I have 3 or 4 handed down to me from a friend when I was pregnant. If not for that, I wouldn't have bought any. Hate to say it, but there's yet to be anything "new mom" that I couldn't instantly google and get an answer easier than flipping through a book.

Oh look! I'm not the only one who does that.

My vote would be "too embarrassed to count," but for some reason I can't answer the survey even though I'm logged in.

And if you saw my library check-out history, it would only be worse.

we received a zillion (ok, 5 or 6) parenting books before we had our first baby. i fell in love with the baby whisperer and got rid of the rest. all the others made me feel like a failure and my husband banned them.

There's no reason to be embarrassed--there are lots of valuable resources out there, even if a lot of parenting books are filled with fluff! Think about it: how many books do you own on how to handle your plumbing, your finances, your garden, your trip to the Grand Canyon, or whatever? If I don't feel any shame in checking out a resource for ideas about how to plant tomatoes in self-watering containers, why should I be embarrassed to get advice about how to raise my child?! Plus, you have one of my favorites: The New Father series, which I found to be much more scientific and thoughtful than a lot of other parenting guides.

I have What to Expect In the First yr. (had when ur expecting but gave it to my sil) and Another that helpeds me through the first Five years. I also picked up an old guide line book that was my grandmothers. Were really into the good old days and old ways of raising kids with character, values, morals, and earing what you get. Its harder to find a book today that builds a good person. I would like our kids to have values that were lost since our grandparents age :/

I have bought and have been given a MILLION parenting books in the last three years. I only keep the ones that resonate with me and truthfully, some of them never make to my nightstand since I know they don't jive with my parenting philosophy. For that reason, I probably only have 2 or 3 I've kept--most I have just read, taken any nugget and passed on to the local library.

I have about six worth keeping. The rest were either worthless and went to the library book drop or were so harmful I put them into a landfil.

The five worth keeping:
Pregnancy Book, Sears
Baby Book, Sears
No Cry Sleep Solution, Pantley
Diaper Free Before Three, Lekovic
Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, La Leche League
Playful Parenting, Cohen

And on CD which is more useful than the book, Happiest Baby on the Block

Jackied302: check out "The Blessings of a Skinned Knee," by Wendy Mogul. She uses Talmudic teachings to reflect on child-rearing, but I think her ideas apply to non-Jewish families just as well.
Another good one that isn't explicitly a parenting book, but is very enjoyable to read, is "A Quaker Book of Wisdom: Life Lessons in Simplicity, Service, and Common Sense," by Robert Lawrence Smith.
Both of these ostensibly "religious" works have a lot of appeal for secular parents who are interested in their children's moral development.

I have two, and one is more pregnancy geared haha. I've met a community of moms who all had our babies around the same time and they're my resource for the most part!

We had the "What to Expect" series for quick checks, but beyond that, the only one I've read worth the cost of the paper to print it was "Simplicity Parenting." I highly recommend it.

I voted "too embarassed to count" just because I have more than the 6-10, but I'm not embarassed at all. I grew up in a very dysfunctional environment and I was determined to learn how to parent in a different way than the way I was raised. I took parenting classes, I read books, and I joined "mommy groups" to talk to other people who can understand my stage in parenthood.

My kids aren't babies anymore (ages 6 and 3) but I keep the books along with pregnancy related books because I'm a birth doula and childbirth educator. I offer a small lending library to my clients in an attempt to save them some money on books that will just collect dust after the baby comes. If they LOVE a book, they usually go buy it, if they don't love it, there's nothing lost.

We own one now (the Baby Whisperer) and have given several away that are highly recommended:

Happiest Baby on the Block (great dvd too)
Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
What to Expect (the first & second year)

Otherwise we've gotten tons from the library and are thankful for that resource.

gosh, I have probably read close to 30. I've given away all my birthing/baby/breastfeeding ones by now and have moved on to the child psych ones. I love all the great ones by Faber and Mazlish. Also Ames and Ilg for general development stuff, and to read and say "oh good, that *is* normal". I re-read a lot of them (the Mary Kurcinka books, Dr. Haim Ginott), plus from time to time I'll throw in a humorous one to cheer me up, like "I was a really good mom before I had kids".

I am the kind of person who always turns to books to figure out how to do things so I buy and read a lot of parenting books. A friend once made me feel a bit insecure about it, saying that she just relies upon instinct. I talked it over with a friend who is a therapist and she reassured me that what people call a parenting instinct is just replicating what one's parents did. So, if you like how your parents raised you, that's fine. If you don't, turning to books isn't such a bad idea. She also told me that one of the largest causes abusive behavior towards children is expecting them to act in a way that is not developmentally appropriate and that learning about child development can help prevent this.

My parents were quite abusive and neglectful so the last thing I want to do is parent like them. So I'm turning to books to learn about child development and to help me explore how I want to approach raising my kids. Favorites include:

Playful Parenting
Unconditional Parenting
The Emotional Life of the Toddler
Simplicity Parenting
Positive Discipline
Our Babies, Our Selves
Brain Rules for Baby
Child of Mine

I also love the website ahaparenting.com, which really resonates with my approach to parenting.

Most of yours shown and the ones being discussed here in the comments are very baby-oriented, but I've found that I'm turning to books more and more as my kids get older and the issues get less "medical/survival-related" and more complicated/emotional/relationship-oriented. Right now I'm reading Simplicity Parenting and How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk.

A neighbor gave me about a half-dozen pregnancy books but the most useful one was the one I checked out of the library and renewed a gazillion times. As for parenting books, we had Baby 411 that was well-used the first year. He's now almost 2.5 and apparently, we're just going to wing it the rest of the way since I've not bothered to read any others. We will be the first to admit that our son has been a pretty easy baby/toddler who makes us look like we know what we're doing. (There are a couple of books that I've got my eye and will probably read at some point--The No-Cry Discipline Solution and another title that escapes me).

SPLITTY - .I will defiantly check it out. Thanks again!

I'm one of those who voted "none". It's not entirely true: I bought the classic "Bringing up your child" by Laurence Pernoud, the one everyone owns here in France. I never opened it and have just given it away because it was collecting dust.

I guess education isn't much of a reading subject for me. I'm improvising as we go, using common sense, love and what I remember about being a child. Plus, being a stay-at-home mom 12 hours a day, I can spend my evenings and very few free times on something else, like crafts or reading fiction, which makes me appreciate the time I spend with my kids more. I'm nowhere near perfection, but I'm happy that way, and I hope that my kids are too. They only have to be kids, I'm here to play, listen and explain why there are some things they can't do (and repair and wash after accidents). If I make a mistake I can explain to my son, I do and try to repair it; if I can't, I make sure not to repeat it.

I don't have that many, but I can see most of the ones I do have on that bookshelf! And JUDIAU I will have to agree!!!