Books for working moms

Nursing Mother, Working Mother : The Essential Guide for Breastfeeding and Staying Close to Your Baby After You Return to Work
by Gale Pryor

A Must have for nursing moms returning to work
Reviewer: C. Ackerman (Indianapolis, IN)

   I don't spend much time reading and this book provided me with a ton of info in an easy to read, concise manner. The plan that Gale lays out for nursing moms to prepare for going back to work is absolutely the best. I know lots of nursing moms that returned to work and were constantly worried that they weren't pumping enough to feed their baby for the next day. I followed Gales guidelines and generally had 2 weeks to a month of milk in the freezer ready to go. I never worried about having to supplement with formula - even if I was out of town for a week on work. I believe it is the main reason I was able to nurse both my children for 14 months before they were fully weaned and work full time+ at a very stressful job. The book also provided lots of other good info to think about as well as resources (lactation rooms, what type of day care you want, interview questions, PT work schedules). I did not feel like Gale was a huge proponent of co-sleeping. She did provide it as an option and provided info about why you might want to do it. But as with all her suggestions or thoughts I felt they were presented in a matter of fact manner and left it up to me to decide without adding a component of guilt - we all know that we put enough of that on ourselves already!

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The Working Mother's Guide to Life: Strategies, Secrets, and Solutions
by Linda Mason

Best Guide a Working Mom can have!
Reviewer: beth (delaware)

   This book is an absolute lifesaver for a busy working FAMILY. Tips for Moms and Dads, but mostly a supportive guide for the mothers trying to do it all. I've been a working mother for 5+ years and wish Linda Mason had published this book years ago. She is a truly inspirational woman making great improvements in the childcare field. I applaude Bright Horizons, Linda and her husband for creating such a great place for kids and parents to learn, grow and be nutured. I look forward to her next book!

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How She Really Does It: Secrets of Successful Stay-At-Work Moms (Hardcover)
by Wendy Sachs

Stay-At-Work-Moms- Are They Successful?
Reviewer: P. Robichaud "prisrob" (New England, USA)
 

   I was caring for my three month old grandson, so his parents could go out for the first time together, and found myself reading this book. My daughter went back to work last week as a school psychologist, and it was a gut wrenching event for her, her husband and baby. Hubby is a new stay-at-home dad, and it is difficult for him too. No breaks, can't rush out for coffee whenever he needs a fix. This little boy needs his daddy all the time! This book by Wendy Sachs verifies that all of the feelings of loss, guilt and anger are right on and ok for mom and dad. Everyone feels the same. Some women are more successful at working than others, just as some women need to stay at home.

   Wendy Sachs was a producer at "Dateline" and loved her job when she became pregnant. She wanted to go back to work after the baby was born, and then the next baby was born. Eventually she did go back, but she learned some lessons along the way. She met other women at a professional mommies get together. She learned the secrets of success of same women, and the not so successful secrets of others. She interviewed 10 women, most of them famous. But they all had their ups and downs. I found that Anne Curry gave the best advice and was the most down to earth. "You must learn to live without enough sleep, she encourages women, just try and organize your life the best you can. When your children are in school, it will all even out somewhat." Ye Gods, 6 years it takes, without sleep? All of the celebrities had guilt and sorrows. The missed soccer games, the plays, the children crying for mommy to stay home just 100 minutes!

   Valuable advice and a book for every working mother to read. Or for every women who wants to work and to have children. Learn the best way to plan and organize, of course, it won't fit into your lifestyle, but you will gain some insight. My daughter is reading this book and was gratified that I had read it and agreed with the premise. She is not alone, nor is her husband or her baby. Highly recommended.

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When Mothers Work: Loving Our Children Without Sacrificing Ourselves
by Joan K. Peters

What an eye opener!
Reviewer: "valhowells" (Streamwood, IL USA

This book is about raising healthy children. This is not meant to be a political or controversial book. It deals with the real issues all parents face when confronted with wanting to raise your children and having to support your family. The author's theory is that fulfilled parents raise independant, self-reliant children. There are examples of families that use many different strategies to raise their children successfully, without guilt for the time they spend at work. The author talks about the satisfaction that BOTH parents get from caregiving. Unlike the family dynamic of the 1950's, if the mother is sufficiently supported in child rearing by the father, she can parent effectively herself without becoming burnt out. In addition, the children benefit from having 2 involved parents, rather than just 1 or 1 1/2, and the father gains from having a closer relationship with the children. At the same time the parents have the satisfaction of working and supporting their family together (or however it works best for that family). This book helped me quite a bit. I don't know how I will feel after my child is born and my maternity leave is over. My husband has always promised we would share all work in raising our family but I just couldn't give up the power of running the house. I didn't believe he could do the job as well as I would. This book explains that dads don't do things the same way as moms. They do them differently, and the kids benefit from both parenting styles. This book gave me the courage to trust him to do his very best, just as I know I will.

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Getting It Right: How Working Mothers Successfully Take Up the Challenge of Life, Family, and Career
by Laraine T. Zappert

An extraordinarily helpful book!
Reviewer: Ellen T. Murphy (Lowell, MA United States)

   Getting it Right offered me exactly what I was looking for at just the right time. It gave me insights into what other career-minded mothers who strive for better balance in their lives are going through. The book combines research findings and helpful step by step guides and self-help questionnaires that gave me a great new perspective. Best of all it gave real, hard, current figures about Stanford women MBA's in the workplace. I was amazed to read that 47% are working part time. This is the fifth book I've bought and read in hopes that I would be able to resolve my conflicting feelings about work and raising children. And unlike so many of the books about getting it right with respect to family and work this book has absolutely no religious slant. Thank God. Real research and really insightful ways to analyze your current desires and needs as they relate to balance. I highly recommend this one!

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The Working Parents Handbook
by Ellen Melinkoff, Kit Kollenberg, June Solnit Sale

Great practical, thoughtful advice for working parents
Reviewer: A reader

   Since 1989 the authors of the UCLA Working Parents Newsletter have offered practical advice, solutions and ideas to working parents. The book expands their work and adds personal vignettes from real parents. Emotional issues are discussed, including separation anxiety -- both the child's and the parents' -- in such a way that you realize there are no simple solutions and many parents feel the same way you do. All working parents can benefit from the years of research and parental wisdom that have gone into this book

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The Third Shift: Managing Hard Choices in Our Careers, Homes, and Lives as Women
by Michele Bolton

The Third Shift: Create Maximum Power for Self-Actualization
Reviewer: Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas)

   In this single volume, women are provided with excellent advice on how to manage hard choices in their career, their home, and (in fact) their entire life. The title refers to the "self-destructive and exhausting ritual" to which so many women become hostage. For many of them, this shift seems endless. Bolton observes: "Rather than deriving joy from their choices as women -- to work, to stay at home, to help out in the community -- many women are half-crazed by the constant demands, options, and trade-offs." She organizes her material within three Parts:
The Identity Challenge: Who Are We?

The Task Challenge: What Do We Do?

The Balance Challenge: Who Comes First?

   Bolton draws upon a wealth of research (hers and others') which guides and informs her observations, recommendations, and conclusions. In the Afterword, she suggests that "In many ways, women today live in a surreal world, floating back and forth between an outdated cultural mirror that prescribes certain genderized roles, and then careening suddenly toward the possibility of an entirely new image, with as-yet-unknown life scripts and patterns for its many actors and actresses." Although written for women, this book should also be be read by men who also have "hard choices" to make. If they make the correct choices, perhaps many of the decisions made by women will be less difficult.

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