From: gwr@hedonist-1.lanl.gov (Graham W. Redgrave)
Subject: Re: Reading for prospective dad-to-be
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 16:53:09 GMT

In article <1992Sep6.155442.11062@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov>, fod@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov (Frank O'Donnell) writes:
|> Would anyone have any suggestions for "must" reading for
|> a prospective first-time father-to-be whose partner has just
|> found out that she is pregnant?  Material on pregnancy,
|> childbirth or early childhood parenting would be equally of
|> interest.

Our son is just 10 months old, so we've looked for books
fairly recently (and are open still to finding others).
I don't have ISBNs or publishers, but we found these
at a good local bookstore.

	Your Baby and Child, from Birth to Age Five, by Penelope
	  Leach.  This is an _excellent_ book, with lots of practical
	  information, and lots of "attitude coaching" to bring
	  one as a parent into line w/current thinking (Leach's,
	  anyway ;)) regarding parenting.  She is very careful
	  to try to take the child's perspective as a way to ensure
	  doing the right thing.

	The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, La Leche League, Int'l.
	  Also a wonderful book, and, despite the title, of 
	  great usefulness to me as a father.  More "attitude
	  coaching" about why you, the father, are still an important
	  part of the baby's life, even if it sometimes seems like
	  mom will always be the sun in your child's universe.

	What to Expect When You're Expecting, by (?).  Nitty gritty
	  facts w/out any philosophical baggage, but the author tends
	  to say "ask your doctor" a little too much for my taste.
	  On the one hand, your doctor should be a source of comfort
	  during the vulnerable time of pregancy, but on the other
	  hand, the whole reason you're reading the book is to be 
	  more educated, right?

	Whole Child, Whole Parent, by Polly Berien Berends.  Philosophy
	  of parenting first, extensions to practical matters second.
	  Neat introductory stuff, but I couldn't hack the constant
	  reminder of the philosophical roots of her experience when
	  it came to choosing which books to read, etc.

	Nighttime Parenting, by William Sears, M.D. (I think; at any
	  rate, it's published by La Leche League Int'l).  Another
	  Excellent Book, if you're into the idea of a family bed
	  and a parenting style known as "attachment parenting".
	  We didn't know what kind of parents we wanted to be (other
	  than good, or at least "good enough" ;-), but this book
	  went far in showing us some principles we really liked.

The list goes on and on, but these are the books we looked into and 
have come to rely on to greater or lesser degrees.  _Right From the 
Start_ looked good, but we were to far along by the time we saw it 
to invest in it. 

|> Also, are there any Usenet groups or mailing lists that are
|> more specifically targeted at these subjects?

I'm unaware of any, but I'd be interested, too.
 
|> Thanks for any responses.

Anything to ease the panic! ;-)

|> Frank
|> frank@jplpost.jpl.nasa.gov

-- 
Graham Redgrave    |    --  I don't speak for the government, 
gwr@life.lanl.gov  |        but I wish the government would speak for me ...  --
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