Oh Baby! A Mom’s Self-Care Survival Guide for the First Year

Reading Oh Baby! A Mom’s Self-Care Survival Guide for the First Year by Maria Lianos-Carbone was like talking to my mom friends over coffee while we hash out the ups and downs of parenting. Except when I had my first kid I was too proud to ask for help and had no mommy support system in place. I could have done with this book in 2008.

Now I am a seasoned mom-of-four that may no longer be losing sleep over a newborn but still wanting to be a better parent. I am the one giving advice to friends who are just starting on their parenting journey and it’s always nice to have a refresher course.  Oh Baby! A Mom’s Self-Care Survival Guide for the First Year is that refresher course. 

Oh Baby! A Mom’s Self-Care Survival Guide for the First Year

What I love about Maria’s book is that it is not only filled with advice to cover your first year of parenting from her but that she also ends some chapters with quotes from other moms (and dads). Those little snippets provided even more tidbits of information on the many different ways that each mom (and family) deal with the same situations.

I can tell you that each of my kids was like night and day from the others. If kids could be seasons I had one of each. By the time I finished reading the book I was feeling pretty great about how I handled those early years but also really let down on some aspects because I may have made parenting a lot harder then it had to be. 

Oh Baby! takes you from before baby is born and you are packing the oh so important diaper bag through feeding, sleeping, visitors, self-care, mental health stuff, your relationship with your significant other and everything in between. Plus she even shares the recipe for her mom’s Chicken Soup Avgolemono to help bring your milk in those first days. 

She is not preaching the ‘my way or the highway’ type of parenting but more of the ‘trust your gut’ parenting style. It’s not a pro-breastfeeding book or a pro-formula book, it’s a “fed is best’ kind of book. It is exactly what you need when you are overwhelmed and lacking sleep. 

The chapters are easy to follow and honestly even if you do need to go back to figure out if your baby is getting enough sleep (they are, you’re not) you can easily flip to the right section. 

Who Should Read Oh Baby!

I would recommend you add Oh Baby! A Mom’s Self-Care Survival Guide for the First Year to every baby shower gift you give, whether it is a first-time mom or a mom going in for baby 2, 3, 4, or beyond. If you see a new mom struggling to adjust to life with a baby but is too proud to ask for help, help her. You can order on Amazon and get it shipped right to her house. A piece of advice when it comes to new moms—a visit is not always the best thing until she gets into a groove with the baby. Think of Oh Baby! as the stepping stone to get your visit to happen faster. 

Who Wants a Copy of the Best New Parenting Book?

We want to get Oh Baby! A Mom’s Self-Care Survival Guide for the First Year into the hands of as many new parents as possible so Raincoast Books and Maria are offering up a copy to one of our readers. If you can’t wait you can pick your copies up at either Barnes & Noble, Chapters-Indigo, and Amazon

To enter let me know the best parenting advice you would give a new mom or dad below. Open to Canadians only and ends March 19, 2018, at midnight EST. Good luck.

Parenting Book from Maria Lianos-Carbone

Aneta Alaei

Aneta is a Toronto-based mom of four that loves a good meal, great company, and learning something new. In her free time, you can find her trying to keep yet another plant alive.

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