The Breastfeeding Book: Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Your Child from Birth Through Weaning
by William Sears M.D.

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Book Reviews of The Breastfeeding Book: Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Your Child from Birth Through Weaning

Book Review: Not recommended for any new mother
Summary: 1 Stars

After 3 weeks of virtually continuous breastfeeding, I wanted to throw this book out the window! It does give great advise on the "how to's" of breastfeeding which, I admit, were extremely helpful and I had no problems at all with positioning and latch on. However, the book stresses "cue feeding", feeding whenever and however long the baby desires, whether its for nutrition or simple comfort and that "schedule feeding" is only for egoistic parents who want baby to fit into their schedule. This simply is not true. Throughout the book comparisons are made about the "egoistic parent" and that the breastfeeding time is such a small amount of time to sacrifice compared to your entire life and sleepless nights are expected. I kept these thoughts, and others from the book, in my head for weeks and I was virtually in tears every day for feeling so guilty that I wanted some time for me just to eat. The baby cried constantly and was only happy when nursing. I couldn't eat or get any sleep. I tried the "bed sharing" method but this was no help at all, because I still had to hold the baby on my breast to keep her from crying. After 2 weeks, I was completely sleep deprived and had virtually no nutrition because I hardly had time to eat. I finally went to the doctor because I thought something was wrong with the baby. She cried constantly, except when nursing and I was at my end, ready to quit nursing and go to the bottle. What I found out and what the book doesn't explain is that with stress, sleep deprivation, and improper nutrition, the milk is filled with adrenaline and not as much nutritional content or fat, which the baby needs. Therefore the baby remains "nervous" and also needs to feed more often from the lack of "substance" in the milk. It becomes a vicious circle until the baby is virtually non stop feeding because it is hungry and cant sleep. The doctor told me "breast was best" when I asked about formulas and suggested I put the baby on a 3 hour nursing schedule with a maximum of 15 minutes per breast. Also to let her sleep in her cradle because when we move in the bed, she wakes up and she needed peaceful sleep. At first it was hard because the content of my milk was not so good and she wasn't use to her cradle, but it only took 2 days and everything started functioning perfectly! She was sleeping better and eating better, as was I, and my milk content improved. It is not egoistic (as the book suggests) to take a little time for yourself as a parent. It is actually very healthy for both you and the baby. I am still breastfeeding my 5 month old bundle of joy and she has more than enough weight!

Summary of The Breastfeeding Book: Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Your Child from Birth Through Weaning

Health, Mind & Body Books

• Subjects > Health, Fitness & Dieting
• Parenting & Relationships > Parenting
• Medical Books > Nursing > Pediatrics