Every nursing mother should have this book

This book is absolute gold! Every nursing mother should have a copy whether she's breastfeeding her first or her twenty-first.

The paperback is comfortably sized and easy to read while nursing. It covers many topics, include some that are routinely ignored in US society such as food allergies and sensitivies. Admittedly, if your nursling has an allergy or sensitivity, this book will only get you started. However, that start can mean the world to a miserable newborn.

In my opinion, moms who consult this book for advice first will find themselves well prepared to sustain a long-term enjoyable breastfeeding relationship with their babies.

I've personally given this book to about half a dozen nursing mothers from the first time mom to the experienced breastfeeder. Each has had wonderful things to say about it.

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Details helped when I was sleep deprived and couldn't think.

I didn't have trouble nursing my 1st baby and my 2nd is going almost as perfectly. This book was a simple reasource to regain the memory of things I had forgotten. Not many books I have read talk a lot about women with lots of milk. It covered the unique side effects the baby will feel in this situation. Also, I knew I shouldn't get new lenses while pregnant and was planning Lasiks - I now know to put that off until after weaning.

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Myths, negativity, and made-up advice

While I liked some things, including nice information on breastfeeding in public, I found this book negative and full of assertions not supported by research. She is obsessed with food sensitivities, covering them in 14 sections and attributing every whimper to something mom ate. Research does not support her theories!

Other suggestions are not supported by research, including drinking more water to boost supply. (It can have the opposite effect if you drink too much -- such as Martin's crazy recommendations to drink 8 to 10 ounces per hour.) On p. 277 she lists among ways you can tell if baby is getting enough milk that stools have an odor more sweet than foul. Once baby is eating solids, they'll always be foul. Here she tells the mother to drink 8 ounces of water every two hours(inconsistent with previous recommendation) to increase supply. These are not the standard evidence-based suggestions for improving supply.

On page 96, she tells a mother with cracked, bleeding nipples to circle the six-week date (when she can stop breastfeeding, according to Martin) on her calendar. She describes the pain as normal; while some degree of discomfort may be (research is not conclusive on this), cracked and bleeding nipples are not. In fact, on page 186, she herself says that pain during breastfeeding is not normal. Why all the inconsistencies?

Under "Milk: Low Supply," you're making enough milk if baby producing 8 to 12 wet and poopy diapers in 24 hours. She later says that baby must poop at least four times a day. Evidence-based guidelines are two to five poopy diapers per day in the first six weeks (after which some babies poop less frequently), and 6-8 wet cloth diapers or 5-6 wet disposables.

The section on traveling by air, p. 292-293, is bizarre. If baby won't nurse, it recommends a lollipop. You want me to use a choking hazard and cavity-causer for a baby? Also says to bring bottles for water and expressed milk. "If he absolutely refuses a bottle, you'll need to nurse him on takeoff and landing." She also advises bringing a manual pump to express between flights. This is confusing given the book's upbeat advice on nursing in public. Why make work when breastfeeding makes it so easy? With my formula-fed child, I had a screaming baby, mad fellow passengers, and too many things to juggle. With my breastfeeding children, no one knew I had a baby on the plane (so many people said, "Where was she?" when we deplaned)and I was so relaxed -- no supplies to juggle.

I was shocked by the advice to see (i.e., PAY) a lactation consultant for swaddling advice!

These are just a few of the many, many oddities. I wish the author had done her homework before writing the book, as it is organized nicely and could have been a valuable resource.

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