Forget unrealistic childcare manuals - this is the book you really need to help you cope brilliantly with those first chaotic days and months ahead.

As a health journalist and mother-of-three, Lucy Atkins is familiar with both the medical aspects of childbirth and baby development, and the reality of day-to-day life as an exhausted first-time mum or dad. In her feisty, humorous style, she begins with that first mind-blowing day and addresses the issues unique to the first-time parent who stares at their newborn and thinks "Where are the instructions?"

Anticipating the questions and concerns of all new mothers-Why does my baby cry so much? Will I ever lose all this weight? Am I a bad parent because...?-the book provides practical advice and level-headed reassurance. It addresses the needs of the baby and, very importantly, those of the parent during the first year of their baby's life.

Contents include:

• Starter's orders - the equipment and kit you really need, as opposed to what the department store tells you
• Hello - how to cope with the first few hours
• Start - coming home, bonding, how to survive the first few days
• Sleep - for everyone!
• Cry - why your baby cries, what to do, why you'll want to cry, too
• Eat -breastfeeding, supplemental feeding, moving to solids, nutrition
• Grow - baby's physical and mental development
• Play - yes, you two actually can have fun
• Thrive - health considerations for baby and parent
• Live - adapting to your new life, the changing mother-father relationship
• Work - coping with being at home and with going back to work
• Also includes information on single parenting, and on adopted, multiple and special needs babies.

The First-Time Parent is on your side, and reassures that you can cope brilliantly with your new baby and your new life.

About the Author

Lucy Atkins is an award-winning British journalist and author. She writes for newspapers such as The Guardian, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph and a range of women's magazines. Lucy has been a first-time parent - as well as a second- and third-time one - and currently lives with her family in Boston, USA.

Reviews

'A great book for any first-time mother.' Sarah Beeny, TV property expert and mother of four.

'An honest, down-to-earth guide.' Mother and Baby

'You can't go wrong with a book as comprehensive as First-Time Parent.' Tidewater Parent

'Eminently more friendly than most baby manuals.' Sunday Express

Book Information
ISBN 9780007269440
Author Lucy Atkins
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Collins
Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
Weight(grams) 700g
Dimensions(mm) 246mm * 189mm * 14mm