Books for Moms of a Newborn
Whether you’re in your third trimester of pregnancy and want to prepare yourself for the months that lie ahead, or you’re a mom to a newborn wondering what to do with your baby now, these books are for you! Some of these I read as a nesting momma and I am so happy I did. My other suggestion I found out about after my first baby was already a month old and boy, I wish I’d known about it sooner! I reread two of these books in preparation for the coming of our second baby. And probably will look at all three again, getting ready for our third. These are resources I’ll be hanging onto for a long time.
For your convenience I have linked to where you can buy these books off Amazon. These are NOT affiliate links (we are no longer active with an affiliate with Amazon) and are just here for your convenience. So feel free to get these books anywhere you can find them. Because trust me, these are amazing books that all newborn babies should come with.
Happiest Baby on the Block
This book is amazing and a must have for all parents who want to help their newborn cry less! Harvey Karp M.D. explains how different babies have trouble coping with being out in the womb. He explains that babies have a calming reflex that can be used to calm children when crying isn’t caused by hunger, dirty diapers, etc.
If you’re worried about having a colicky baby this book can ease your concerns. And if your baby is colicky, then you need this book yesterday!
Little Fox was a generally good-tempered baby, but we couldn’t keep her in a swaddle, and it seemed only Baba had the magic to calm her evening crying. (She would cry herself to sleep in our arms!) After we learned the tricks in Happiest Baby on the Block, not only did swaddling work, but we could calm our baby when something upset or startled her.
Worth Keeping
As Little Owl (our third) is due soon, I am rereading this book to make sure I remember all the important ideas and points.
Knowing the techniques from this book can also help with your newborn sleeping at night. Sleep wasn’t a problem we were concerned about when reading this book, but it is clear how this book also helps with that. Our main joy in this book is the magic of helping your baby calm down. Babies don’t have the same ability to calm themselves as we do as adults. And it can be really frustrating for parents and babies when the little one is upset, and nothing seems to help. With Happiest Baby on the Block you’ll be able to discover the trick to calming your newborn. And, over time, you’ll discover which of the five parts of the calming reflex most soothes your baby.
Then Comes Baby
Then Comes Baby: The Catholic Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the First Three Years of Parenthood is an excellent introduction to motherhood and how to make the most of the first three years of your child’s life. The Popcaks cover developmental milestones, activities you can do with your baby, and even mom care.
I really appreciated the sections on mom care within each stage of Little Fox’s development. There are many suggestions for how to ensure self care is being met. It is so easy to spend yourself taking care of your new baby and get burnt out. But if that happens, you can no longer give yourself to your baby as much as you want to. By taking care of yourself and your needs, you ensure that you can give your baby the best care you can provide at all times.
Reading about the various parts of a baby’s development is also super helpful. The Popcaks help us new moms understand what babies are feeling and why they act the way they do. The 12 to 24-month and 24 to 36-month explanations of baby behaviours are especially helpful for that… but that doesn’t mean you should miss out on the newborn sections of the book! The list of activities you can do with small children and developmental milestone explanations for birth to six months and six to twelve months are also lovely! I’m going to be rereading those sections as I’m getting ready to go through those stages with our second child.
The Sections on Spiritual Care
The Popcaks also talk about the spiritual care of your child during each of the stages of babyhood. They give tips on how to prepare your young ones to be good at going to mass. Some of their suggestions are different from my article on How to Have Well Behaved Children at Church, so their suggestions may be helpful to. One thing is that they are Roman Catholic, so their babies are only baptized as babies and the graces they receive from going to church only stem from that.
We Byzantine families have so much more to gain from bringing our young ones to church… they can receive the Eucharist! If you’re worried about bringing your little one to church, I can tell you that we often have so many people coming up to us after Liturgy to tell us “your girl is so good in church!” Even when Little Fox was teething with molars and Tato was downstairs helping the nights, no less than 5 Babas came up to say how good she did during the Liturgy. I’m so grateful for the graces she receives in the Eucharist. And those graces really pay off when we are at Church and she is (mostly) really good.
Even when our babies are more fidgety or fussy they still gets compliments. That’s God’s way of reminding us even though we know they could be be quieter or less rambunctious on some days, they are still doing good. And bringing them to church and sitting in the front is the right thing to do. (For more about how we keep our kids behaved in Church, check out our article here).
The No-Cry Baby Sleep Solution (Or Newborn)
The way babies sleep is totally different from adults. This book guides you through why babies sleep the way they do. It also gives you practical suggestions to help your baby learn to sleep longer and to fall asleep without your help. And without you resorting to leaving them to cry themselves to sleep.
I read this book before Little Fox was born and it helped prepare me to start good bedtime habits. Not only that, but when Little Fox suddenly weaned herself at 17 months, we were able to adapt her bedtime routine. And then she continued sleeping 11-hour nights! I was pregnant at the time, so I really appreciated how well my toddler slept. For my first two babies, I got this book from the library. But this time around I finally bought my own copy! I am not myself when I don’t have enough sleep. And I don’t want my babies to suffer from sleep deprivation either! Sleep is a priority worth reading about!
If baby sleep is a concern for you, definitely get this book. You can also check out my article on Surviving Nights as an Overtired Mom. I also recommended this book at the end of that article. There is also a specifically newborn edition of the no-cry book, so if you’re pregnant you can start with that. But I think this one does a good job of covering how to start right, too.
Byzantine Motherhood
If you are interested in building your booklist for moms check out our other Mom Reads! Also let me know in the comments if you have any other books you think all moms with small babies need to read. I love reading and could always use more titles for building my motherhood up!
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