10 must-read books for new parents

You did it. You brought new life into the world. Now what? Being responsible for an eating, sleeping, breathing little mini-you can be an existentially daunting concept, but it doesn’t have to be! These must-read books for new parents can help. Here are 10 of the best.

What To Expect When You’re Expecting

Heidi Murkoff’s What To Expect When You’re Expecting is a classic. As the title suggests, it’s an everything-you-need-to-know guide to the ins and outs of pregnancy. What makes for a baby-safe exercise routine? How do you deal with morning sickness? Should you keep working and for how long? There’s no topic too great or too small in this book. Are you not the one carrying the child, but supporting a partner who is? This book has you covered too.

Cribsheet

What makes Emily Oster’s Cribsheet an essential read? In a world where most new-parent how-to’s are opinion-based, Oster offers a well-researched, fact-supported alternative. Subtitled A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, Oster cuts through the often-conflicting parenting advice from friends, doctors, your mom, and unsolicited randos in the grocery store to both confirm and debunk so-called “conventional wisdom” around child-rearing. Turns out there are a lot of myths out there when it comes to new babies, and Emily Oster uses data to separate fact from fiction.

Precious Little Sleep

Alexis Dubief’s Precious Little Sleep is all about the precious little sleep that your baby spends most of their new life doing, and the precious little sleep that you’ll get caring for them. It’s no secret that babies don’t sleep the same way that you do, but why? This book provides insight into the developmental reasons behind babies’ baffling sleep cycles and offers essential tips to get your little one to sleep and sleep soundly (so you can too).

The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read

Phillipa Parry’s The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read will, as the title suggests, have you wishing for exactly that. A Times bestseller written by a renowned psychotherapist, this book will help you navigate the emotional complexities of parenting. Our personalities are made in no small part by our upbringing, and this book will teach you how to examine the effects (good and ill) that your upbringing had on you. How can you not make the same mistakes your parents did? Phillipa Parry has some profound ideas.

The Happiest Baby on the Block

The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp is a new parent bible. The book’s primary concern? Keeping your kid content. What are the best ways to soothe a crying baby? How can you figure out what your child is crying about in the first place? And most importantly, how can you make sure your baby falls asleep and stays asleep? All these questions, and more, are answered by the good doctor himself, explained with four simple concepts that work on the most angelic and the most colicky of kids.

What No One Tells You

There’s a lot of guilt and shame that can come with having a new baby. Feelings of inadequacy, failure, and frustration are a common part of the parenting process, even if no one likes to talk about them. Thankfully, these uncomfortable emotions are the primary subject of What No One Tells You by Dr. Alexandra Sacks and Dr. Catherine Birndorf. These two top reproductive psychiatrists use their combined thirty-plus years of counseling experience to get into the nitty-gritty realities of new motherhood to assure you that all of your emotions, even the darker ones, are a normal part of it all.

How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids

Hiding under a shocker of a title, Jancee Dunn’s How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids is about how parents’ relationships with one another are fundamentally changed by the arrival of children and what they can do about it. Drawing tidbits of wisdom from couples’ counselors, sex therapists, and even an FBI hostage negotiator, this book will help you navigate your changing relationship with your partner with grace, turning a person who can sometimes seem like an obstacle into an ally.

The Whole-Brain Child

Kids’ brains are fundamentally different from adults. A five-minute conversation with a five-year-old can tell you as much. But what exactly is going on under the cerebral hood? The Whole-Brain Child is the brainchild of celebrated neuropsychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel and parenting expert Tina Payne Bryson. This book offers twelve science-based strategies to foster healthy mental development in your kid. The pair explain exactly how a developing child’s brain is wired, and how best to parent it until it finally stops developing—which, as it turns out, happens in their mid-twenties.

The Mayo Clinic Guide for Your Baby’s First Years (2nd Edition)

Fair warning, The Mayo Clinic Guide for Your Baby’s First Years is not a book to be attempted in one sitting. This tome offers insight from one of America’s leading medical institutions on everything from changing diapers to comforting colicky kids. The revised 2nd edition offers further insights into struggles faced by modern parents, including single-parenthood, delayed development, and autism-spectrum disorders. Have questions on anything related to your child’s first three years of life? The Mayo Clinic Guide has you covered.

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk

New York Times bestselling authors Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlis are back with a guide on how to converse with kids. How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk will teach new parents how to cope with children’s negative feelings while expressing yours in a way that is constructive and positive. This book also offers insights into alternative disciplinary strategies for kids, replacing traditional methods of punishment with modern techniques to help your little ones discipline themselves. How do you get your kids to cooperate? How do you set boundaries with your child? What should you do instead of raising your voice? This book has an answer for every situation.