Please urgently help me with a parenting book!

Looking very sheepish! DH suspects he's given it to someone at work. Will keep looking and let you know.

I have an extra baby whisperer book if you want it. Delivered dd2 6 weeks ago and she is already on EASY and thriving. Self settling for all her naps without CIO. Thought i had lost my baby bible so went out and bought a new one so youre more than welcome to come and collect the extra one.

Thanks plumie! You're an angel! Will let you know. Hope you are all doing well! :) xx

Does anyone know of a book store that regularly stocks the Baby Whisperer book? Baby is due on monday and suddenly realised that getting this book was on my to-do list and completely forgot about it! Oops! Kinokoniya almost always has it stock! If all else fails, I have it, and you are more than welcome to pop over and borrow it! I put DD1 on the EASY routine from about 9 weeks old and with DD2...literally whilst we were still in hospital :) So far, it's working really really well, but I also think partially because I know how to implement the routine! Shout out if you don't come right finding the book in the bookstores x

Does anyone know of a book store that regularly stocks the Baby Whisperer book? Baby is due on monday and suddenly realised that getting this book was on my to-do list and completely forgot about it! Oops!

Hugsy I haven't personally read it, but from friends The Baby Book http://www.amazon.com/The-Baby-Book-Everything-Revised/dp/0316778001 is a good all rounder from Dr Sears. I really enjoyed his "good behaviour book" which is more about toddler/child discipline so a wee way away for you indeed but its good to read these things in advance so you get a feel for how you personally relate to what you have read. Ironically almost all of what I read/bought when i was pregnant was in the parent lead/scheduled style (GF, BW etc) and it was only after my baby was born and I realised that approach was not for me, that I researched and found sites like Dr Sears etc. I had studied attachment theory before and a lot of my parenting ethic probably comes from both how I was raised and what I learned about child development as part of my psychology training. You can take a lot from books and leave what seems counterintuitive. The BW book is good in many ways, I just really really really don't like the feeding advice. I'd recommend borrowing books whenever possible, you can easily spend a fortune!

kiwispiers you are a gem. these links are really useful. the book you mailed me is really good. reading your posts and doing bit of research( when baby allows :) ) i am also following AP method. i can't sit and wait for the baby to "cry it out" even if he whimpers i pick him up. (we just bear with that method once ( for full 7 min) and with his cries we were getting distraught!! i have learned to make difference between his cries :) "first time parents"by lucy atkins is also a nice book.i found it really simple and easy to realte to. the no cry sleep solution by elizabeth is a wonderful book. i am going to buy baby whisperer next.

It really depends a lot on your parenting philosophy/approach. Some people like to "manage" a baby, like its a project, some believe in very parent-led/authorative style where basically you decide precisely how things will be and your baby has no choice but to fit in. Some people see baby books as instruction manuals, “push buttons A, B and C and your baby will do X, Y and Z”. There are plenty of popular books that cater to these ideas. I tend to follow an attachment parenting approach, which is basically the core belief that your priority with parenting is to provide a very secure and nurturing environment, which allows your baby to communicate with you and be listened to in order for all their needs to well met. You are still the parent, ultimately you make decisions but you allow your baby to have a voice and recognize that they have needs both physical and emotional. This means that if your baby is hungry, you listen to that, and feed them, if your baby is scared, and wants you to hold them, you listen to that and comfort them. Your baby shouldn't really ever have to "scream" for a feed, that is really a last resort that babies use when they are being ignored. A lot of people seem to think feeding on demand is about feeding a baby when they cry, its not. Demand/on cue feeding is about feeding a baby when they are hungry, rather than when a book tells you they “should be” hungry. On cue feeding is recommended by major health bodies such as The World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Its not that attachment parents don't like the idea of a full nights sleep, its more that that is further down their list of priorities, number one is that their baby feels happy, valued and safe, and is not left scared or hungry. Communication (in two way direction) is very highly valued. So AP parents will gently help their baby transition from being fully dependent on their mother to independent, in every aspect of life, sleeping, eating, soothing, decision making etc etc. If you think you might be an AP parent, have AP leanings, or would like to learn more about this mindset then I would recommend books by Dr Sears, and also the Dr Sears website http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/child-rearing-and-development as well as books by Elizabeth Pantley (such as the no-cry sleep solution) I also strongly recommend this website http://www.parentingscience.com/baby-development.html as everything on it is very well researched and evidence based unlike the majority of things you will read on other websites/forums that are more emotionally driven/based on assumption/wives tales, traditions. For breastfeeding I would recommend instead of a book that you take a class with a board certified Lactation consultant, (a person who is highly trained in current breastfeeding research and also has demonstrated the experience to be board certified) before the birth of your baby so that you have a good understanding of how best to get started, things that have been shown to increase your odds of successful breastfeeding, myths/misunderstandings about breastfeeding (there are so many), the ways that breastfeeding is different to formula feeding and the difference between a breastfed and formula fed baby (for example differences in terms of frequency of bowl movements, giving supplementary water etc) and also budget for a follow up consultation after the birth to check your baby is latching well and getting ot your milk effectively. Note there can be the world of difference between a board certified LC and a sleep trainer who also gives “advice” about breastfeeding so be discerning and if you are told anything that doesn’t sound right check it online. Kellymom http://kellymom.com/category/bf/ is an excellent collection of research and recommendations to do with breastfeeding. In my experience a pediatrician is usually NOT a good person to ask about anything breastfeeding related. Rather than admitting they are not trained in it, they tend to give you answers that are often wildly incorrect and can often jeopardize your breastfeeding success. I cannot agree more with Kiwispiers. Thanks very much for the links, very useful.

It really depends a lot on your parenting philosophy/approach. Some people like to "manage" a baby, like its a project, some believe in very parent-led/authorative style where basically you decide precisely how things will be and your baby has no choice but to fit in. Some people see baby books as instruction manuals, “push buttons A, B and C and your baby will do X, Y and Z”. There are plenty of popular books that cater to these ideas. I tend to follow an attachment parenting approach, which is basically the core belief that your priority with parenting is to provide a very secure and nurturing environment, which allows your baby to communicate with you and be listened to in order for all their needs to well met. You are still the parent, ultimately you make decisions but you allow your baby to have a voice and recognize that they have needs both physical and emotional. This means that if your baby is hungry, you listen to that, and feed them, if your baby is scared, and wants you to hold them, you listen to that and comfort them. Your baby shouldn't really ever have to "scream" for a feed, that is really a last resort that babies use when they are being ignored. A lot of people seem to think feeding on demand is about feeding a baby when they cry, its not. Demand/on cue feeding is about feeding a baby when they are hungry, rather than when a book tells you they “should be” hungry. On cue feeding is recommended by major health bodies such as The World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Its not that attachment parents don't like the idea of a full nights sleep, its more that that is further down their list of priorities, number one is that their baby feels happy, valued and safe, and is not left scared or hungry. Communication (in two way direction) is very highly valued. So AP parents will gently help their baby transition from being fully dependent on their mother to independent, in every aspect of life, sleeping, eating, soothing, decision making etc etc. If you think you might be an AP parent, have AP leanings, or would like to learn more about this mindset then I would recommend books by Dr Sears, and also the Dr Sears website http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/child-rearing-and-development as well as books by Elizabeth Pantley (such as the no-cry sleep solution) I also strongly recommend this website http://www.parentingscience.com/baby-development.html as everything on it is very well researched and evidence based unlike the majority of things you will read on other websites/forums that are more emotionally driven/based on assumption/wives tales, traditions. For breastfeeding I would recommend instead of a book that you take a class with a board certified Lactation consultant, (a person who is highly trained in current breastfeeding research and also has demonstrated the experience to be board certified) before the birth of your baby so that you have a good understanding of how best to get started, things that have been shown to increase your odds of successful breastfeeding, myths/misunderstandings about breastfeeding (there are so many), the ways that breastfeeding is different to formula feeding and the difference between a breastfed and formula fed baby (for example differences in terms of frequency of bowl movements, giving supplementary water etc) and also budget for a follow up consultation after the birth to check your baby is latching well and getting ot your milk effectively. Note there can be the world of difference between a board certified LC and a sleep trainer who also gives “advice” about breastfeeding so be discerning and if you are told anything that doesn’t sound right check it online. Kellymom http://kellymom.com/category/bf/ is an excellent collection of research and recommendations to do with breastfeeding. In my experience a pediatrician is usually NOT a good person to ask about anything breastfeeding related. Rather than admitting they are not trained in it, they tend to give you answers that are often wildly incorrect and can often jeopardize your breastfeeding success.

I have just read a really interesting book called 'The Blossom Method' by Vivien Sabel. It explains how babies communicate from birth and how parents can pick up on their non-verbal expressions. It was recently reviewed in 7 Days - http://www.7daysindubai.com/Look-8217-s-talking/story-16338341-detail/story.html I'm not sure where you can get it in Dubai as I got my copy in the UK.

When I was pregnant I went a bit nuts and got a ton of baby books because i had no idea what my philosophy was or anything else really. So in addition to the ones named I got 2 others that i found useful. One was Dr Sears - Baby Book and one was the American Association of Paediatrics one from newborn to 5 years. These helped with basics more that anything else.... things like what temperature is a fever, first aid, what to do for a rash, recognizing things like minor issues so I didn't become a paranoid person that called the doctor if she looked left instead of right :D. Also the Tracey Hogg bigger book - Baby Whisperer solves all your problems (?) is a very useful if you're looking for help with sleeping feeding etc. Much more detailed. Dr Sears loads better for breastfeeding help. Not sure i've helped at all! Sorry!

Baby whisperer by Tracey Hogg Good luck!