Edited By:  Stephanie Gallagher

Publisher:  Atria Books

ISBN:  0-7434-8476-2

The following review was contributed by: Jennifer Brown & Click Here To View Jennifer Brown's Reviews

Ever wish you could sit a couple hundred experienced moms together and find out what, exactly, you need to know about raising babies?  Ever listen to a group of moms talk and realize that what they know about babies could fill an entire book? Ever think, with all that you know, you could write one of those baby advice books yourself? 

Stephanie Gallagher has.  The result, THE GALLAGHER GUIDE TO THE BABY YEARS, a collection of commonsense and practical advice from mothers who’ve been through it all.  From rocking chairs to colic and crock pot recipes, this group of moms makes up a comprehensive guide to everything baby.

Gallagher gathered together what she calls the “tribal wisdom” of mothering through surveying nearly two hundred mommies, then tested and gathered their theories and advice into THE GALLAGHER GUIDE TO THE BABY YEARS, or more accurately described, a “mommy group in a box (well, between two covers anyway).”  Through diligent surveying, organizing, and testing, Gallagher proclaims “the best” of many things so important to mommies, including:

*Nursing accessories we can’t live without

*The best website for baby products

*Ten baby products you must have

*Top pick high chair

among many more.  Not content with simply recommending products to her readers, Gallagher and her moms also give advice on tough baby challenges, such as:

*Nine clever strategies to avoid overpaying for baby gear

*Five-step plan for finding great child care

*Ten low-stress ways to get ready for labor and delivery

and many others.

This 201-page guide leaves nothing out when it comes to preparing for and raising baby, although it is definitely geared more toward new moms with brand new babies (perhaps hinting at a Gallagher Guide to the Toddler Years to come) and how to prepare for your baby’s grand entrance. 

THE GALLAGHER GUIDE is not a place to look for extensive facts to back up assertions that certain baby-related decisions are best.  For example, Gallagher makes the statement that breastfeeding is best for the baby, but leaves out the why behind it.  Nor is this a guide for “curing” many infant maladies or explaining what to expect from them developmentally.  This does not distract from the purpose of the book, as she is safe in assuming that the medical information found behind such is easily found in nearly every other baby advice book out there.  Clearly, this baby advice book is like no other.  THE GALLAGHER GUIDE is meant to simply be a roundtable information swap, the likes of which can be found at any play group or ladies’ room. 

THE GALLAGHER GUIDE TO THE BABY YEARS is an invaluable tool to any mom, particularly moms-to-be.  In a class of its own, it takes the advice of people who know the truth of how the real world and real babies work.  With its suggestion of specific baby paraphernalia, including brand names or names of particular stores and websites, from the mouths of the women who are suggesting them, makes it a unique and priceless read. 

One can only hope that there are future Gallagher Guides in the making, particularly guides on the toddler years; the young child years; the best toys and vacations; even the teenage years.  Perfect for a baby shower gift, THE GALLAGHER GUIDE TO THE BABY YEARS will be a book you turn to over and over again.