Rattled: Surviving Your Baby's First Year Without Losing Your Cool

"Rattled" is a book full of practical and helpful information geared toward moms of newborns, written by a mom with the experience to back up what she writes about. "Rattled" covers the time from pregnancy through the first year. The book is broken up into five parts, with each part split into chapters. Each chapter is further subdivided into sections such as "S.O.S-Spiritual Opportunity to Savor", which is a short devotional, "First Aid Kit" a bulleted list of practical tips, "Faith on Fire" which is a brief prayer, a few study questions, and "Food For Thought", a small sidebar (information printed off to the side) of facts and figures to supplement the chapter. Dads aren't forgotten in this book either. She devotes pages to the equally important role of dad, for new baby is as much of an adjustment to dad as it is mom. This book goes beyond child rearing advice and includes chapters on how mom needs to take care of herself as well. What sets this book apart, in my mind, is Trish's honesty in writing about her own mothering experience. She includes in the book her own ups and downs, good experiences and mistakes. She also includes a chapter on miscarriage, having suffered through several of her own, a section on baby's first year and what to expect and a section with helpful links for surviving your first year. A book that I would've found helpful when my own mom journey started years ago.

Trish Berg is funny, serious, and right on target. She speaks from the heart, and from personal experience. This book is full of wonderful advice for the new mother, or anyone expecting a baby, even if she's a pro at giving birth. There are a lot of books out there about parenting, but this one shines. Berg has the ability of making the reader feel right at home. Great writing style, and a terrific sense of humor. This one is recommended.

I enjoyed reading this sometimes humorous approach to parenting the first year! I thought it was great how she brought out the fact that all babies are different. They have different personalities and will like different things. Just because your first baby hated the swing does not mean your second baby will not live in it! It is a great small handbook that would be great to give at baby showers! Everyone has different views on childrearing, infant sleep, breastfeeding, and other things and even though I parented very different than her, I found her approach very informative and helpful. The encouragement to step out when you do not feel like it and find a mom's group is very helpful advice. It feels so good when you finally admit to another mom that you had a bad day and ate cereal for dinner and the mom next to you says "I did that yesterday!!". She has great tips on exercise and the attitude towards exercise. Exercise should not be to get "your body back" as you are a mom now and may never have the same body, but to be healthy, to feel good and be around to raise your children!! To sum it up, this is one of the sweetest, non-condemning mothering the first year books I have read! You will enjoy it and laugh along with Trish as she recounts her early mothering of each of her four children. There is small study questions at the end of the chapter which are really nice as well!

Where was this book when I thought I was the only mother on the planet who was questioning her sanity? New moms can get encouragement and support and great ideas to help them through their new found career. New and experienced moms will enjoy the humor Trish Berg offers as well as she relates her tales of being in the trenches. A great read with valuable information.

What a helpful book for all moms. Trish Berg writes in a way that is informative, humorous and easy to read. She encourages all of us through her personal stories. I appreciate how honest she is about her own daily struggles and how she is able to find humor in the universal craziness that is "motherhood". The book is packed with super information on all aspects of motherhood. This is a great book to offer support and lift-up new parents.