Book Review: The Christian Mama’s Guide to Baby’s First Year

(I participate in two different blog book review programs, both for Christian book publishers.)

The best way I can think to describe The Christian Mama’s Guide to Baby’s First Year is “refreshing.” It’s candid and helpful with an ample dose of self-deprecating humor thrown in for good measure.

There are a lot of books on parenting babies. Most of them are jam-packed with far more information than a new mom’s brain can reasonably process. Yet, they are all helpful in their own way. The WTE series is great for developmental information. Baby 411 is great for FAQ-type information. The Christian Mama’s Guide is more like “baby book lite” – it’s filled with great information but doesn’t overwhelm the reader with too many facts or opinions about the “right” way to do everything (hint: there is no “right” way).

I absolutely loved the author’s stance on breast vs. bottle. It was so refreshing/validating/ encouraging to finally read a book that said, “Yes, breast is best, but you know what? Bottle feeding is perfectly fine too!”

While “enjoyed” is probably not the correct term, I also liked the section on postpartum recovery. I found it to be more honest and informative than most other accounts I’ve read. I would have appreciated reading that before my baby was born. No one tells you about that, probably because it’s not fun and most women try to forget about it as soon as humanly possible. (Not difficult with mommy brain, trust me.)

This book was laugh-out-loud funny in parts. I felt a sense of camaraderie with the author as I read scenarios and thought, “been there, done that!” I found the bit about a baby’s inability not to pee whilst on the pediatrician’s weight scale to be particularly funny. I have a son and he’s peed on the scale at every visit so far. And not just a little bit.

The only piece of advice in the book I did not agree with was, “Sleep when baby sleeps.” I found that to be almost impossible. Better advice: Ask dad/grandma/friend/neighbor to take over baby duty for an hour or two so you can get a quality nap. Otherwise, if you try to nap when baby does, it’s almost guaranteed that as soon as your head hits the pillow the world will be in imminent danger of imploding because your baby’s pacifier fell out. Again. For the third time in 20 minutes.

This was a Christian book, but I didn’t find it to be overpowering. It’s not a Bible-based parenting book like you might expect to find on Michelle Duggar’s nightstand. I liked the author’s recommendations of a few Christian baby books and I also liked some of the Bible passages that she included.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to a new mom.

Note: I received an eBook copy of this book from Booksneeze in exchange for an honest review.