Anyone who has ever had a baby can confirm that the old saying is true: baby’s don’t come with instruction manuals! Fortunately, millions of parents have come before us, and over that times, we’ve learned quite a lot about newborn development, and what is normal, and what should raise concern.

Baby’s First 100 Days is a new book that has just come out, and I like it for a few main reasons.
1. It is brief. When you are in the throws of learning how to feed your child (breast or bottle), learning to diaper, and falling madly in love while learning how to survive on no sleep, it can be a little overwhelming to have to flip through a book the size of an encyclopedia to find the information you seek. This book is 84 pages long and has a very handy table of contents. It will fit on your night stand right next to your diaper cream and breast pads. Just sayin’.

2. It has pictures! When you are a first time parent, sometimes a book will describe newborn behavior, but you won’t know for sure if what they are describing is what your baby is doing. Having a picture that shows what they are talking about is enormously helpful! When you are brand new to parenting, you have no idea what a grimmacing face might look like, or a proper swaddle. Pictures really do help.

I would recommend Baby’s First 100 Days as a baby shower gift for a first time mom and dad. I don’t think it is necessary for anyone who has already had a baby once before. I will be passing my copy along to a childhood friend of mine who just had her first baby 6 days ago. I hope she will find it to be helpful!

Buy it!: Baby’s First 100 Days is available from Amazon for $7.99.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a copy of Baby’s First 100 Days. The contest will run until July 21st at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Share a tip that you would give to a brand new parent

My answer: We purchased the sound of a heart beating in utero from iTunes for 1.00. Best dollar we spent! When Darah was a newborn, she preferred to have that playing on repeat while she snoozed during the day. I highly recommend it!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Follow Cedar Fort Books on Twitter
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.