How many parenting books did I read before the birth of my children?
Zip, Zero, Nada.
Based on my belief that parents have been having babies and raising children for generations and that I what I was bringing to the table was probably going to be “good enough”.
However, I love this book and so wish I had had it on my bookshelf when I was a new Mum.
Dr Natalie Flynn is a New Zealand based Registered Clinical Psychologist and contributes to the WowMama blog https://wowmama.com/.
In this book Natalie approaches those really sticky, big emotion, button pushing issues faced by new parents – should I leave my baby to cry themself to sleep? Breast or bottle? To immunise or not? And many others. She presents the research and in some cases, the lack of research around these issues. She does this in an informative, respectful way, allowing the reader to form their own conclusions and then make decisions for themselves and their baby accordingly.
In doing so, Natalie manages to take out a lot of the emotional push and pull that can weigh so much on new (sleep-deprived!) parents. She gives power and autonomy back to parents to make decisions which work for them and their families.
Nigel Latta describes it as “the one book every new parent actually needs” and I agree.
Amanda Baird 