If your baby could write a book for you about breastfeeding, it wouldn't contain pages and pages of small text and big words. It would probably read more like one of your standard early readers: simple and easy to understand with an illustration on every page. In fact, it would probably look a lot like Mommy's Little Breastfeeding Book: 101 Tips Your Baby Wants You to Know About Breastfeeding.

Though the title is a mouthful, the tips roll right off the tongue and are perfect for the new or seasoned breastfeeding mom. Even when breastfeeding my fourth child I found myself feeling like I was new at the whole nursing thing. I would have loved a few tips and tricks from Mommy's Little Breastfeeding Book, especially since they are short, to the point, and sprinkled with humor. I am all for humor when the latching-on process is still under way!

From when to pick out a nursing bra to cluster feeding (this is one I really wish I'd known about), Mommy's Little Breastfeeding Book has 101 tips for making nursing as natural and easy a process as possible. And because this book is much lighter reading than your typical novel-length reference book, you'll be rarin' and ready for letdown in no time! You can purchase Mommy's Little Breastfeeding Book: 101 Tips Your Baby Wants You to Know About Breastfeeding for only $9 from Amazon.com. (And check out the book’s reviews - five stars across the board!) - Emily H.

In mid-January, I posted about my struggles with balancing life as a mom in a post titled "How Do You Do It?" For moms out there who, like me, struggle with balancing all of the different aspects of their lives, there is a great book for you to check out.

Breaking the Good Mom Myth: Every Mom's Modern Guide to Getting Past Perfection, Regaining Sanity, and Raising Great Kids by Alyson Shafer is a great reality check for all moms. Shafer addresses struggles moms feel by talking about eight different mom myths. Some of the chapters in the book address the myths that "self-care is selfish," "my marriage can wait," and "good mothers are in control," among others.

Upon reading this book, I felt better about what I do as a mom. The best part of the book for me was when Shafer discussed the need for moms to take care of themselves and their marriages. There are so many times when I push my own needs to the side because I there are so many needs I have to address for my family. Shafer seems to subscribe to the old saying that "if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy," writing that moms taking care of themselves is a need of the family, too, allowing moms to address their jobs refreshed and rejuvenated.

Breaking the Good Mom Myth is a great read for new and seasoned moms alike, helping us to let go of our need to be the "perfect" mom and strive to be sane about taking care of ourselves and our families. - Sara I.

"Congratulations! You're having twins!" There is no news that can be more exciting or more intimidating than finding out your new baby is not coming alone. However, there are some great ways to prepare for life with a quickly expanding family.

One of my favorite sanity savers before my twins arrived, and during their first year, was Ready or Not... Here We Come! by Elizabeth Lyons. The book is written for mothers of twins from a friend's perspective. Elizabeth does a great job addressing all aspects of that first year by drawing on her own experience as well as that of her twin mom friends. I was really able to rally around her humor, realism, and tricks-of-the-trade for surviving that first year with twins. The book has become the first book I recommend to anyone having twins. Elizabeth also wrote a follow-up book, Ready or Not... There We Go!, which covers years two through four of life with twins. That book is still a nightstand staple for me.

Another fantastic resource for twin parents is a local parents of multiples group. There are groups all across the U.S. where parents of multiples come together to give each other support. In those groups, you can find help and advice, both before your twins are born and after. I wish I would have gotten more involved in my local club before the boys arrived because I think I would have had more support in those first few crazy months. Even now, three years in, I really enjoy getting together with other twin parents. Find out more about the great things about joining a parents of multiples club here. Looking for your local club? You can start at the National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs.

There are online resources for parents as well. One of my favorite is a blog titled "How Do You Do It?". I think the blog is a great resource for parents of multiples and provides insight into life with twins or more, either for those expecting multiples or those who are just curious. Want to know what daily life with newborn twins is like? Check out this post.

Most importantly, new parents of twins should remember that this is an adventure - enjoy the ride! - Sara I.

One of my biggest worries as the parent of a newborn is getting that baby to sleep. Luckily, I found the book Good Night, Sleep Tight: The Sleep Lady’s Gentle Guide to Helping Your Child Go to Sleep, Stay Asleep, and Wake Up Happy. The book is a fantastic resource for information about the physiology of sleep and children’s sleep needs from birth through age five. It addresses how to shape sleep for children and issues that may arise at different ages. The book even talks about improving sleep for those choosing to co-sleep.

This is a book that I have found myself looking to for information about my children's sleep habits many times over the last two and a half years. I have been able find how much sleep my children should actually be getting at each age as well as example schedules for that time. I have learned about taking away pacifiers, addressing sleep issues with teething, and how adding a new sibling can cause new sleep problems to arise, even in previously strong sleepers. Now, I am revisiting much of the book as I try to get my seven-week-old on a schedule and into a bed in his own room. I have gotten so much advice and support from this book that it is now my go-to gift for new parents.

Kim West, one of the book’s authors, is known as the Sleep Lady. She coaches parents to help them guide their children to be great sleepers. You can find out more about Kim and her philosophy at SleepLady.com. - Sara I.

There is so much going on during the first year with your first baby, it is hard to think about building traditions with your growing family. I don’t think I woke enough to even think about things like that until my twins were almost two!

Luckily, there is a book out there to help even the most bleary-eyed parents come up with ideas of how to begin traditions in their families that will be treasured for a lifetime. The Book of New Family Traditions: How to Create Great Rituals for Holidays and Everyday by Meg Cox has been a great resource for our family. Ms. Cox outlines ideas to develop traditions in your family, and not just for the major holidays and celebrations. She also writes about rituals involving daily routines, like dinner and bedtime, and on celebrating milestones from transitioning from bottles to cups all the way through graduations.

Ms. Cox interviewed diverse families from across the country for more than three years in her quest to find rituals and traditions on which to build her own family. This means that all of the ideas in her book have been put into practice by real families, which has given me a little more confidence to try some with ours. One of my favorites? I love the birthday balloon countdown when children pop one balloon on a chain each day until their birthday arrives.

Do you have special traditions already established that your family holds dear? In the continuing quest for more ideas to involve ritual in my children’s lives, I would love to hear what ideas you embrace in your home, too! - Sara I.