Building a Parenting Library — Recommended Reading

I mentioned awhile ago that I received a $500 grant to start our La Leche League library.  I had a lot of fun thinking about the books I would recommend to local moms and what was helpful to me the first or second time around.  Of course, there were significantly more books that I wanted to buy than budget would allow, so I had to narrow it down and pick the ones that I felt were most important and also most relevant to what I have been learning about the birth, breastfeeding, and parenting culture in this area.  So far meetings have been going well.  We have been meeting twice per month, once during a weekday afternoon and once during an evening.  Day meetings have been having a great turnout — 19 mothers and babies/kids this month — but I may switch the evening meetings to Saturday mornings for the next series.  I’m pleased that La Leche League is going over so well and that I’m able to have an impact in our new community.

Last week, I had a meeting with the Lactation Consultant at the hospital and the new unit manager.  The area of the state that we are in is severely underserved when it comes to breastfeeding support and mother/baby friendly birth practices, but between the three of us we are very excited about starting to positively change the local birth and breastfeeding culture.  I’ll admit that I was very nervous to be moving to an area without even certified nurse midwives and with so little history of progressive maternity and birth care, but it sounds like some newly hired managers at the hospital are willing to turn that around.  Slowly but surely, change will come to northeast Wyoming and I can’t wait to be a part of it.

I thought that some of you might be interested in the books that I chose for our library, so here is a list of what I thought would be most useful and of books that I love.

Books in My La Leche League Library

Breastfeeding

• The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by Diane Wiessinger — of course! 🙂
• The American Academy of Pediatrics New Mother’s Guide to Breastfeeding by the American Academy Of Pediatrics
• Baby Baby Oh Baby Breastfeeding (DVD)
• The Breastfeeding Book: Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Your Child from Birth Through Weaning by Dr. William Sears
• Breastfeeding Made Simple: Seven Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers by Nancy Mohrbacher IBCLC FILCA
• The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk: Foreword by Martha Sears, RN by Diana West
• Latch 1,2,3: Troubleshooting Breastfeeding in the Early Weeks (DVD)
• The Milk Memos: How Real Moms Learned to Mix Business with Babies-and How You Can, Too by Cate Colburn-Smith
• Nursing Mother, Working Mother, Revised Edition by Gale Pryor
• Adventures in Tandem Nursing: Breastfeeding During Pregnancy and Beyond by Hilary Flower
• Mothering Your Nursing Toddler by Norma J. Bumgarner

Weaning

• How Weaning Happens by Diane Bengson
• The Nursing Mother’s Guide to Weaning, Revised Edition by Kathleen Huggins

Pregnancy & Birth

• Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful: Experience the Natural Power of Pregnancy and Birth with Kundalini Yoga and Meditation by  Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
• The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth (Sears Parenting Library) by Dr. William Sears
  
• Birthing from Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation by Pam England and Rob Horowitz
• The Business of Being Born (DVD)
• The Complete Organic Pregnancy by Deirdre Dolan and Alexandra Zissu
• Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
• The Pregnancy Book: Month-by-Month, Everything You Need to Know From America’s Baby Experts by Dr. William Sears
• Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block
• The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer

Babies & Newborn Care

• Baby Baby Oh Baby Infant Massage (DVD)
• The Baby Book, Revised Edition: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two by Dr. William Sears
• Baby Meets World: Suck, Smile, Touch, Toddle by Nicholas Day
  
• The Fussy Baby Book: Parenting Your High-Need Child From Birth to Age Five by Dr. William Sears
• The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Baby Sleep Longer (DVD) Harvey Karp
• Infant Massage–Revised Edition: A Handbook for Loving Parents by Vimala Schneider McClure
• The Premature Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Premature Baby from Birth to Age One (Sears Parenting Library) by Dr. William Sears

Nighttime Parenting & Infant Sleep

• The Baby Sleep Book: The Complete Guide to a Good Night’s Rest for the Whole Family (Sears Parenting Library) by Dr. William Sears
• Sleeping with Your Baby: A Parent’s Guide to Cosleeping by Dr. James J. McKenna
• Nighttime Parenting: How to Get Your Baby and Child to Sleep by Dr. Willam Sears
• The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night: Foreword by William Sears, M.D. by Elizabeth Pantley
  
• The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers: Gentle Ways to Stop Bedtime Battles and Improve Your Child’s Sleep by Elizabeth Pantley

Nutrition & Health

• Eat Well, Lose Weight, While Breastfeeding: The Complete Nutrition Book for Nursing Mothers by Eileen Behan
• The Family Nutrition Book: Everything You Need to Know About Feeding Your Children – From Birth through Adolescence by Dr. William Sears
• The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood: Ten Ways to Get Your Family on the Right Nutritional Track (Sears Parenting Library) by Dr. William Sears
• Mother Food: A Breastfeeding Diet Guide with Lactogenic Foods and Herbs – Build Milk Supply, Boost Immunity, Lift Depression, Detox, Lose Weight, Optimize a Baby’s IQ, and Reduce Colic and Allergies by Hilary Jacobson
• Itsy Bitsy Yoga: Poses to Help Your Baby Sleep Longer, Digest Better, and Grow Stronger by Helen Garabedian
• The Portable Pediatrician: Everything You Need to Know About Your Child’s Health by Dr. William Sears
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Heal by Toni Weschler

Parenting

• The Attachment Parenting Book : A Commonsense Guide to Understanding and Nurturing Your Baby by Dr. William Sears
• Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way by Mayim Bialik
• The Discipline Book: How to Have a Better-Behaved Child From Birth to Age Ten by Martha Sears
• Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

A Few Notes About the Library:

If you are not familiar with La Leche League, I would like to point out that LLL only has official stances on its 10 concepts.  The books here are intended to aid mothers and fathers in parenting in a manner which best supports a positive breastfeeding relationship, active participation of the family in their health care, and in providing loving guidance for their children, but they are not intended to mandate how parents should parent, what childbirth should be like, or even how long a mother should breastfeed for.  Not all methods or approaches described in these books will work for every family and that is OK.  As I tell the mothers at the start of each meeting, take what works for your family and leave the rest.   This list of books is not intended to represent LLL or its official opinions, only to provide a possible reading list for interested parents.

I ordered the books for the La Leche League library off of Amazon rather than purchasing locally so that I could save money by buying used (I have a Prime account, so I don’t have to pay shipping).  I also donated a few things from my personal library and was grateful to receive a couple of book donations from a local doula.  I’m pretty pleased with the library that we ended up with, although I’m looking forward to getting more donations and a few group memberships so that the library can continue to grow.  I hope to add some cookbooks, more parenting books, and a bunch of DVDs on breastfeeding, birth, and skin-to-skin, as well as some yoga DVDs.  I’ve already started an Amazon wishlist!

I want to especially note that I have linked these titles to Amazon only as a quick means of providing you with additional information about the book or DVD if you are interested in knowing more about it.  I have made an intentional choice to not use affiliate links in this post.  As such, none of the links in this post are affiliate links.  Should you click on a link and purchase the book/DVD, I will in no way benefit from that purchase.  If you do want to purchase one of these books, you might also consider asking for it at your local bookstore rather than buying it online.