Kid Resources

Like most parents, we’ve learned most that we know about taking care of our kids the hard way. Here’s a few things that have helped us a long the way, though…

Pregancy

  • Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy - The best book full of good common sense to help mothers (and fathers) to-be know what to expect out of pregnancy and childbirth. Much better than What to Fear When You’re Expecting.
  • Center for Women’s Health at Evergreen - Best OB/GYN’s on the eastside of Seattle. We use Dr. Skrypzak, but everyone there is great.
  • Baby Bargains - This book is the greatest. It gives practical advice about what baby “stuff” you really need. It also rates products manufacturers on the market on things like safety and usability. I don’t know how many times we were in Babies R Us trying to decide what to buy, and one of us said “I don’t know, what does the book say?”

Sleep/Feeding
There’s 2 schools of thought here: attachment parenting and parent-directed feeding. The former’s biggest proponent being Dr. Sears, of The Baby Book fame, the latter being Gary Ezzo, of BabyWise fame. Without getting into that debate, here were two books that seemed to split the difference and offer more practical advice:

  • Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child - This book saved us. If you only read one book on how to get your child to sleep, read this one. It’s written by Marc Weissbluth, a pediatrician and sleep specialist.
  • Secrets of the Baby Whisperer - Written by a nurse, Baby Whisperer is a little more schedule oriented, but still very helpful.
  • Super Baby Food - This book was great for knowing what the healthiest foods were to feed Grady as he transitioned to solid foods.

Other Things We Wouldn’t Want to Do Without

  • Video Baby Monitor - It’s great to not just be able to hear what’s they’re doing, but see as well.
  • Garage Sales - How do you think we keep the kids stocked with clothes and toys? Most of it comes from garage sales.
  • Kirkland Parks - So Grady can get out and play!
  • Evergreen Hospital - Their rooms look like Pottery Barn, their nurses are amazing, and they have an level 3 neonatal care center. What else could you want out of a hospital?