Sippy Cups book review

Sippy Cups Are Not For Chardonnay: And Other Things I Had to Learn as a New Mom

by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor

This book is kind of a blog with binding.  It is a collection of short essays, just a few pages, and is not a parenting book.  She is a little crass at times, but it was a fun read.  My favorite part came about halfway through:

“It’s true what the books say.  All babies are on their own time lines.  Maybe your one-year-old isn’t thinking about walking because he’s figuring out difficult mathematical equations in his little head.  Maybe your baby walks at nine months but won’t utter a word until she’s six.

“It’s not a race.  If your baby is an early walker, it means that you have to childproof faster.  If they’re talking early, it means listening to an extra six months of gibberish.  Enjoy the quiet while you still can” (page106).

I think babies grow up too fast anyway, no need to push them.  This book is a good read for people who like reading biographies and memoirs or need a break from the how-to books.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child review

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

by Marc Weissbluth

I used this in addition to BabyWise and it complemented pretty well.  It didn’t talk about feeding times, but it gave me helpful information about sleeping.  It has been handy as Emmett gets older and different questions come up.

This book talks a lot about early bedtimes.  I agree and have found this to be true.  Emmett sleeps 12 hours because he is able to go to bed at 8pm.  

A quote from the book is “Sleep begets sleep.”  I thought that sounded a little off, but I have noticed that when Emmett has a good night of sleeping and a good morning nap, his afternoon and evening naps are pretty great as well.  He sleeps between 15-17 hours in a 24 hour period.  

I liked this book a lot, but it didn't talk much about feeding times like BabyWise did.  I enjoyed having more of a schedule to keep things a little predictable for me.  I also like that it shows what might be happening with sleep at different ages.  I can look ahead to the next stage and see when about it will take place.  Good book, keep a copy close by.

No Need to Rush

I read once about a mom who was bringing up her last baby.  She wanted to savor everything and not rush the milestones along.

I want to savor everything with Emmett, because if we have more children, I will not have the time to.

I don’t feel that Emmett needs to achieve all the milestones ahead of every other baby around.  He will reach them at some point.  How many adults do you see (who don’t have a disability) that are just army crawling around everywhere?  I would like for this baby stage to last awhile, as when it is past, I don’t get it again with Emmett.  So I just give Emmett tummy time (which he really seems to enjoy) without the pressure of needing to roll over by 4 months or start crawling by 6 months.

Emmett rolled over for the first time at just over 5 months.  His top half went to the side, where it stayed for about a minute while he was jabbering, then his bottom half went over.  He looked mildly surprised and slightly amused that he was now looking at the ceiling fan.  I did the mom-cheerleader thing and clapped for him and said “Good job, Buddy!”  Then we went on playing.  It took him another week to do it again.  I didn’t mind at all.

Sometimes when I’m talking to others, I get caught up in the competition of “my kid is better than your kid.”  Then I think about how I am approaching Emmett’s growing up.  Good for your child that he rolled over at 3 1/2 months.  Reaching these milestones doesn’t have to be a reflection on what kind of parent I am.  Some kids roll over out of frustration at 2 months because they hate tummy time, while Emmett was chilling during tummy time for 20 minutes while he was 5 months old!  He just seemed to enjoy looking around from that view, content to be able to see things other than the ceiling!  Really, how can that reflect who I am as his parent?

I do brag about what a great night-sleeper Emmett is, as I was so excited to get to sleep through the night so quickly after having him.  He was sleeping 11 hours per night at 2 months, 12 hours per night at 3 months.  He’s great.

Sometimes people who have worked for kids to sleep through the night or go through other milestones quickly have opinions that they feel they must share.  I was talking with an extended family member and he asked how sleeping was going.  I said 12 hours a night!  He thought I was joking, as his one-year-old still wasn’t sleeping through the night.  We might have talked about letting them cry a little bit overnight, but I realized something.  The way others want to parent is the way they want to parent, the way they chose to parent.  They don’t need someone coming in to tell them how to do it, just as I don't need it.  What is right for me is not always right for others.

Sometimes people will ask for advice or wonder how it happened for us, that is the time it is appropriate to talk about it.  Unsolicited advice can sometimes come across as “You don’t know what you’re doing, so let me tell you how to do it right.”  That is not helpful for a parent.  There are already doubts going on in their head (especially when the milestone isn’t happening at the “right” time), they don’t need someone coming in to confirm it.

Show confidence in others by leaving your thoughts in your head, instead of coming across as that person who is a “know-it-all” but no one wants to be around.

“The days are long, but the years are short.”  I'm really trying to savor the time I have while Emmett is just a little baby, as I know that all too soon he will be grown up and I won't get these times back.

Live in the moment, capture some of them on camera!

I Was A Really Good Mom Review

I Was A Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids

by Trisha Ashworth

This book is nothing like I thought it would be.  I thought it was going to be about how women without kids judge women with kids until they have their own, when everything they once judged becomes their norm.

Instead, I’ve found wisdom in what I have been thinking and feeling.  Sometimes I feel like I have certain expectations to live up to.  Turns out, other moms have felt these high expectations.  What a relief!

As I read this book, I got more and more confidence that I am doing a good job being a mom.  I'm not the only one who stresses out because I'm stressing out over the baby.  Many of the experiences I was having as a new mom, someone had gone before me and felt the same way I did through it.  The smiles and giggles from my Emmett increase that confidence as well.

I will also say that since reading this book, either Emmett has gotten easier (let's be serious, he's super easy, so it must not be that he has gotten easier) or I have found myself less stressed out about things that used to bother me.  I give myself freedom to not get stressed out, to take a breath when I need to.

I encourage women who are not moms yet to read this so they can set reasonable expectations and see what may happen later on to be prepared.  I also encourage moms at any stage to read this and find out that you are, in fact, normal.  What a freeing book.