Ideally Read Prior to Baby’s Arrival, But Worth the Read Regardless:
The Nurture Revolution: Grow Your Baby’s Brain and Transform Their Mental Health through the Art of Nurtured Parenting (#ad) – This is my number 1 recommendation, it is a MUST. It provides all the neuroscience (in an easily digestible way) related to how we raise our baby’s kids and what strategies are shown to support optimal long term mental health and emotional outcomes.
How Babies Sleep – A Science-Based Guide to the First 365 Days and Nights (#ad) – this gives a great overview of all the variations of “normal” when it comes to infant sleep. It looks at sleep as a biological process and from a anthropological lens. A little more of a scientific read, but entirely worth it so that you don’t end up thinking something is wrong with your baby’s sleep, when it’s actually normal.
Mom Genes: Inside the New Science of Our Ancient Maternal Instinct (#ad) – such an interesting read on the biologic changes of the birthing parent. Reading this connected so many dots for me in terms of things I had noticed after my children were born but didn’t quite have words for.
Regarding Parenting Mindset or “Strategy”
These books have been foundational to understanding how children’s brain’s development from babies to early childhood and into adolescence.
The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us about the Relationship Between Parents and Children (#ad) – “The pioneering developmental psychologist and philosopher Alison Gopnik argues that the familiar twenty-first-century picture of parents and children is profoundly wrong―it’s not just based on bad science, it’s bad for kids and parents, too.”
Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids (#ad) – “Today’s busier, faster society is waging an undeclared war on childhood. With too much stuff, too many choices, and too little time, children can become anxious, have trouble with friends and school, or even be diagnosed with behavioral problems. Internationally renowned family consultant Kim John Payne helps parents reclaim for their children the space and freedom that all kids need for their attention to deepen and their individuality to flourish.”
Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers (#ad) – this book was originally published 20 years ago at this point but does have an updated edition with a new chapter specifically related to living in a post-pandemic, digital world. But regardless, the science presented to support the premise of the book is still accurate, so worth a read (and even more relevant today, in my opinion!). Also, anything by Gabor Mate is worth a read, always.
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (#ad) – most relevant as kids move towards adolescence so wouldn’t worry about this one in the early days but definitely worth a read as your children are moving into grade school.
Toddler-Centric Years
The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind (#ad) – I love the explanations given here for what the heck is going on in a toddlers little brain when they’re upset about something seemingly meaningless as well as how to support them in calming down.
No-Drama Discipline: The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind (#ad) – a sequel of sorts to the above book that dives specifically into discipline (which, spoiler alert, means “to teach,” not to punish)
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