I've heard you all talk about baby sign language, and was wondering if you know of a book that teaches me how to teach the little one? A title would be nice, as I will have to order it in to the local library. Also, any recommended books on AP?
Anything by Dr. Bill Sears and his wife Martha. Titles include: The Baby Book, The Attachment Parenting Book, Parenting the Fussy Baby and High-Need Child....Other books that totally rock by him: The Breastfeeding Book, The Night-time Parenting Book, The Discipline Book....
holly, do you know if any of those books are sold up here in canada? I've looked in a couple stores and haven't found anything yet.
The womanly art of breastfeeding, Raising your spirited child by Mary Sheed Kurchinka, Parenting from the Inside Out Daniel J. Siegel and Mary Hartzell, Baby Signs by Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn. I will try to find more. We moved last winter and a lot of our stuff is in mysterious places.
Adventures in Gentle Discipline by Hilary Flower, Gentle Discipline by Dawn Lighter. Vaccinations, An Informed Parent's Guide by Aviva Jill Romm (I've never read this, but I hear its good) How To Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor by Mendelsohn
as far as baby signs go, my first child was speaking in sentences before her first birthday, and we had no use for that. My second child wasn't speaking until the middle of her second year, but made up her own sign language, all it took was me paying attention to what she was trying to tell me. Many of her signs were very similar to ASL and/or baby signs, anyway. baby/parenting books, I liked Dr. Sears when I was in that new mom, not sure of myself stage (yes, they are available in Canada, and his website is online with everything that you can find in his books). I do not like the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (recommended above), it made me feel inadequate when I had problems nursing my first child, and I have several other friends who said it made them feel bad, too. Raising Your Spirited Child was a big help when my first was a toddler, but not as much of one as The Explosive Child, which really helps with power struggles, even if your child is not "explosive" or experiencing major behavioral issues. The Wise Child by Sonja Chocquette is also a really good book, about fostering your child's intuition, probably my favorite of them all. Mostly, AP is about trusting your intuition and listening to your heart instead of what everyone else is telling you. It's about following your child's lead, as each baby is a unique individual, and trusting yourself to recognize your child's signs. Your baby will tell you what you should do, if you can trust yourself enough to listen. www.askdrsears.com www.kellymom.com those would be my favorite online resources.
thanks for the info ladies. Some of the books were available through the library (although I did have to order them sent to me from different branches) but a lot of them weren't in the database. haha.. price to pay for living in the middle of no where, I guess... haha
Ya know, now that you say that, I really have to say I agree. I didn't buy it until I was preggo with ds2, and we didn't have any real nursing issues. BUt now that I am skimming through it again and trying to remember how hard of a time I had nursing ds1, I can TOTALLY see how you feel. Maybe I won't recommend it anymore, at least not to first time moms. Thanks for pointing this out, especially since I was thinking about buying a copy of that book for my husband's cousin's wife, who is pregnant and VERY MAINSTREAM, and I don't even know if she is planning on breastfeeding. I don't want to get her something that may DIScourage her, I really want to get her something that ENcourages her! Any suggestions??!!!
I discovered the Baby Signs book after learning my daughter's signs for dozens of different things. It was a good read, and had I found it about 6 months earlier I think it would have been quite helpful. AP is something else that I naturally stumbled across and read about later. Cosleeping began in our home when I fell asleep while nursing my lil guy & woke up the next morning, refreshed for the first time in 3 months. Spanking just never seemed quite right, and holding a child... well isn't that why God gave moms wide hips & 2 arms??? If you're checking out the library, my favorite stuck-on-bedrest books were: Our Babies, Ourselves - by Meredith Small 25 Things Every New Mother Should Know - by Martha Sears Playful Parenting - by Lawrence Cohen Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting - by Myla & Jon Kabat-Zinn (I found this one later, but loved it too) The Natural Child: Parenting from the Heart - by Jan Hunt and (these two aren't AP, but I laughed so hard it hurt!) The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy - by Vicki Iovine The Pregnant Husband's Handbook - by Jeff Justice If you want to read ahead a little I also like: How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk - by Adele Faber and Siblings Without Rivalry - also by Adele Faber love, mom
homeschoolmama - my son is 2 and we still teach him signs! Some words are hard to say, and he thinks signs are so fun! Last week he learned the sign for book, and he still uses more, please, and thank you! funny story - when he says "thank you" he does the sign (which is basically tapping your chin) on whoever's chin he is thanking, even to the dog! It cracks me up! Wow - Every sentance is ended with an exclamation point. I'm not really that perky IRL. LOL
Wow, even I've found some more parenting resources...*goes to library homepage* /nerdiness And yeah, AP is about following your baby's signals. Everyone told me to schedule Moire's sleeping, and while a sleepless me *almost* fell for it, I just followed her lead, and by 4 weeks, she was sleeping 10pm until 4 am almost every night ON HER OWN! I really think babies know more than we credit them for, and she knew I needed the sleep, so she slept. Good girl. As far as The Womanly Art, it makes me feel inadequate. I can't breastfeed, because I have no breast tissue. And reading the WA makes me feel like less than a woman. There is no chapter on troubleshooting BIG PROBLEMS. They don't tell you the steps to take to have BIG PROBLEMS diagnosed or dealt with. And they don't say, "If after doing everything humanly possible to feed your child naturally, formula is a perfectly acceptable life-saving MEDICAL DEVICE. Not being able to breastfeed shouldn't make or break your womanhood." I would have appreciated that! I even brought it up in LLL this week. I told them that in my struggles TWA was the LAST book I needed to read. And the LLL Leader actually AGREED with me that TWA, while a good resource for MOST women, isn't a good one if you have extenuating circumstances keeping you from breastfeeding. She actually thinks PCOS and breastfeeding should be addressed, since she's seeing more and more cases of PCOS popping up. And while PCOS can go any way (huge supply, normal supply, no supply) she is wanting to know how to help those of us with no-supply. *interesting side-note* There was one momma there at LLL whose daughter was one week younger than Moire. But she's less than 10 lbs, despite being larger than Moire at birth. The momma just now entertained the idea of low-supply. Her docs and ped wouldn't even mention it for some reason. And no one wants to diagnose with PCOS despite her having all the classic outward physical signs and symptoms. She's just been struggling for almost 10 weeks with fenugreek and other herbals, pumping, SNS, and all the other typical methods. I felt so bad for her, but at the same time, I was so proud of her for NOT giving up.
thanks for the suggestions, but i can't buy things online. Guess I'll have to keep looking. The book stores I went to were pretty small....maybe they'll have it at Chapters. And I'll have a library card in September, so I can go check out the library. Re, the signs. I was going to look into classes and books about them when Leane was first born, but when Cody read that they generally aren't able to be used until the 6th month, he said to me, "if you don't know your baby on your own by the time she's 6 months old, there's a problem." I realized that he was right, and let leane tell me in her own ways what she needs. I believe that it builds a stronger bond with your baby if you do it that way.
no, the websites were for information, not to go buy the books. And Jan Hunt's website is a good one, too! http://www.naturalchild.com/ Someone suggested one of her books. I haven't read it, but I have read lots of her articles, and they are fantastic! Anyway, bookmark those links, really. You'll be glad you did for breastfeeding, Dr Sears' Breastfeeding Book is okay. I'd say it's informative, but kinda dull reading. For major problems, Dr. Jack Newman's book (it has been published under several different titles, all of them along the lines of "Book of Breastfeeding Answers") would be the very best. Ten pounds at ten weeks isn't so small. If the baby's been gaining weight and is responsive and alert, she's probably just fine. Jenny only weighed 14 pounds at one year, but was perfectly healthy in every way.
Leane weighs moee than 30 lbs and she's only 10 months.....yikes, she's huge. Thanks for the links. I've been devouring dr.sears website for info for months now, lol
