Parenting Wisdom You Can Count On
One would be hard-pressed to find something simultaneously as beautiful and challenging as parenthood. While a baby’s smile can make 100 dirty diapers worth it and a toddler kiss can melt the greatest frustrations, most parents still have a deep desire to ensure that they’re parenting in the best possible way.
Since questions are nearly constant when it comes to babies and children, guidance from experts and wisdom from experienced parents is a must. Nothing empowers quite like data-driven information, encouragement, and the resulting confidence boost. The following family help books offer plenty of positive parenting tips for those wanting to enhance their parenting skillset.
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
by Jonathan Haidt
A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.
Haidt traces the epidemic of teen mental illness to the “great rewiring of childhood,” when smart phones became ubiquitous, and makes a compelling case for the return of the play-based childhood.
Parents Have Feelings, Too: A Guide to Navigating Your Emotions So You and Your Family Can Thrive
by Hilary Jacobs Hendel - Juli Fraga
An emotions playbook for family wellness. This practical guide teaches parents how to understand and process their emotions—and how to teach this valuable, life-changing skill of emotional intelligence to the next generation.
Psychotherapists Hendel and Fraga provide the tools parents need to understand and effectively work with their own potent feelings, in effect, a form of self-care for parents.
You Bet Your Stretch Marks: Finding Beauty and Worth in the Ways Motherhood Marks Our Bodies and Souls
by Abbie Halberstadt
The all-in enterprise called parenting will test your patience and stretch your capacity like nothing else, but mama-of-10 Halberstadt is here to remind you that having children is a calling you should never apologize to anyone for.
With her trademark candor and relatable humor, Halberstadt offers encouragement and insight for mamas struggling to remain engaged and hopeful amid the challenges of motherhood.
The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind
by Daniel J Siegel - Tina Payne Bryson
The authors of No-Drama Discipline and The Yes Brain explain the new science of how a child's brain is wired and how it matures in this pioneering, practical book.
Neuropsychiatrist Siegel and parenting expert Bryson offer a revolutionary approach to child rearing with 12 key strategies that foster healthy brain development, leading to calmer, happier children.
Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us about the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans
by Michaeleen Doucleff
Doucleff sets out with her three-year-old daughter in tow to learn and practice parenting strategies from families in three of the world's most venerable communities: Maya families in Mexico, Inuit families above the Arctic Circle, and Hadzabe families in Tanzania.
Doucleff noticed that these cultures don't have the same problems with children that Western parents do. Most strikingly, parents build a relationship with young children that is vastly different from the one many Western parents develop—it's built on cooperation instead of control, trust instead of fear, and personalized needs instead of standardized development milestones.
Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool
by Emily Oster
A thinking parent's guide to the chaos and frequent misinformation of the early years. Award-winning economist Oster shows parents how to think through freighted questions like if and how to go back to work, how to think about toddler discipline, and how to have a relationship and parent at the same time. This is an excellent parenting book for new moms.
No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline Without Shame
by Janet Lansbury
A modern classic on the gentle art of discipline for toddlers, by the internationally renowned childcare expert, podcaster, and author of Elevating Child Care.
No Bad Kids presents Lansbury’s signature approach to discipline and covers common toddler concerns such as:
- Why toddlers need clear boundaries—and how to set them without yelling
- What's going on when they bite, hit, kick, tantrum, whine, and talk back
- Advice for parenting a strong-willed child
- How to be a gentle leader, and Lansbury's secret for staying calm
How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7
by Joanna Faber - Julie King
A must-have resource for anyone who lives or works with young kids. Organized according to common challenges and conflicts, this book is an essential manual of communication strategies, including a chapter that addresses the special needs of children with sensory processing and autism spectrum disorders.
This user-friendly guide will empower parents and caregivers of young children to forge rewarding, joyful relationships with any child.
These parenting books provide much-needed insights and direction when life with littles feels overwhelming. Also, parenting books reveal ways to embrace the role of a parent. If we slow down and get on their level, children have a remarkable way of renewing our outlook on life.
Pick a book that speaks to your current parenting stage. Remember, seeking support and knowledge is part of the journey!