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The Expectant Father
Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-to-Be
Author: Armin A. Brott and Jennifer Ash
Publisher: Abbeville Press, 1995
Price: $10.95
www.abbeville.com
ISBN: 1-55859-690-9
Keywords: Pregnancy, marriage, sex, fathers

Review:

Maybe you can program your VCR without reading the manual and navigate a metropolis without asking directions. But don't enter fatherhood without reading this book. There's nothing blissful about ignorance during life with a pregnant partner. Whether it's Braxton-Hicks, epidurals, colostrum or third trimester shtupping, you need to know and you'll enjoy knowing.

This book, modern and precise, has it all. Advice on finances, insurance, and legal issues? It's there. You want to help keep your partner healthy and happy while her hormones go haywire? Every recipe is in here.
Historical tidbits, anecdotes and cartoons make it entertaining; its
reverence of the male's role makes it ground-breaking and inspiring. This
does more than educate. It speaks to the thrills and fears of fatherhood,
and it leaves you confident.

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On Becoming Baby Wise: Book II
Parenting Your Pretoddlers Five to Fifteen Months
Author: Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam, M.D.
Publisher: Multnomah, 1995
Price: $9.99
Distributed by Multnomah Books
ISBN: 0-88070-807-7
www.multnomahpubl.com
Keywords: Discipline, morality, Bible

Review:

A lot of people swear by Ezzo's books and the company has certainly sold a lot of copies. But the success they've enjoyed has nothing to do with the books' theories or philosophy and a lot to do with the good intentions of the parents who buy them.

Ezzo is the executive director of Growing Families International, whose goals include establishing a "biblical mindset for parenting." They mean the Bible that says "He that spareth his rod hateth his son" (Proverbs) and a child who "curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death" (Leviticus). "Babywise" doesn't go that far, but using a pretoddler's meal time for discipline lessons goes overboard. Advising parents that going soft on babies will instill morally deficient children is a disturbing approach. The useful tips that "Babywise" does include can be found elsewhere.

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The New Father
A Dad's Guide to the First Year
Author: Armin A. Brott
Publisher: Abbeville Press, 1997
Price: $10.95
www.abbeville.com
Distributed by Abbeville
ISBN: 0-7892-0275-1
Keywords:

Review:

As is the case with all of Brott's books, "The New Father" offers an impressive amount of information without becoming unwieldy. This success is thanks to excellent organization and presentation, a detailed index and Brott's writing style. He incorporates scientific research without pontificating or boring the reader. He instructs concisely on the mundane but essential child-caring skills. And a sense humor makes "The New Father" a perfect package.
As difficult as it is to imagine that Brott hasn't covered all the bases, the book nevertheless abounds with resource contacts. One example: A list of first-aid kit essentials includes two toll-free numbers for further information. Many of the books' tips are golden: spare computer keyboards and old phones make great toys. Highlighting this comprehensive guide is its sensible attitude toward discipline and the detailed advice that accompanies it.

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Planet Parenthood
Adopting to Your New Life-Form
Author: Julie Tilsner
Publisher: Contemporary Books, 2000
Price: $14.95
www.ntc-cb.com/
Distributed by Contemporary Books
ISBN: 0-8092-2518-2
Keywords: Infants, humor


This whimsical account of Year 1 child-rearing hammers away a bit hard at the point that having a baby will change your life. But author Tilsner nails it when it comes to Seinfeld-esque humor, finding the funny in everyday experiences, and making you think to yourself, "That's exactly how it is!"

Although it includes plenty of sensible advice, "Planet Parenthood" is not a typical parenting guidebook. Instead, its main focus is on getting parents to lighten up. On "Competitive Parenting," for example, Tilsner chides those who revel in their babies' Apgar Tests and percentile ratings. She jokes that she and her husband expected Baby Gap to hire their newborn as a model while, "we gasped at how ugly other new babies were."
Tilsner has a good attitude toward fathers. On the notion that women appear "most naturally skilled at the baby game," she acknowledges that that's largely because women traditionally stay home with the baby more, thus getting the most practice.
Some advice toward dads is almost dismissive, but still realistic. In baby's Week 1, "Don't complain about your sore throat ... because you don't know what real pain is!" The book's overall tone does seem to lean toward the female reader, making it a good gift that you'll enjoy, too.

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Attachment Parenting
Instinctive Care For Your Baby and Young Child
Author: Katie Allison Granju with Betsy Kennedy, R.N., M.S.N.
Publisher: Pocket Books, 1999
Price: $12.95
www.simonandschuster.com
Simon & Schuster Inc.
ISBN: 0-671-02762-X
Keywords:

Review:

Hmmmm, seems like there's a self-contradiction here: a guide to instinctive care? What's next, "The Guide to Scheduling Impromptu Events"?

The back cover of the book claims that you can "grow a secure attachment with your children by listening to your heart"-if, of course, you follow their 312 pages of expert advice. But the paradox of teaching self-learning has arisen from a long history of child-rearing advice that counters not just parents' intuition, but nature itself. The discouragement of breast-feeding in the mid-1900s being the most perverse example. (Imagine, telling a woman not to use her breasts for the very purpose that they exist!)
"Attachment parenting," a concept developed by Dr. William Sears, is based on the notion that a baby's wants usually coincide with her needs. This book continues that philosophy, convincingly refuting the "cry it out" sleep method, for example.
The focus is on birth bonding, breast-feeding, bedsharing, and "baby-wearing" (carrying the baby as much as possible). If you haven't thought much about these issues or if you're against any of them, you owe it to your child to give "Attachment Parenting" a look. It's hard to find any flaws in Granju's theory, especially as it's presented in what doubles as both a guide and a dissertation.
On the dad front, however, in an otherwise admirable effort, Granju seems inexplicably averse to using the word "father" at all or in including dads in any of the discussions.

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The Baby Book
Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby -- From Birth to Age Two
Author: William Sears, M.D. & Martha Sears, RN
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Price: 21.95
www.twbookmark.com
Distributed by Time Warner
ISBN: 0-316-77905-9
Keywords: Parenting, baby, toddler, nutrition, sleep

The first thing to know about this book is that you can grab it any time you need advice -- medical, nutritional, discipline, etc. -- check the index and get what you need quickly and efficiently. It comes in handy, time and time again.
Everything You Need to Know is a golden resource with a realistic and reasonable attitude. Midway through its 689 pages, in the sleep section, Sears writes: "If you pick a system from a book, you don't have to buy into it 100 percent. You can try part of the approach, keep what works, and discard what doesn't."
In this book, there's plenty to keep. The authors are a pediatrician and a registered nurse (and the parents of eight) and their approach is a combination of science, common sense, and open-mindedness. They not only discard the traditional notion of Dad as "pinch hitter" when Mom's not around, they also emphasize men's unique contribution.

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