommend.
I purchased Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child on recommendation from a friend after I was having problem's with Caleb's sleep that weren't being solved by Babywise. I really like this book! It approaches caring for baby from the different strategies (attachment parenting, PDF, etc). It gives solutions in a range that accomodates to whatever strategy you are following. It also explains sleep and its development really well. It doesn't necessarily give "solutions" to your problems, but it gives you tools to try and figure out the cause and address different sleep problems. I really like having it paired with Babywise, because it gives balance and speaks to problems that Babywise doesn't address.
BabyWise was unfortunately the only parenting strategy book that I read before having Caleb. Now, don't get me wrong, there is some good information in the book and I actually do follow some of the principles, but the book presents caring for a baby like it is a formula. Because my baby didn't respond perfectly to the formula, I felt like a failure at first. The basic idea of the book is that you follow a parent-directed feeding schedule, which involves a cycle of feeding, awake time, naptime. This in turn will help your baby sleep through the night by the time they are 8-10 weeks old. They have a TON of research to back it up too. Sounds good, right!? The problem that I had with Babywise is that it presents its strategy as the "correct" and "only" way to properly care for your baby. When things weren't working as Babywise said they would, I was baffled because it seemed to me that if you followed the strategy, your baby would be an angel. Well, I've learned in the past 2 months that babies do not necessarily follow formulas. Overall, I just wish that it was not so hardnosed about its specific technique and gave parents other options for what to do if things aren't working out perfectly. All that to say, I do generally keep Caleb on a 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hour schedule and generally try to follow the feeding, awake time, naptime schedule. The main difference is that I do more comforting and responding to Caleb than the book seems to recommend.
I purchased Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child on recommendation from a friend after I was having problem's with Caleb's sleep that weren't being solved by Babywise. I really like this book! It approaches caring for baby from the different strategies (attachment parenting, PDF, etc). It gives solutions in a range that accomodates to whatever strategy you are following. It also explains sleep and its development really well. It doesn't necessarily give "solutions" to your problems, but it gives you tools to try and figure out the cause and address different sleep problems. I really like having it paired with Babywise, because it gives balance and speaks to problems that Babywise doesn't address.
2 comments:
i don't know if you were reading my blog at this point, but i wrote a post very similiar to yours after parker was born. loved reading your thoughts!
http://silvykehrli.blogspot.com/2009/06/baby-literature.html
I'm enjoying your blog Susan! I did babywise with our first, Hope. And it totally stressed me out. She wasn't the happiest camper either. I remember times of me laying her down on the floor because I couldn't handle the crying...I'd leave the room for a few minutes and then come back...we had some tough times. With my next three i did attachment parenting all the way...nursed whenever they wanted it. They were much happier than Hope and it was less stressful for me. It's crazy how many decisions have to be made almost constantly when you become a new momma. You're doing a wonderful job, and I look forward to meeting your little man sometime! Happy Thanksgiving!
~Rose
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