Reddit reviews Wonder Weeks (The Wonder Weeks)

Absolutely no issues with flying during pregnancy. Some airlines restrict pregnant women from flying past ~36 weeks, but I think that's because they don't want you going into labor in their airplane cabin at 32,000 feet. After getting thru security, buy a bottle of water for your wife. I was on a 2-hour flight over Christmas and was dying of thirst waiting for the drink cart to come down the aisle. Also, give her the aisle seat if possible so she can walk the aisles periodically to keep the blood moving and access the bathroom quickly if needed.

As for books, I've read a lot of good ones. I've liked the Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy, and Elisabeth Bing's Six Practical Lessons for an Easier Childbirth and Ina May's Guide to Childbirth for info on labor and delivery, and The Happiest Baby on the Block and the Wonder Weeks for infant care. Also The Birth Partner is a great book on delivery for both pregnant women and husbands. If you can find a secondhand bookstore near you, check it out--a lot of people sell off these types of books once they're done with them.

Congrats! Here are my tips . . . (Cut and pasted from another post.)

1. Stay positive - your attitude/outlook can really make a difference :)
   
   
2. Watch (don't read/or read after watching) The Happiest Baby on the Block film (see below.)
   
   
3. I see you are a reader - I felt like after reading the below books and listening to my parent friends' experiences, I was prepared for almost everything pregnancy and the first couple years of parenthood threw at me (I learn best from reading, and this was just my personal method that worked for me in making confident and informed decisions, or figuring out where to go for more research) - I know a lot of people don't learn best this way/get frustrated trying to implement something really specific if it doesn't work for their baby, rather than just taking pieces of everything they've heard/read about and adapting it to work for them.)
   
   These helped me make better decisions because they presented me with many options to try for trial and error, or good jumping off points for further research. I have honestly never had a "what do I do now?!" parenting moment because I have read so much that I have back up plans in my pocket if the first thing I try doesn't work. I have also never had any of the struggles with my son that a lot of people have around sleeping, eating, behavior, etc. and while I know some of that is because we have a healthy kid, I truly believe a lot of it comes from being an informed parent who explores all the options and tries the ones that have the most evidence for working well in combination with what feels right for me and my family.
   
   I tried to just list the neutral/middle of the road books that are fun and/or give enough indepth information on most sides of an issue to be a great jumping off point for exploring particular parenting styles, options, etc.
   
   In no particular order:
   
   

• Bringing up Bebe - Tells the parenting story of an American expat. living in Paris, and how she observed different parenting techniques between American and French families, and how that plays out in children's behavior. It is a fun "experience" story and I think it lends some interesting insights.
  
  
• Pregnancy, childbirth, and the newborn - I think this is the most informative, neutral, pregnancy book out there. It really tries to present all sides of any issues. I can't recommend this book enough. From here, you could explore the options that best fit your needs (e.g. natural birth, etc.)
  
  
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility - Look into this if you find you are having trouble conceiving, or if you want to conceive right away. Really great tips on monitoring the body to pinpoint the most fertile times and stay healthy before becoming pregnant.
  
  
• The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding - This is published by Le Leche League and really has everything you need to know about breastfeeding, pumping, etc. After baby is born, kellymom.com is a good resource for quickly referring to for breastfeeding questions later, but seriously don't skip this book - it is great!
  
  
• Dr. Spock's Baby and Childcare - Really comprehensive and probably the most widely read book about every aspect of child health and development (and also a lot of what to expect as parents.)
  
  
• NurtureShock - by far the most interesting book I've ever read in my life. Basically sums up research on child development to illuminate how many parents and educators ignore research based evidence on what works well for raising children. If you read nothing else in this book, at least read the sleep chapter!
  
  
• What's Going on in There? - This book was written by a neuroscientist after becoming a mom about brain development from pregnancy through about age 5. It has some of the same research as NurtureShock but goes way more in depth. I found it fascinating, but warning, I could see how it could scare some people with how much detail it goes into (like how many people feel that "What to Expect When Expecting" is scary.)
  
  
• Happiest Baby on the Block - There is a book, but really you can/should just watch the DVD. It has 5 very specific techniques for calming a fussy baby. Here are some recent reddit comments about it. Someday I will buy Dr. Karp a drink - love that man!
  
  
• The Wholesome Baby Food Guide - this book is based on a website which has some of the same information, but the book goes way more in depth about how to introduce food, with particular steps, to set baby up for a lifetime of good (non picky) eating habits.
  
  
• A variety of sleep books, so you can decide which method you might be comfortable with (I believe the Baby Whisperer and Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child are pretty middle of the road, but you can look into bedsharing (The Dr. Sear's books) or the other end (Babywise) as discussed in other comments already here, etc. - these last two links I am letting my personal bias show - sorry, but I just think it is good to know all sides of an issue.)
  
  
• Huffington Post Parents section often has "experience" articles, and browsing subs like this can help with that too.
  
  
• A lot of people love the Bill Cosby Fatherhood book too, but my husband and I haven't read it, so I can't say for sure what is in it, but I imagine it is "experiences" based
  
  
• The Wonder Weeks - describes when and how babies reach developmental milestones, what to expect from those, and how to help your baby with them.

Baby Center has descriptions of baby games by week of development, and you can sign up to have them emailed to you each week. Wonder Weeks also has a variety of ways to interact and engage with your baby during each of the growth spurts. I rented the ebook for free through my local library using the Overdrive app. You can also take her to a mommy & me yoga class or any other mom & baby meetup to talk with other moms, give baby a chance to see other babies, and get more ideas of things to do together.

Music also helps. When I'm bored with baby games and just staring at her, I'll turn on Spotify. It usually inspires me to sing and dance with/at her.

That being said, everything is brand-new and amazing to your baby. She's only been on the planet for 3 months, so she's never seen a washing machine, a spoon, a tree, a dog, or a tax form before. I would just strap baby into an Ergo carrier and take her with me as I checked the mail, grocery shopped, walked around the neighborhood, tidied the house, etc. Or I'd plop her in a bouncer while I did laundry, washed dishes, did my hair, etc. If she got fussy or needed something I'd attend to her, but otherwise she was happy to watch me go about my business. Bonus points if you narrate to her.

Your local kid resale store or pop-up consignment sale (ours are called Kid 2 Kid and Rhea Lana) will have several jumparoos, and I bet several of them will be multi-colored. It's something that's only been used for a couple of months and my baby will only use for a couple of months, so why buy not buy used? It's better for the wallet and the planet.

Wonder Weeks - it's a book and it has a nice smartphone app to go along with it. It's amazing how accurate it is when it comes to anticipating developmental "leaps", explaining why babies are acting like they do at certain ages, and clearly explains how to do appropriate play/games/interaction with them to help them through the "leaps".

Edit: Also, a lot of people only use the app, but I highly recommend getting the book. It gets into much more detail and is incredibly useful!

This sounds very very familiar--these sleep patterns come in waves. How are baby's naps? With my boy (13 months now) it's always been correlated. If he misses a nap, or one is cut short, he sleeps poorly at night.

Maybe he's getting to an age where 6 is too early a bedtime? Around that age we started pushing bedtime later, ensuring Felix was dead tired before bed.

Is he still breastfed/bottlefed or has he started on food? Is he a particularly big boy? It may be time to start experimenting with purées to fill up his belly.

And a big one--teeth. Does he have any? Are his cheeks red? Does he bat at his face/ears? He could be waking up with tooth pain, which is a nasty nasty thing. Especially the wailing on the soother makes me think something is going on in his mouth. Try a cool/frozen teething toy and see if that helps any, or medicine in small doses for pain relief.

All in all it sounds normal-ish, but there are a dozen things it could be. My wife and I find The Wonder Weeks super helpful with suggestions and advice on how to make baby's growing world a little kinder.

Something that might be helpful to you: I just got myself a new book that was highly recommended to me by other parents. It covers the growth spurts all kids fo through in their lives that can make their parent's life hell for some weeks.

So, apparently, there's a big developmental jump happening between week 23 and 27 of baby's life. With your LO turning 6 months, that would put her right there, right?

So baseline is, baby suddenly can do new stuff - see more, process more, understand more, which is vool, but she needs time to adjust to all of this new information.
Meaning: less sleep, more fuzzyness, needs lots of cuddling but is really hard to calm down. Apparently, from 27/28 weeks on, it should be better again. Maxbe knowing it will pass, soon will help?

Maybe you want to look into it. I believe this is the english version. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/9491882007/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1464988755&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=van+de+rijt&dpPl=1&dpID=51xJRFfI3eL&ref=plSrch#productDescription_secondary_view_div_1464988877986

Wow -- what a great response. Thanks for sharing!

The book you mentioned -- I see two. Which one would you recommend? Both?

http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-Weeks-Stimulate-Development-Predictable/dp/9491882007

http://www.amazon.com/stimulate-development-predictable-magical-forward/dp/9079208019

Thanks!!