Useful books
There is an overwhelming quantity of books on having babies, parenting, etc. Here are some suggestions for books that we´ve enjoyed. Feel free to recommend others!!
- Katalin Galambo´s Oslo for Mothers. This is the perfect book for foreign mothers in Oslo. It gives you information on the Norwegian Health Care System, how to apply for day cares, Norwegian courses, activities to do with babies and toddlers, and much much more. Run and buy it now! They also have it in Spanish and Chinese.
- John Medina's "Brain Rules for Baby - How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five" is a must-have! Both my partner and I absolutely loved this book and we recommend it warmly. John Medina is a neuroscientist and a dad, and in this book he reveals what the latest science says about how to raise smart and happy children. What's the single most important thing you can do during pregnancy? What does watching TV do to a child's brain? What's the best way to handle temper tantrums? The book provides answers to this and much more and is very readable, with a lot of anecdotes and practical advice. Enjoy!
- Penelope Leach´s "Your Baby and Child: From Birth to Age 5" was the one recommended book my Canadian husband got from his friends back home about the child´s development. It helps you understand your child better. Read more about Leach here. You should also read the article from The Guardian under Useful links further down.
- Gina Ford's "The New Contented Little Baby Book: The Secret to Calm and Confident Parenting". This book saved my life after a few months. It helped me introducing routines so that my baby would sleep in his own bed, go to sleep at 7pm and wake up less at night. Some may find these routines limiting, as your life is put into routines too and you may feel that you lose flexibility, but it is oh so nice to get back your evenings. The book is a bestseller in England, but it is also controversial. Again, read the Guardian article below. I followed the books´s instructions pretty slavishly for a week (not the crying part), but after the routines were more or less established, I was a little more relaxed and allowed for more flexibility.
Useful links
This section is as you can see a work in progress. Please recommend!
On sleeping
On sleeping
- Should you allow your baby to cry at night - or should you give in? From The Guardian.
