Baby-proofing Your Marriage: How to laugh more, argue less and communicate better as your family grows [Paperback]

The no-holds-barred truth about what having a baby can do to your marriage – and what you can do about it.

In the months after a first child is born, all hell breaks loose. A crying newborn can reduce a grown man to tears, turn a sane woman into a bottle-wielding shrew, and otherwise test the strongest of marriages. It sometimes seems that a baby's mission is to destroy everything it comes in contact with: your furniture, your clothes, your car…and your marriage.

This funny, compassionate, opinionated guide addresses how the early parenting years impact marriage, using real-life stories from both men and women to tell the whole truth. It discusses in detail couples' frustrations over the division of labour, changing roles and expectations, sex (or lack thereof), and dealing with parents and in-laws. With real quotes from real people, and the authors own combined experiences, it offers a positive, humorous and solution-oriented approach.

• Addresses the impact of parenthood on marriage, detailing the insights of and lessons learned by both men and women.

• Provides common sense, tried-and-tested strategies to address the negative impact young children can have on a relationship.

• Helps you understand why this challenge occurs, exploring both the male and female perspective, and how you can address it.

Written by three feisty women, who have been there and can vouch for the fact that complaining gets you nowhere, Baby-proofing your Marriage answers those nagging doubts in the back of the married person's mind: 'Are we the only ones bartering over who will do what and arguing about who has more free time?' And offers you easy, realistic solutions to keep you sane and your relationship healthy.

Between them, the authors have seven children under the age of five. Cathy O'Neill is from Dublin, Ireland, currently living in Austin, Texas. In the pre-motherhood years she worked as a lawyer and subsequently as a marketing professional. Today, she works part-time as a legal management consultant and has two children. Julia Stone worked as a legislative and political aide, received an MBA from the University of Texas and then worked in marketing in the educational services field. She has lived in London but currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons. Before becoming a mum, Stacie Harris Cockrell achieved an MBA, worked at Dell Inc., and co-founded a high tech company in Texas. She has three young children.