THE MUST-HAVE MOM MANUAL by Sara Ellington and Stephanie Triplett

Publisher Ballantine, May 2009

From two parenting experts as well as in the trenches moms comes a book no new mother will want to be without. Organized chronologically and indexed for easy reference, The Must Have Mom manual covers every aspect of mother and child’s life from birth to around first grade.

The book has an all-inclusive philosophy because these young moms-who are best friends have made opposite decisions about most parenting choices like breastfeeding or bottle feeding, cribs or co-sleeping, and returning to work or staying at home. Additionally, the book covers such topics as postpartum depression, how to deal with your career, what to expect when returning back to work from maternity leave, why its so important to make time for yourself, how to get your husband to help out more, products that will make your life easier, foods, germs, potty training, and other health issues, arming kids against sexual predators, tips for adapting your marriage for parenthood, and much, much more.

Their philosophy is simple and straightforward: there is no one right way to be a mom. They just want to make every mom’s life easier. So, with a healthy dose of humor, they share their parenting triumphs and disasters, marital challenges, public meltdowns, and all the knowledge they’ve gained as radio show hosts with hundreds of tips from moms everywhere. This book is a perfect baby shower gift, offering a wealth of tricks, tactics and mom-tested advice.