4 Baby Books Actually Worth Reading

I vowed I wasn’t going to be the girl who read all the books. And for the most part, I haven’t been. (Hint the one pictured here was used solely as a prop 😂). I wanted to keep my baby book collection small and meaningful. Why? Well I’m still rather occupied in other areas of my life and frankly don’t have time to read them all. Plus, I feel that at times these books can cause more worry rather than helpful tips.

4 Baby Books Actually Worth Reading

So, here are 4 baby and pregnancy books I have personally loved and found helpful! I linked them all at the end.

Expecting Better by Emily Oster

This one HAD to be discussed first. Emily is a professor of economics and a data queen. She breaks down the actual available data behind the most common pregnancy recommendations. Think coffee, wine, sushi, sleeping on your back… all the things we’re told we shouldn’t do without much guidance as to why or IF they actually need to be completely avoided. As someone who takes data and science into account for EVERYTHING (hello, research-backed skin care) this has really become my pregnancy bible.

Bringing up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman

A funny account of the differences between American and French mothering, I found this book so incredibly helpful! If you’re interested in some slightly unconventional albeit sanity saving tips, you’ll love this book. I fully plan on adopting as many French parenting concepts as I can.

The New Rules of Pregnancy by Adrienne Simone, MD and Jaqueline Worth, MD

This one is helpful for obvious reasons, it was written by two OBGYNs. I especially love their take on the “birth plan” and I plan to incorporate many of their suggestions. However, I do take its contents with a grain of salt and search for the data on some of the recommendations. Listen, if you follow the tips in this book you will definitely be keeping yourself and baby safe, it’s up to you to determine which pregnancy rules work for you and which can be bent a bit based on the available studies. *(See book number 1).

Cribsheet by Emily Oster

A sequel to “Expecting Better”, this book details many of the newborn recommendations we have all heard about and again which ones are actually founded in data. Professor Oster’s approach is so practical and her goal is really to save you the stress of worrying about things that are really minimal risk and instead help you focus on the things that will make the most impact. She’s also an amazing follow on Instagram! Her Q&As detail the most up to date recommendations and data from vaccines/COVID in pregnancy and “is nipple confusion a real thing?”.

Click here to shop all the books mentioned here!

These are the books that I’ve found most helpful for me and the way I *suspect* I’m going to parent. When it comes to pregnancy/ baby I think I have a healthy amount of concern while also being realistic about what will and won’t matter in the long run and what is simply out of our control. I also am probably a bit more lax on some of the common pregnancy rules, again if the data supports this. So, take my recommendations with that in mind!