Having had four babies of my own some people would call me seasoned mom with lots of parenting advice to share. However, as we all know, parenthood is a journey and everyday I learn something new and make new mistakes as well.

Thinking back to when it all began I remember not knowing a thing about babies and muddling my way through. Like most new moms of the day, I started with What to Expect When You’re Expecting as my pregnancy bible. At the time the mom-to-be on the cover was wearing a frumpy old maternity dress and not the slick jeans and form fitting shirt you see now ;). I moved on up the series to What to Expect the First Year and then on to What to Expect the Toddler Years where I found many a good tip for parenting toddler. I devoured every word.

The problem, of course, is that babies don’t come with user manuals. The authors tried to cover every situation and how babies will react in general. But each baby is different - something I did not fully understand the first time around. So when my baby did not behave the way the book said he should, I figured that I must be doing something wrong. Welcome to the world of “mommy guilt”. There really is no escaping it, no matter what age your children are.

New parents often turn to books and also to other parents for parenting help as they do not have past experience to draw upon. When my oldest child was born, most of my friends were not yet parents. I was also the first amongst my siblings to have kids. The internet was not the city that it is today but more like an uninhabited countryside. Sites like CafeMom (btw, right now they are offering the chance to win a free year of diapers if you sign up by tomorrow) which is a nice networking site for new moms, did not exist. Being home with a newborn was a bit lonely back then. In fact, I met one of my now good friends in the mother’s room at Nordstrom, of all places.

Parenting Help Books about Babies
I still turn to books as a primary source of parenting help. In addition the What to Expect series that I mentioned before, here are a few timeless favorites when it comes to parenting advice for babies:

• Rather than a particular book, I refer to many by this particular author - Louise Bates Ames. You may already be familiar with the series of books called “Your One Year Old”, “Your Two Year Old” and so on. This series is a bit dated, but it goes to show you that the more things change the more they stay the same. For every year in a child’s life, Louise explains what may be going through their minds and why they may be behaving the way they do.
• The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding Now this odd title made me skip it the first time around and I really wish I hadn’t. Nursing was so much easier with my second child because I made sure that I read this one cover to cover before he arrived. Now, I know breastfeeding is not for everyone but this book will give you the basics and help you make an informed decision. One thing that I found very surprising about breastfeeding was how hard it really is. It should come naturally, shouldn’t it? Like some built in instinct. Not so, as many of you can attest.
• The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide is a recent addition to the parenting help books on my shelf. Babies translate into lots of stuff. And new parents are a marketers dream. Heather Maclean and Hollie Schultz review every type of baby gizmo known to (wo)man and tell you whether you need it or not - or at least give you parenting tips to help you make that decision. They don’t recommend particular brands but rather take an in-depth look at each category of baby products.

Parenting Help Websites for New Moms

• The one you are reading, of course! Parenting Tips at NeenMachine.com
• CafeMom as I mentioned previously.
• Parents.com is another one of my favorites. This site is run by Parents Magazine
• I have to say that the number of excellent parenting sites out there is too large to mention here. I discover new sites every day just by surfing my way across the net.

Let me know about your favorite source of parenting help - I would love to hear about it!

giraffe photo credit: memekode