The Working Gal's Guide to Babyville: Your Must-Have Manual for Life with Baby [Paperback]

Paige Hobey (Author), Allison Nied (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2006

You're an independent career woman suddenly dropped into the chaos of Babyville. You have a newborn to care for, three months (if you're lucky) of unstructured time to fill, a work decision to make (to go back full-time? part-time? job share?), childcare to acquire, and family finances to balance. You need someone to make you laugh during the hard times, a doctor to call in the middle of the night, and a good career counselor to boot. Never fear! Sure to become the gold standard resource during that crazy first year, The Working Gal's Guide to Babyville combines stories and sisterly advice from the trenches, infant care information and tips from a pediatrician, and career and budget guidance from a pro. From getting baby to sleep through the night to making the most of maternity leave, from weighing work options to finding childcare, from networking with new parents to emotionally transitioning from "Ms. Independent to Mom," it offers desperately needed, easy-to-execute strategies and expert solutions on all manner of Year One issues. The essential guidebook for today's busy career moms, it's every bit as hip, smart, and savvy as the women who'll be reading it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the glut of parenting tomes, Hobey, a writer for Parenting magazine, has found a niche with this informative and practical guide on becoming a working mom. The book, which tries to be all things baby, succeeds best when it focuses on work. Moms, for instance, don't need step-by-step instructions on how to diaper a baby (with no illustrations). And sleep-deprived mothers who barely find time to shower will plunge into despair over Hobey's suggestion that they productively use their maternity leave to try something new, such as "making caramelized pear tarts with cardamom cream." However, on the work front, her manual is not just instructional but indispensable. Worksheets help moms clarify the emotional and financial aspects of working versus staying home (what she refers to as "sequencing" work and family). Concrete suggestions on alternatives to full-time (e.g., flextime, freelancing, flexplace), how to choose child care and ways to continue networking are clear and well researched. Success stories and snippets of moms' lives make potentially dry material an easy read, plus the writing is frequently jaunty, attempting to step in as a modern Girlfriend's Guide. This book should be supplemented with a true baby guide (the short asides from pediatrician Dr. Nied don't cover enough). (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

The working mother of two children under three years old, Paige Hobey is a contributing writer for Parenting magazine and Chicago Parent. The Hobeys live in Chicago. Allison Nied, M.D. is a board-certified pediatrician based in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073821048X
• ISBN-13: 978-0738210483
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,019 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From a Clinical Psychologist/Soon-to-be Mommy, May 10, 2006

By 

NAS (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Working Gal's Guide to Babyville: Your Must-Have Manual for Life with Baby (Paperback)

As a clinical psychologist for ten-plus years and soon-to-be first time mother, I cannot recommend a better book than The Working Gal's Guide to Babyville! This book has become my "bible" for helping me to navigate all the choices/decisions I am encountering as I embark on the emotional rollercoaster of becoming a mommy. It discusses everything you need to know... from purchasing the most important items you need the minute you arrive home from the hospital with your newborn and the nitty-gritty facts of breast-feeding to what to expect after you give birth and considering how to transition into your new role as a mother. The author not only addresses these loaded emotional decisions mothers must make as they negotiate different roles as a woman (mother, wife, career woman, friend), but does it in a savvy voice with a refreshing sense of humor.

The book includes extremely practical information in an easy to read format. Women ---- this book has not left my night table! I have dog-eared so many pages at this point for my husband to read that I have now just insisted he read the entire book. There are must-have lists that I'm thrilled about: A baby shopping list of the stuff I really need to purchase (so I don't have to aimlessly wander the aisles of Buy Buy Baby completely overwhelmed), mandatory baby-sitter/nanny interview questions (now I don't have to call all of my friends and ask them 'what questions do I need to ask when I interview this person to take care of my new child?'), terrific charts of normal eating/feeding and sleeping schedules for your newborn, worksheets to calculate your first year-with-a-baby budget... all of this with sage advice and relevant educational information from a board certified pediatrician.

I am slightly amused at the heated debate I have read over the use of the terms 'nanny vs. baby-sitter'. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. As a clinical psychologist, I'm used to most of my patients (or clients, whichever you prefer) calling me a "therapist." A therapist can be anyone with a master's degree or a social worker and not necessarily a licensed clinical psychologist with a doctorate from a prestigious institution and over ten years of post-college training. However, the point is not germane to this discussion, and Ms. Hobey clearly appreciates the semantics involved of the terms 'nanny' and 'babysitter'. Skip those "Nanny" reviews --- that "politically correct" argument is for another forum. And ladies... run, don't waddle to purchase your own copy of The Working Gal's Guide to Babyville.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic new parenting book! HIGHLY recommended, June 11, 2006

By 

Lily's Mom (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Working Gal's Guide to Babyville: Your Must-Have Manual for Life with Baby (Paperback)

LOVED this book! If you're even thinking about working as a new mother, this is the only book I've seen that walks you through the whole process, from finding childcare to negotiating a family-friendly schedule and heading back to work without losing it. My maternity leave is almost over, and after reading this I feel much more prepared.



There's also helpful information on infant sleep routines, feeding, and playtime ideas, and a great chapter on developmental toys and baby geniuses. Plus, it's down-to-earth (you can tell it was written by a new mom who had just been through the whole process herself) and funny.



If you only have time to read one or two new parenting books, The Working Gal's Guide to Babyville is a great one. You get the inside scoop on so many key issues. It's also my new favorite baby shower gift. Highly recommended!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Working Moms-to-Be, December 3, 2006

By 

R. T. Charnin (Norwalk, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Working Gal's Guide to Babyville: Your Must-Have Manual for Life with Baby (Paperback)

This is the best book I read during my pregnancy/new Mom period. I bought this book while I was 7 months pregnant and so tired of the preachy tone of most of the other pregnancy and baby books that I had read. Yes, this book has great advice on sleeping, feeding, etc, but even more impressively, this book (a) talks about issues that no other books talk about, like reconciling your old self image with your new "Mom" image and (b) tackles issues from deciding between breastfeeding and bottle feeding to deciding whether to return to work in a helpful way that doesn't have any particular agenda. The book is practical, funny, extremely readable, and one that I will recommend to all of my friends.