A visit to your local bookstore will show you how many books there are available on parenting. There are books about pregnancy, about the first year, the second year and leading right up to the teenage years. There are books on baby diets, baby illnesses and even one's that are designed to give you a light hearted look into parenting.
Books written by people who have done all their parenting, learned from mistakes and had success through trial and error are helpful to a new parent.
Being the best parent you want to be, with more success throughout the milestones rather than failures, these books can be hugely helpful.
But which ones are the best? Instead of purchasing every book on the shelf, following are the 5 top books on parenting, babies and children you'll ever need.
1) Baby Love by Robin Baker
This is essential reading for any new parent. It has excellent information on all issues a new parent may face, from bottle-feeding to breast-feeding, colds and sickness and what you should expect at each baby milestone.
Robin Baker uses her experiences as a midwife and early childcare nurse, but most of all from her own parenting experience. This is one book that is full of useful information, food and recipes and especially encouragement for the new mom. Baby Love is the one stop book for handy information that all of us moms need at one time or another.
2) What to Expect The Toddler Years
Released by the same people who wrote What to Expect When You're Expecting, this book is another great resource for parents. The toddler years are full of amazing growth and milestones for your child but also introduce many new challenges for many parents.
This book has excellent information about all toddler milestones, what to expect and realize is occurring within your child's development, and includes plenty of helpful tips for parents. What to expect The Toddler Years is an important book for many parents as help us to understand what our toddlers are thinking about and what they are currently trying to learn and achieve.
This book is very easy to read and information is very simple to locate within.
3) Toddler Taming by Dr Christopher Greene
This book is a must read for every parent about to enter a new phase on parenting, which is parenting through the toddler years. The exponential growth of your child and their development is amazing at this time. But along with the great things, also comes a few not so great things.
This book was one of the most helpful I ever read. I learned new ways to look at disciplining, essential tips on toilet training, but most of all allowed me to view the world from my child's point of view.
With helpful tips on discipline methods, parenting in general and the ups and downs that occur through the toddler years, Dr Greenes advise never sugar coated anything and provided me with entertainment too.
A must read for all parents!
4) How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
Learning to see the world through your child's eyes and learning how to communicate with them is really needed, especially in the toddler years. This book was easy to read, helpful and made me able to communicate with my children easier. A useful book for all parents that will teach us how to understand and communicate with out kids that you can use right up until their teenage years.
5) The Secret To Raising Happy Children by Steve Biddulph
This book is filled with stories and anecdotes to help parents raise exactly what the title says, happy children. This book will help you through the tough times, give you a laugh when you need it, and remind you of the great things about being a parent.
With sections on things that all parents need to deal with at one time or another, from tantrums to whingeing, this book is practical and useful. I highly recommend any of Steve Biddulph's books for all parents.
A search of your local bookstore or library in the parenting section will show you just how many books are available on all aspects of children and parenting. The five books above I have always found to be the most useful, and are the ones that I keep returning to for information, guidance and reassurance.