First-Time Parent: Honest Guide to Coping Brilliantly & Staying Sane by Lucy Atkins - Non Fiction - Paperback

Details
Condition: New
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780007269440
Publisher: Collins (HarperCollins)
Age Range: Adult / Parenting (New Parents)

Overview
First-Time Parent is the honest, funny, and reassuring guide every new mum and dad needs on their nightstand. Written by health journalist and mother-of-three Lucy Atkins, this practical paperback strips away the guilt-inducing jargon of traditional childcare manuals and replaces it with real, evidence-based advice. From the first overwhelming hours home with a newborn through sleep, feeding, crying, and finding your feet as a parent, this book is a warm, no-nonsense companion for surviving (and enjoying) the whirlwind of baby's first year.

About the Book
First-Time Parent begins at the most disorienting moment of all — bringing your baby home for the first time — and walks new parents through every major milestone and meltdown of the first twelve months. Lucy Atkins combines her background in health journalism with her own experience as a mother of three to deliver a guide that respects both the medical facts and the messy reality of new parenthood. Chapters cover essential kit, coping with those first chaotic days, sleep routines, why babies (and parents) cry, feeding choices, and balancing work or single parenting, with guidance for adoptive, multiple, and special needs families too. Atkins writes in a feisty, empathetic voice that speaks directly to the exhausted parent wondering "where are the instructions?", offering reassurance rather than judgement. Rather than prescribing a single "right" way to parent, the book champions common sense and trusts parental instinct, reminding readers that most of the time, they are already the real expert on their own baby. It's a book to dip into during 3am feeds or read cover to cover before the baby arrives, and it remains one of the most trusted first-year parenting guides in print.

• Practical, evidence-based advice covering sleep, feeding, crying, health and early development.
• Written in a warm, witty, judgement-free voice by an experienced health journalist and mum-of-three.
• Covers real-life scenarios: single parenting, returning to work, and adoptive or multiple births.
• Easy-to-navigate chapters ideal for quick reference during exhausting early weeks.
• A trusted, bestselling parenting guide praised by parents and reviewers alike.
• Makes a thoughtful, practical gift for baby showers and new-parent celebrations.

About the Author
Lucy Atkins is a British author and journalist known for combining health expertise with engaging, honest storytelling. Alongside her acclaimed novels, including The Night Visitor, The Other Child, and Windmill Hill, she has written award-winning non-fiction, including this bestselling parenting guide. A respected book critic for The Sunday Times and The Guardian, Atkins also teaches on the Creative Writing Masters degree at the University of Oxford. Her experience as a mother of three, paired with her health journalism background, gives First-Time Parent an authenticity and warmth that has made it a go-to resource for new families.

Why You'll Love This Guide
Honest, funny, and refreshingly free of guilt-tripping advice, First-Time Parent tells it like it is. It's the reassuring, practical companion every exhausted new parent deserves — perfect for reading in snatched moments between feeds.

Please Note: This listing is for the UK ISBN / UK edition, and the cover received may vary slightly from the image shown.