Favorite book about babies

[ballandchain]

My wife told me the other day that she wants to read "a book about babies" so she will know what to do when our baby (hopefully) arrives.  (I asked her if she wants to read a book about pregnancy.  "No," she said, "the midwife will tell me everything I need to know."  Ooooookay).  She is not a big reader -- when she gets into a book, she enjoys reading it, but it can be hard to capture her attention (Dan Brown is usually a win).  I am probably only going to get her to read ONE book, so I need it to be both fairly readable AND pretty comprehensive.  The good news is, she has 7 months to finish it!

I'll probably read dozens of baby books, and I could also use some ideas of where to start.  So tell me what your favorite baby book is, so I can read it and pick one that will be perfect for her.  Bonus if it talks about how great/easy cloth diapering since I am working on convincing her.

TIA.

[ElsaVonM]

My favorite is Baby 411. It is packed with information in a very easy-to-read format. You can browse or read straight through. I liked it so much I just bought Toddler 411. I also liked Your Baby's First Year, which we got for free when we went to a pediatrician's open house.

I did NOT like The Baby Book by Dr. Sears. It's an insane 700+ large-format pages and, while I am sure there is a lot of good advice in it, I couldn't get past all the guilt and scorn heaped on people who don't baby-wear and follow attachment parenting to the letter. I don't need to feel guilty every time I put my baby down or address my own basic needs. (I was also not a fan of the cloying stories about how his wife is the best mom ever and how great all their kids turned out. Good for you, Dr. Sears; not helpful for me.) I was surprised that I didn't like the book b/c it has a HUGE number of fans and came highly recommended by friends. I got so mad at it one day that I stuck it out in the garage, and it went off to Goodwill at the next opportunity.

[ElsaVonM]

(Also, in defense of your wife, I read The Birth Partner and while it was a good read, most of the contents was stuff that I think would be pretty intuitive to most women. Not a waste of time, but not necessary IMO.)

[ballandchain]

Jun 8, 2013 16:47:54 GMT -5 ElsaVonM said:

I couldn't get past all the guilt and scorn heaped on people who don't baby-wear and follow attachment parenting to the letter. I don't need to feel guilty every time I put my baby down or address my own basic needs.

This is exactly the kind of thing that would drive her crazy.  So thanks for steering me away from this one, as well as toward Baby 411.  Also good to know about The Birth Partner, which I was going to make her read as well.  I'll read it and see what I think first.  She'll be at most midwife appointments and at childbirth classes, so that will probably take care of a lot of it.