Expecting/Baby Care

How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby : The Method Best Supported by Scientific Evidence by Landrum B., Md Shettles, David M. Rorvik (Contributor)
    In this new edition, Dr. Shettles provides updates on the support of the Shettles method and information on competing methods. He includes information on the new ovulation-timing technologies and gives recommendations for the proper use of alkaline and acidic douches to enhance both boy and girl methods, and an explanation of the underlying rationale for those methods.

Denise Austin's Ultimate Pregnancy Book : How to Stay Fit and Healthy Through the Nine Months--And Shape Up After Baby by Denise Austin
    Denise Austin, popular television fitness celebrity and exercise-video leader, is also the mother of two little girls. She stayed in shape through her pregnancies, keeping meticulous records of how she did it, and she wants you to understand that you can, too. Denise Austin's Ultimate Pregnancy Book describes how to stay fit and healthy through each trimester, and how to bounce back after the baby is born. Austin includes health tips, nutritional information, an exercise routine appropriate for each trimester (including how to modify your favorite exercise choices), recipes, sample menus, weight advice, and beauty tips. After the baby is born, Austin shows you how to get back into shape, including how soon to start exercising and how to lose your baby fat, especially in the abdomen (with clothing tips to disguise the problem in the meantime). Austin gives tips on getting rest, breast-feeding, and enhancing your body's healing. The book is personal and friendly, as if Austin is your pal who is sharing her stories (including morning sickness in the first trimester and her shock at seeing her "mushy tummy" after delivery) and advice with you. --Joan Price

The Expectant Father : Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-To-Be by Armin A. Brott, Jennifer Ash
    An information-packed guide to all the emotional, financial and physical changes the father-to-be may experience during the course of his partner's pregnancy. Incorporating the wisdom of top experts in the field, from obstetricians and birth-class instructors to psychologists and sociologists, this book is filled with sound advice and practical tips for men, as well as New Yorker-style cartoons that will keep anxious fathers-to-be chuckling.

Music To Be Born By by Mickey Hart, The World (Rykodisc/Mickey Hart Series)
    Go to website to hear a sample of the cd.

Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet Guide to Natural Baby Care : Non-Toxic and Environmentally-Friendly Ways to Take Care of Your New Child by Mindy Pennybacker, Aisha Ikramuddin, Mothers, Others for a Livable
   For a decade, the nonprofit organization Mothers and Others for a Living Planet has been an advocate for raising children in natural, nontoxic, and environmentally friendly environments. Now, the editors of the Mothers and Others newsletter The Green Guide, Mindy Pennybacker and Aisha Ikramuddin, have compiled hundreds of suggestions into a comprehensive guidebook ideal for all parents concerned with providing their children with safe, "green" surroundings.
    Pennybacker and Ikramuddin provide details and suggestions for preparing baby's room, taking care of yourself during pregnancy, diapering the natural way, feeding your child, avoiding PVC in toys, avoiding the dangers of installing new carpets in baby's room (nonnatural carpets "offgas" VOCs--volatile organic compounds--and all carpets can become a trap for allergens and dust mites), and much more. It's not all warnings and cautions, though; the "Raising (and Protecting) Your Naturalist Child" chapter discusses the importance of exposing your child to the natural world, including ways to encourage empathy for animals. A thorough listing of "green" resources, information, and Web sites rounds off this highly useful guide. --Ericka Lutz

Child Care

Your Child's Medical Journal by Sharon Larsen
    Are your child's immunization records filed haphazardly around the house?  Or worse--not filed at all? "Your Child's Medical Journal" will help you keep vital information about dental visits, allergies, injuries, and more in one spot, so you'll be prepared to answer your doctor's questions, especially in an emergency.

American Academy of Pediatrics Guide to Your Child's Nutrition
    Is your baby refusing to play the "spoon as airplane" game at dinnertime?  Is your teenager suddenly showing signs of an eating disorder?  The American Academy of Pediatrics knows it's one thing to keep track of all the conflicting nutritional information out there-- and another to actually convince your kids to eat what's good for them.  Use their "Guide to Your Child's Nutrition" to help you foster healthy eating habits in your children.

Natural Relief for Your Child's Asthma : A Guide to Controlling Symptoms & Reducing Your Child's Dependence on Drugs by Steven J., Md Bock, Kenneth Bock, Nancy Pauline Bruning
    There's nothing more frightening than witnessing a child's asthma attack, listening to her wheeze and cough and fight for every breath--and sharing her panic. Fortunately, pharmaceutical advances have resulted in a whole new class of drugs that prevents or relieves asthma flare-ups. But do you want your child on drugs, with their potential short- and long-term side effects? Besides, asthma drugs treat the symptoms without treating the underlying condition. Are there alternatives that can lessen an asthmatic child's drug dependency? Yes, say authors Steven J. Bock, Kenneth Bock, and Nancy P. Bruning. "It is our belief that asthma rates continue to soar because of our increasingly toxic environment," they write. "Our children are assaulted from every direction with indoor and outdoor air pollution, poor food, and stress." The cumulative toxicity makes children more susceptible to diseases. In this book the authors present a natural asthma program to complement your child's conventional care and help to reduce asthma attacks and drug dependency. This includes reducing asthma triggers (including advice for "saying goodbye to Fluffy"); eating a cleaner, more nourishing diet (emphasizing plant foods); taking supplements, herbs, and homeopathic remedies; and learning to cope with emotional stress. The book ends with three case studies of children who used the program in various ways and dramatically improved their health. --Joan Price

Adolescent Care

Uncommon Sense for Parents With Teenagers by Michael Riera
"Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers" defines the turmoil of young adulthood and the challenges both parents and teenagers face. As a consultant and lecturer to over a hundred high schools and with years of experience counseling teenagers and their parents, Dr. Michael Riera dispenses uncommon advice to break down the often-adversarial relationship between parents and teens. Because adolescents use their teenage years as active training for adulthood, parents need to take a demotion from manager of their child's life to consultant and "let their kid exercise their decision-making muscle." Dr. Riera's unconventional suggestions include:
    Resist giving advice, even when your teenager asks for it.
    Forget heart-to-heart talks--communicate indirectly.
    Give your kid a non-alcoholic "cocktail" hour to decompress after a long, hard day.
    Embrace estrangement and expect inconsistency.
Dr. Riera also addresses the most commonly asked questions by parents, and offers practical counsel on such questions as:
    What are fair punishments?
    What can you do to keep your kid motivated in school?
    What do you need to know about your kid's sex life?
    What do you need to know about teenage parties, alcohol, and drugs?
Personal stories from both parents and teenagers are featured throughout, offering insight and comfort to those dealing with similar problems. --