Comments on: Why I stopped reading parenting books (and then started again)

By: Marci

Marci — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:53:06 +0000

When I called my OB about something that “What to Expect” said was a serious issue, she sighed, told me it was normal & said, “that’s why we took that book off of our reading list.”

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:49:31 +0000

As Amy mentioned, I nearly died when I saw the mention that blowing “into you” (ahem) during sex when pregnant could cause an embolism. That’s the day I stepped away from the books.

By: Shelly Haggerty

Shelly Haggerty — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:52:26 +0000

Whatâ€™s everyone doing for safety precautions for Halloween? My husband came across an article (http://i-newswire.com/pr220892.html) with some info about background checking neighbors. I thought that may be a little overboard but it had some other good suggestions for some precautions I havenâ€™t thought about. Last year my youngest son came down with a massive fever after Halloween. I almost thought about just taking the kids to our churchâ€™s fall festival this year instead of door-to-door to prevent that from happening again. I donâ€™t know yet. Whatâ€™s your advice? Am I over-reacted or just being a concerned mom?

By: The Home Office Organizer | “Supermoms” & Asha Dornfest of ParentHacks.com

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:16:09 +0000

[...] Asha mentioned this post she wrote about reading parenting books. [...]

By: Stacy

Stacy — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:45:26 +0000

Can we please not throw around the word Nazi like it is just a clever and funny phrase?

By: Amy S

Amy S — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:15:25 +0000

Oh yeah, those What to Expect… books are little demon-spawned slices of hell. My mother-in-law got me When You’re Expecting after we revealed the news. I devoured it, and every time it advised me to “call your doctor” because symptom X “could indicate a serious problem” I was then reassured by my poor OB that I had nothing to worry about because there was a mundane, non-threatening explanation for whatever ailed me that hour. After about 500 calls and visits like this I quit reading the book and used it to prop up my coffee table. (Well, not really. My table was/is fine. But the stupid book would’ve been much more useful to me that way.)

By: Meg

Meg — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:53:10 +0000

Amen.
I dutifully read What to Expect this-and-that like crazy. My daughter had a health problem that Heidi the Baby Nazi (my pet name for her) covered in half a paragraph, assuring me she’d be better than fine very soon. Um, no. I lost faith in the books so quickly, because here I was, trusting Heidi the Baby Nazi to tell me how everything was supposed to be…and she was clearly telling me pure bunk. (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia confirmed that she was, in this case, full of more bunk than a bunk factory.) My gut said, “my kid is sick” then, but books in general always should be taken with a grain of salt and the knowledge that your kid and your situation is always going to be just a little bit different.
Not that I haven’t gotten some fab advice from parenting books. I still sing the praises of Dr. Karp and the “Happiest” series. But yeah, I hear ya. You go with your gut and your baby’s needs.