Parenthood - Best Parenting Advice and Tips for New Parents

I did a lot of reading when I was pregnant with my first baby – lots of parenting books. My husband and I (well, I) decided before her birth what our parenting style would be. I even photocopied pages and chapters from some books as both reminders for us and to give to family members (ahem…in-laws) so we were all clear on how this baby would be taken care of. My baby would not use a pacifier. Things like that. Looking back now (two kids later), I laugh at how naïve and truly ignorant (and, dare I say, stupid) I was! I believe it was day 2 or 3 of her life when she was given that pacifier and I have never regretted it one bit. Things you think you will do for sure get thrown out the window and new parents need to know that it’s okay and there’s no need to feel guilty. If you haven’t experienced it yet, you’ll just have to take my word for the fact that nothing is the same the second time around. My guard (not to a dangerous extent of course) and my possessiveness of my baby did a complete 180 with baby #2, as well as many other things about how I handled things. It’s actually quite funny looking back at it all.

For new parents, time is both valuable and limited, so you need to make the most of it and you don’t want to have to read or scan through a lot of unnecessary information. It’s also often more helpful to get advice from parents who have been there.

The information provided can even potentially help the relationship between you and your spouse because there will, undoubtedly, be disagreements about how to do or handle many things with your new baby and being ready for those potential issues before they even happen can help save your sanity – or relationship!

This book, as well as all of the great Girlfriends’ Guides (see below) by Vicki Iovine, are great in that they tell it like it is – no sugar-coating and no telling you to buy things you don’t need. Find out what you really need to buy rather than wasting your money on items and products you’ll truly never use.

Save your sanity with a little bit of knowledge, like the fact that you do not have to sanitize your baby’s entire world – really! I know, it’s hard for a first time parent to heed the advice of others (been there, done that) but the information in this book (these books) comes from real life experienced parents who tell it like it is; think of it as coming from your big sister – you’d listen to her, right?