Prior to the birth of our daughter, and over the past fifteen months since, we have received great advice and recommendations from friends and family.  This website is one of the things we decided to use to share and pass on this wealth of knowledge that we have gathered.  As such, we had the following books recommended to us, and we found them to be invaluable.  We encourage you to pick them up at your local book store or borrow them from your local public library.  Enjoy!

• On Becoming Baby Wise – We had this recommended to us by several friends.  We followed their sleeping and feeding scheduling guidelines pretty strictly.  We also took the notion of full-feeding very seriously, and attribute that to our daughter’s even temperament and relaxed personality.  We also believe the Babywise principles played a significant role in her being such a great sleeper (slept thru the night consistently by 8 weeks) and a great eater.
• Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child– In addition to the Babywise principles, we used the guidelines in this book to further refine our daughter’s sleep schedules, and to help us manage our expectations.
• What to Expect Books – Pregnancy/First Year/Second Year/Toddler – Lots of good nuggets of info in these books that helped us prepare beforehand for the first week at home with our daughter, and then the first several months after birth.  These books also really helped us to manage our expectations and provide a sort of roadmap for our daughter’s growth and development.  These books have good lists of developmental milestones that you can track each month to make sure the baby is on track with things.  These milestones gave us ideas as to when to introduce and work on rolling, crawling, and walking…as well as new toys to keep our daughter engaged.  We usually started a month or two before they recommended and we have been ahead of schedule most of the way so far.  Be sure to pick up the First Year book while still pregnant, as it will help with post-birth planning (i.e. picking a pediatrician, feeding supplies, breastfeeding, illness, childcare, etc.)
• The Happiest Baby on the Block– This DVD has great advice and demos on how to calm your baby and keep your sanity.  Some of these methods seem like magic…but most of them worked for us.  Definitely good to help ease your anxiety and manage a fussy, overtired baby.
• Dare to Discipline – Dare to Discipline is fairly religious, but the overall concepts are sound in helping to set boundaries and expectations with your little one early on.  The original version of the book is outdated (circa 1975) in its examples, but the concepts are the same.  The newer version should be a little more relevant.
• Top 100 Baby Purees – This book provides a great base if you are interested in making your own baby food.  All you need is a food processor/blender, a few ice cube trays, and two hours every couple weeks.  We did this almost exclusively, with some supplementing with squeezy packs from Ella’s Kitchen, Happy Tot, and Plum while on the go.  It is easier than it sounds…at least according to my wife…and you know exactly what you are putting into your babies body (i.e. organic fresh veggies and fruits, no preservatives, etc.).
• Making the “Terrible” Twos Terrific! – Making The Terrible Twos Terrific provides good insight on managing the typical behavior of your 18-36-month old child. It includes background on your child’s mental and emotional development during this time period, and gives you a decent understanding of what they are thinking and experiencing. It also explains how to navigate this incredibly formative time period in ways that will have a lasting impact on how your child will act and carry themselves as a teen…and ultimately how they will function as an adult. Definitely a worthwhile read.

Do you have other favorite books that you have found helpful and would recommend?  Any thoughts on the books listed above?  If so, please share and engage with our community in the comments below.  Thanks!