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  • The Second Baby Book

  • How to Cope with Pregnancy Number Two and Create a Happy Home for Your Firstborn and New Arrival
  • Written by: Sarah Ockwell-Smith
  • Narrated by: Katy Sobey
  • Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (18 ratings)

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The Second Baby Book cover art

The Second Baby Book

Written by: Sarah Ockwell-Smith
Narrated by: Katy Sobey
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Publisher's Summary

Having a second baby is a very different experience from having your first, yet there is little recognition of the wide range of issues that need to be considered when bringing a second child into the family. In this incredibly helpful book, Sarah Ockwell-Smith helps parents feel more positive and prepared for life with two children.

The book begins with the obvious question: when is the right time to add another member to the family? It then goes on to examine the specific issues that can arise with a second pregnancy and birth; the common concerns about siblings, such as how to prepare your firstborn for what's to come; how to cope with the practicalities of life with two young children (aka actually managing to get anything done!); and the feelings parents are likely to experience, too.

The Second Baby Book examines all the questions and issues Sarah herself faced second time around as well as sharing the experiences of the many parents who have sought her advice. It also highlights what scientific studies reveal about such issues as the spacing of children and the differences between first and second births. Practical, insightful and honest, this book will help you understand the challenges ahead, but, more importantly, it will equip you to meet them with knowledge, confidence and a sense of excitement for the future.

©2019 Sarah Ockwell-Smith (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK

What listeners say about The Second Baby Book

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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okay but very biased

The book is very focused on attachment parenting style, wearing your second baby on a sling all the time, co-sleeping and such... very few actual good practical advice

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    3 out of 5 stars

Validating for an expectant second time mother

The guilt and feeling overwhelm when expecting a second baby can make it so difficult to enjoy. This book does a really good job at normalizing a lot of the feelings that you will have around bringing a second baby into your family. Helpful tips, easy to listen to, a good review from what you may have learned about your first and how to apply it to a second.

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Helpful and insightful

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I appreciate the tips and the discussions of the harder topics too (i.e. gender disappointment and newborn challenges).

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I just had my second

I just had my second baby and although being over the moon happy about her and our oldest I was having a really hard time coping with guilt and this book just hit the nail on the head of what I needed to hear to help. It’s a must read for all second time parents.

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helps feel calmer normal and validated and offers alot of great practical advice

Great book overall
Definitely applied to a closer age gap but still offered helpful advice that I could apply to my children (near 6 year age gap) and offered perspective shifts and reframes fo fully understand what our eldest might be going through and how it might show up annnddd what to do to support her! Thank you!

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  • Kevin
  • 2021-04-05

Nice

If you are looking for a book to tell you are doing a good job, calm you down and normalize your feeling, then this a great book. The author does a good job helping to identify a lot of pain points for second time parents and make you feel better about them.

If you are looking for a book with structure, steps you can follow and specific insights, then this is not the book for you. The author is not definite on just about everything.

I would have liked more concrete advice.

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  • Danielle
  • 2020-10-26

Honest and so helpful

This book discusses openly what I was feeling as a new mom of 2 - so much guilt. Reading that other moms felt the same way and my feelings were normal helped me feel not alone. Very positive and helpful for me

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  • Kendra
  • 2020-06-02

So Helpful!

Totally worth the read! Practical, educational, and helped me through some emotions of having a second child. Highly recommend!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • ALEX T
  • 2021-04-09

a much needed read

days away from having baby #2 and just finished this book. we really needed to hear a lot of what is mentioned.

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2 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2022-07-11

Not very helpful

Mostly about personal experiences and guilt and less about how to be a mom of 2 not many strategies and tips which is what I was expecting

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  • Berenice Ramirez
  • 2022-05-17

Anxiety trigger

If you already suffer from anxiety do not read this book! I literally could not get pass the first chapter.

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  • F. McClary
  • 2021-03-16

Thoughtful and Thorough

This book examines and explains the many considerations and factors that incorporate a second pregnancy from decision to upbringing. The intermixed stories and examples help paint a relatable picture.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Luz Elena Evers
  • 2021-02-23

must read

I really enjoyed the advice and personal stories shared by other mothers. it gave me a greater understanding of what to expect and how to put my thoughts into perspective with a second child. I have recommended this book to my prenatal yoga group. I recommend it for any expectant mother with child number two.

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  • Pheonix
  • 2021-02-19

I have enjoyed this book

I started to listen; the narrator's voice is friendly and soft, professionally recorded, the sounds quality is perfect.
Content, to my surprise, also was very professional as the practising dula and mother of two, shared her formative experience.
I would recommend it for the second time pregnant.

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  • the alchemist
  • 2023-11-12

Great advice!

My husband claimed that the narrator was hard to follow for the portions that I did make him listen to. I couldn't disagree more being somebody who's listened to all the Harry Potter books and doesn't mind an accent whatsoever. The information given is phenomenal. There are things that I did not realize about home birth and the stress response to the body and how it can affect and prolong a painful labor. I still plan on having a planned c- section for my second child but it has swayed my thoughts on how to proceed with even that. To giving me more control and making me feel less inept. I really appreciate it all the information about Mom guilt because it is a real thing, and pretending it isn't doesn't help anyone! Talking about it openly and honestly was really refreshing and lets you know that you're not alone. Discussing misbehavior from your firstborn and how to address it more as grief than as jealousy was absolutely great. I know that as a mom it has taken me some time to realize that punishing my child for misbehavior at a certain age is counterproductive due to the development of their brain and the needs that come with an underdeveloped brain and how to process information differently. I really appreciated the helpful hints and the multiple povs that were provided to let me know that I'm not alone in many of the thoughts and processes that I go through and that other people have made it through this and come out Happy on the other side. I was really feeling left out with a second child as though the first child is all the people care about, including the doctors and nurses, family and friends. I moved out of state and have never felt so alone, this book really helped me feel heard, understood, and more in control. Also, giving me license for the self-care that I need in order to be a better mother and wife for my family. Self neglect would not only hurt myself, but them as well and I really needed to hear that, to basically give myself permission.
Thank you for writing this book!
I lost both my parents T a younger age than I thought I would. and don't have the support from them that I always expected. Then having to move out of state for my husband's work and not being near any of my support system has just made this even harder. I really needed to hear all these different points of view as well as the factual information. Certain aspects of giving birth just seemed like a silly psychic reading to me and completely useless, having somebody break down the science of how some of these things are actually beneficial psychologically and physically really put it into perspective for me and made me appreciate a lot more about childbirth than I did before. Specifically those involved with assisting women through it, like doulas and midwives. I am brand new to using midwives at all, and the state I moved to primarily uses midwives over nurses. I am a nurse, and that made be very reluctant to trust anybody else that didn't have the same level of education. That is not to say that midwives do not have education, it's just unfamiliar to me and made me leery of trusting them to the same extent that I would trust somebody who had the same level of education that I do. This book helped give me feel comfort and as though I wasn't being treated as less than a patient than it was before my first child.
Overall great and informative book!

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