Comrades With Babies in Arms: West Roxbury Moms Write ‘The Other Baby Book’

West Roxbury residents Megan Massaro and Miriam Katz have done what most young mothers do at one time or another: They stopped relying solely on the experts for parenting advice and started listening to their babies and to other mothers.

And, these two West Roxbury women took it a step further and wrote their own book on parenting, The Other Baby Book: A Natural Approach to Baby’s First Year.

 “It’s not our goal that you adopt everything that we do,” said Massaro of the book offering a menu of ideas from which a mother can pick and choose.

Easy and fast to read, The Other Baby Book is divided into eight main chapters offering advice.

The books tests some time honored theories, for example, the need for diapers and strollers and for a child to sleep in a separate bed, yet it is not preachy and offers a different lens through which to view parenting.

The topics include “birth,” “touch,” “milk,” “sleep,” “potty,” “relate,” “eat” and “flow.”

“The eight chapters represent our core principles,” said Massaro.

Katz and Massaro met at a parenting group in Newtown. Both women eventually moved to West Roxbury. Massaro's family and her husband's family are from the neighborhood.

“We found we had so many similar parenting philosophies that were not in the mainstream,” said Massaro. “It was very affirming. We started brainstorming about writing a book. One day we opened a Google document and started writing.”

In the introduction of the book, Massaro and Katz write, “Our purpose in writing this new mama guide is bring to life an often forgotten truth: a mother’s instinct is the best resource she has to create a joyful and connected relationship with her baby.”

The Other Baby Book will be on sale on April 1.