Figuring out the First Year

Yet another hopefully helpful thread for First Year parents. What book(s) did you find helpful during the First Year with twins?

***Remember what works for some may not work for others, but it is nice to see what worked for different people.

 

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and Babywise both helped me! Also, Happiest Baby on the Block, but I had the book and DVD so I just watched the movie instead of reading the book.

 

When we first brought the girls home I watched the DVD Happiest Baby on the Block (I had the book too, but was too tired to read it ). It was helpful in teaching me ways to soothe young babies and also how to interpret what they needed.

When the girls were 4 months old I got Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child (HSHHC) and read most of it and skimmed the rest. It helped SO much to understand their sleep needs, cues, and to give me ideas for fostering an environment where they could get the sleep they needed. They didn't start STTN until 8 months, but that book really helped me understand napping and not letting them get overtired.

Another book that I really liked was The baby's owner manual! Its very tongue-in-cheek, but it actually has a lot of useful in there too!

A book that I didn't find helpful was the What to expect the FY. It actually kind of scared me and its still sitting next to my bed mostly unread even though my girls just turned 2!

 

We didn't have the Happiest Baby on the Block book, but we had the dvd, and it in first weeks it really was invaluable. Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child really gives you a clear idea of baby's sleep needs.

Overall, my favourite is the American Academy of Pediatrics Caring for Your Baby and Young Child From Birth to Five Years. It outlines everything you could possibly think of with regards to "how to's", milestones, what to expect, whats normal, whats not, pretty much every condition you could think of, and when to call your pediatrician or go to the emergency room. This book was recommended by our pediatrician, and after reading a small mountain of books, this is the one that I still turn to first.

 

The most helpful to me was "Mothering Multiples" - it's a LLLI book so it's mostly about BFing, but it also gives lots of other good tips about how to take care of two babies. If you're thinking about BFing, I highly recommend this one!

"Ready or Not, Here We Come: The Real Expert's Guide to Twins" is also a good one to make you feel sane. I read most of it while I was pregnant, but I reread sections of it once they were born because I could totally relate. It's actually pretty similar to coming on TS - the advice is all BTDT, not necessarily proven, but it helps just reading about other people who understand where you're coming from.

 

I ditto a lot of the above...

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
Happiest Baby on the Block
American Academy of Pediatrics Caring For Your Baby (loved this one!)
What to Expect the First Year

 

i also found Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child very useful & informative.

i really enjoyed Twinspiration - the anecdotal nature of the book made me feel like i wasn't alone.

 

I second Twinspiration! I also found this book by Ann Douglas helpful: Sleep Solutions for Your Baby and Toddler. She outlines all of the sleep methods and different sleep issues you can encounter at different ages and what could possibly be going on.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Sleep-Sol...70836330/?itm=3

 

Third vote of Twinspiration and all the aforementioned books and "HBOTB" dvd. I've learned the most from other moms I meet and talk to and from this site though!

 

My votes are:
Happiest Baby on the Block (we took a class and got the DVD & CD of white noise)
Baby Wise
The Baby Whisperer Tracey Hogg (the one about eating, sleeping, behavior)
Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron
Twinspiration
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

 

Happiest Baby on the Block - for getting through those first 4 months!!
The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two by Dr Sears - GREAT reference book for development and common illnesses, plus tons of information on parenting as well


I hated Baby Wise, The Baby Whisperer, and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, but to each his own. I'll have to check out Twinspiration.

 

What to expect the first year
The Baby Whisperer solves all your problems - by Tracy Hogg

 

Happiest baby on the block -- the book

Healthy sleep habits happy child. -- love love love.

I didn't find Babywise very helpful except when it talked about the "45-minute intruder" when referring to naps.


I'm so glad I read them BEFORE the babies came along.

Heather

 

HEALTHY SLEEPING HABITS, HAPPY CHILD.


I SWEAR BY IT.

 

here are a couple of books i'm finding helpful with starting solids:

Top 100 Baby Purees
The Healthy Baby Meal Planner

both are by Annabel Karmel

 

So glad you liked Twinspiration, MissBossy, ItsNancy, Amelowe & Maybell! Seriously, I wrote it because when I was expecting our two, so many of the books that were "out there" then were SOOOO negative and so medically intimidating. Thanks for your kind words.

BUT, to add our two cents of the ones we liked:

Double Duty by Christina Baglivi-Tinglof (and her follow-up, Parenting School Age Twins and Multiples is really good, too!)

and along with MichelleL, we really relied on the AAP's Caring for Your Baby.

Truth told, in our first year with our twosome, this site was our God-send!

 

I swear by Happiest baby on the block. I could not have gotten through the first few months w/ out it. I also liked the following:

The Baby Whisperer
Twinspiration
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child