Momover: The New Mom's Guide to Getting It Back Together (even if you never had it in the first place!) [Paperback]

Dana Wood (Author), Veronica Webb (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: March 18, 2010

Okay, so every day since the baby was born has been a dirty sweats/no mascara/bad hair day kind of day. You don't need your mother to tell you it's time to lose that just-home-from-the-hospital look before it sticks forever. You've got Dana Wood, patron saint of stylish new moms everywhere, to show you how to take world-class care of yourself - drumroll please - after the baby's born, and beyond!

In this sensibly chic guide, Wood reveals the secrets of surviving the emotional, physical, and spiritual challenges that emerge in that bleary-eyed, sleep- and time-deprived first year. In the trademark Momover style popularized in her eponymous blog, she provides the motivation you need to hop off the new-mommy self-pity train, and get with a new and improved, post-baby program. What's more, she proves that doing right by yourself is just another way of doing right by your baby.

Momover: Because centered, happy you = centered, happy baby!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Momover reads like a juicy expos? that spills a delicious secret: a happy mom equals a happy baby. Dana Wood redefines the tenets of modern motherhood with wit and a stockpile of indispensable, expert advice." --Cynthia Rowley

"After you have a baby, everyone focuses on the baby and the baby clothing and baby gear. I applaud Dana Wood for turning her attention to the new mother and helping her return to her chic fabulous self!" --Liz Lange, founder and president of Liz Lange Maternity Clothing

About the Author

Dana Wood is a mother, wife, and the writer of Momover, an online column that explores the collision of age and first-time mommyhood. Currently the senior fashion features editor of W, Wood has served as the beauty director of W and the health and beauty director of Cookie. In her twenty-plus years of journalism, she has also written for numerous national publications, including Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, Women's Health, Self, and People. Learn more about Wood and read her popular blog at Momover.net.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media; 1 edition (March 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1440500304
• ISBN-13: 978-1440500305
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,660,537 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Selfish, vain and uninformed March 22, 2011

By L. Clark

Format:Paperback

As the first-time mom of a four-month-old, I thought this book would cheer me up and possibly give me some fun, helpful tips on how to not lose myself in motherhood...boy, was I wrong!

The whole book seems to be various ways for moms to justify being selfish. Unless you plan to hire baby nurses, nannies and babysitters, along with a personal trainer/Pilates instructor who comes to your home to get you back into shape, and become a member of Harry & David's "Organic Fruit of the Month Club"...I can't imagine what you'd get out of reading it.

The author writes, "I can virtually guarantee that your little bundle of joy doesn't really need fifteen impossibly gorgeous hand-loomed blankies. You, on the other hand, just might be in the market for a cozy new cashmere sweater or shawl." News flash: If your friends wanted to buy something for you instead of the baby, they would have!

One of the "ground rules" listed is, "I will build at least one (and preferably many, many more) mommy time-outs into my day, including reading snippets of a million delicious Edith Wharton novels and steeping in steaming-hot aromatherapy baths." This is fairly unrealistic, especially finding that kind of time more than once a day...most moms I know are grateful to squeeze in a quick shower, if that!

The last straw for me was when the author effectively called women who exclusively breastfeed (ie, no supplementing with formula) "vain and stubborn". She claims her daughter "wouldn't be here today" if she hadn't listened to the hospital nurses and started giving formula. This kind of myth is perpetuated by people who don't do their research, so the vast majority of newborns are given formula when it may not actually be necessary....

The fact is that newborns are born with the ability to survive on very little for the first few days, until the mother's milk comes in...and losing a little weight at first (up to 10% of birthweight) is perfectly acceptable. For the record, I was one of those "vain and stubborn" women who was told by nurses and pediatricians that I should supplement with formula. However, I had done my research...so with the help of my lactation consultant and various other support networks, we were able to exclusively breastfeed and our baby has been thriving.

In short, don't waste your money on this book. What a relief that I checked this out from the library before making the mistake of purchasing it! Read more ›

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars wanted to burn it, but recycling is better for the environment October 17, 2011

By Mom of 2 in Boston

Format:Paperback

This book ruined a perfectly good bubble bath. And we moms know how rare those are.
If you have the ability to go to yoga and exercise classes on a daily basis, meet up with girlfriends on a whim for coffee, and hire out your cooking, cleaning, and childcare, this book is great for you.
If you're like me, and pay as much for childcare as you do to work (a great job that required 6 yrs of college and grad school to get) and deal with deeper issues than what size you wear and what's become saggy/flabby, find another book. I paid $2.99 for this book at Ocean State Job Lot, and I definitely overpaid.

I've never logged on to write a bad review about anything before. But I feel that this book is so potentially poisonous to new mothers that I just had to say something.
To new moms or soon-to-be moms out there: find a different book. Find one that deals with changes that will inevitably occur in your career, marriage, friendships, and perceptions of self. Motherhood will allow you to reinvent yourself over and over again in wonderful ways. Spend time reinventing how you see your strength and value in this world. Not how your boobs look.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great guide for anyone expecting or adopting a first baby or young child. April 4, 2010

By Poppy J.

Format:Paperback

Momover," by Dana Wood is a handy guide for any new mom. The book is organized in a logical chronological order, from gearing up for the big day, to winding down again and coming home with the new baby, this book takes the new mom by the hand and offers real tips for getting through the difficult times.

The book also talks about some issues that other books leave out. Information about exercising again, developing a new routine for personal care, reducing stress, and taking time to treat yourself (because you are worth it!) are as important as whatever is done for the new little one. It is true that the needs of the mother are often swept under the rug, since the needs of the baby always come first. It is just as important for the new mother to pamper herself and find ways to jump start a positive inner voice for lasting self love that will lead to greater self confidence as a new mother. Each chapter has call out sections such as "Worked for Me" or "Reserve the right to..." which give the new mother permission to try something new, put herself on the schedule, or even to get help from others without being afraid to ask for it when needed.

There are testimonials available from other moms, tidbits and laughs in this book, and any new mom of one, or more than one, will get something out of reading it again and again. It gives moms the confidence to understand that whatever they are doing to care for their new baby is good enough, and the right thing. It allows new mothers to feel that they are capable of taking on the job of caring for their new baby - a job they have never been better qualified to fill.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is expecting, adopting a young child or just interested in the topic.... It is a well written book that I am sure will become a favorite of new moms everywhere. Read more ›

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Made me angry March 25, 2012

By Working Mom

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As other reviewers have noted, this book is written by a woman who hired a 'baby nurse' for an entire year, who can afford 30 sessions with a personal trainer, who can afford monthly hair salon trips, plus other regular beauty treatments, and refers to a friend who takes twice yearly vacations to a detox spa... This is no cheerup for the average american mother. As a fulltime working mother living on the median household income, i find the advice useless, perverse, and depressing. I might have still enjoyed it had it been at least genuinely funny, but even though i am a fast reader, i found myself skimming through boredom, and i didn't laugh once. Glad i only paid $3 for a used copy on amazon.