Parenting

I recommend the book Precious Little Sleep. You will think about how to get your baby to sleep a lot during the first year and especially during those first 3 months. People often recommend The Happy Sleeper, but personally I think that book is for when things have already gotten out of control, not when you're just trying to formulate a plan.

I would recommend having a peek at the CDC's milestones app and also the ASQ-3 which is a checklist for milestones going up to 5 years old.

Yale has a fantastic online parenting course that's based by science. It's really an in depth explanation of the ABC Model of parenting, which has been shown to have the best outcomes and is really the authoritative style of parenting, which should not be confused with the authoritarian style of parenting which does not have great outcomes. Neither does the permissive style of parenting.

The "Your ___-Year Old" Books (here is Your One-Year Old) are fantastic for learning what children at like at various ages as far as temperament and general interests. I would disregard a lot of the parenting advice in this book because it's very much of that "Girls like dolls. Boys like trucks. Neither should speak unless you give permission" variety.

I really enjoyed French Kids Eat Everything. It's more a philosophy for parenting, rather than a how to book.

I didn’t really read specific books to be honest but pursued any topic extensively eg baby led weaning, bed sharing etc

Like you, OP, I'm going to be a parent in a few months. So far I've enjoyed "The Expectant Father" and "The New Father". Both of those take a month by month approach and focus on the emotions the father, mother and baby are going through, their relationships to each other, and some practical advice like what to pack in your hospital bag.

I also really enjoyed "Bringing Up Bebe", which follows an American expat learning about French parenting. The advice is mostly sound, but more importantly, it exposes you to a completely different philosophy on parenting (unless of course, you happen to be French, OP). This lets you to reexamine your own assumptions about parenting that you may have learned from your family or tv, and you can decide for yourself what kind of parent you want to be.

Hope this helps!

Your baby comes with very loud instructions. You only have to guess which need you have to fulfill. 😉

I really liked these:

• Expecting Better and Cribsheet by Emily Oster - I believe she's an economist, and her goal is to look at modern studies to help you make decisions related to pregnancy and then your child.
• The Happy Sleeper by Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright - the ideas in this book have been around for a while (I was telling my mom about it and she said it was the same advice as when I was a baby), and I don't like all of it, but their advice about a bedtime routine was great for us from about 3m+.
• Safe Infant Sleep by James J McKenna - if you're interested in co-sleeping at all. And honestly, everyone co-sleeps at some point, so it's good to be informed about how to do it safely. You don't want to have to look this stuff up at 3am when baby is screaming because they will only sleep in your arms.
• How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber - I liked this one because I had a lot of anxiety about how to talk to kids. I didn't feel like my parents set good examples, and this book made me feel better about how to be emotionally available and safe for my kids.

I also liked the Instagram accounts heysleepybaby (sleep), nicolecruzrd (food habits), and solidstarts (6m+ feeding). I use the CDC Milestones app just to reassure myself that my baby isn't falling behind on anything, though my doctor asks all the important questions at our checkups too.

But most importantly, don't take anything written in a book or online as gospel (they're always very opionated/biased). Pick the parts you like and that feel right to you. Also, I skipped chapters a lot, I got tired of reading like 5 chapters trying to convince me to read the book when I was already reading it.

Lastly, just communicate as much as possible with your partner (if you have one), and be kind to yourself and to them. Babies don't need instruction manuals, and despite how much is written about them, you'll probably forget most of it. But any decisions you make should be made together, because very few strategies work if only one caregiver is committed to it.

I strongly recommend the Wonder Weeks. You don’t really need to read every word. Just understand that your baby will go through big developmental leaps, and that those leaps will first make them fussy/scared -but later make them a genuine joy to be around. If you go into it expecting that kind of pattern (and able to recognize when you’re in a fussy phase), you’ll do great because you won’t over-correct to a 4-day fussy phase. It also just lends some sanity when everything that used to work suddenly doesn’t anymore 🤪

I can't recommend any book but can give you some answers, if you have questions. We raised three kids and did quite good. Books are too stiff in giving advice and having your first baby is a very fluid experience.

Maybe it's too late for you but for other would be parents out there... PLEASE DON'T.