First Time Parent
Having a baby is an amazing experience by anyone 's standards. But the chaos, self-doubt and borderline insanity of the first few months bear virtually no relation to what many of us expect first time around. Most new parents discover the hard way that the first year is not about clean towels, timed feeds and manageable routines. It 's about green poos, regurgitation,weird sounds in the night, anxiety, elation, bickering and basic survival.
As a mother of three, health writer Lucy Atkins has written a basic 'how-to' baby book that reflects what it 's really like to be a new parent.
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The First-Time Parent addresses head-on the elation, anxiety, guilt and confusion felt by many first-time parents, as well as all the basics you need to cope with that first year. Most new parents have barely laid eyes on a nappy before they have a baby, let alone attempted to stick one on a tiny wriggling infant.
They want to be told, simply, how to accomplish this and other basic tasks too.
Starting with a shopping list ("Prepare") that outlines what kit is really necessary and what 's superfluous nonsense, First-time Parent moves on
("Hello") to the moment you hold your newborn and wonder 'where are the instructions? ' It covers the main worries; from when your baby takes her first breath to how to cope if your eleven-month old starts biting his friends!
Anticipating the questions and concerns all new parents have ... ... ....
Why does my baby cry so much?
Will I ever lose all this weight?
Do I have to hand myself to the police because I forgot to sterilise my baby 's dummy?
... .....Lucy provides heaps of practical advice and level-headed reassurance.
With eleven themed chapters (Cry, Sleep, Eat, Play, Grow, Thrive and so on) and timesaving features such as 'Top 10 Worries ' and ' Five Things to Try, ' new parents will easily find what they need - and more.
The First-Time Parent has been written in an intelligent, sometimes funny and most of all human voice,
The book includes the chaotic and out-of control bits that can really dominate the world view of a new parent. It gives practical tips but also reassures new parents that feeling incompetent confused or just plain crackers is entirely normal during this amazing and lunatic first year.
Seeing your baby for the first time is one of the most memorable experiences in most parents’ lives, but shortly after, concerns stuck to kick in – am I holding my baby right?; what will I feed him/her?; how do I bath my baby properly? How will I cope!?
Parental instinct sets in quite quickly, but to give you a helping hand, Lucy Atkins, mother of three and author of ‘First Time Parent’, is here with help from the Fairy Godmothers, a panel of new mothers and mothers-to-be, to prepare you for the first 48 hours of bringing your baby home for the first time.
In the last of the series of vodcasts from Lucy and the Fairy Godmothers, new mothers and fathers will be put at ease with a step by step guide to what one might expect in those first 48 hours after bringing baby home. With all the surprises out the way, you’ll be able to sit back and bond with your baby.
About the Author
Following a degree in English from Oxford University, Lucy Atkins has
established a career as a successful health journalist. She is the author of Blooming Birth and writes frequently for the Guardian and other publications including The Sunday Times, The Telegraph and Red magazine.
Lucy has been a first-time parent, as well as a second- and third-time one, and lives with her young family in Oxford!
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