The baby book

What Hacker News says

1. port11Dec 2025
   I'm not influential enough but I'll share the recommendations I think will help people like me: struggling parents.

   This year I've reread The Discontented Little Baby Book. If you're getting/have a newborn, this is the book I'd read. It's humane. No sleep training, no nonsense about babies. We went full ‘possum’ with our baby and I like how happy he became.

   I've also read Ten Things I Wish You Knew About Your Child's Mental Health. To me this could be an instant classic. No fluff, lots of advice for parents. Prima.

   There's plenty of literature on parenting, but so much of it is poorly written or poorly researched. Be careful out there. (And don't read PLS, yikes.)

   ---

   I finally discovered Andy Weir, the Thursday Next series, and The 13.5 Lives of Captain Bluebear. I'm amazed it took me so long to get there. All excellent.

   For some reason I decided to read all 7 Harry Potters in French. If you're learning French, it's a great idea, the French gets progressively harder so you can keep up!

   Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life has been my companion for some weeks, but it's quite long.

   I'm happy with all my reading this year, some 32 books, many in a foreign language. Given I've no time to read during the day, and can only get some pages in after the kid's in bed, it's not too shabby.

   Oh, and we've read Stompysaurus, like, 90 times? Grawwwwr!

   Happy reading!

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2. shawnb576Nov 2022
   We followed the book The Contented Little Baby Book for our kids. Others recommended to us and sleep has never been a problem after a few months old.

   Kids thrive with structure but it takes discipline to maintain consistency.

   It’s not magic, in a nutshell it just makes sure your kids have a very reliable routine and they are never super tired or super hungry.

   Goodness springs from there.

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3. rb808Sep 2019
   The most important thing I think is to have friends in a similar situation. If you dont know anyone in your immediate area with a newborn, try very hard to find some. Actually they dont have to be friends, just anyone in a similar situation whom you can swap ideas with and find sympathy.

   Presumably you're a guy. Make sure your wife gets some spare time. Let her go out for an hour or three and look after the baby by yourself. Its really hard work being the main responsible one. If you have Grandparents that can help this is invaluable.

   The Baby Book: How to Enjoy Year One Paperback by Rachel Waddilove, was the best book we read. Its very structured, which is good to enforce some routine in your life. Dont follow all the rules, but is a good guidance.

   Dont forget you'll often feel terrible at the time, but you'll look back fondly at the memories.

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