Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Breastfeeding

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from the first page! I love it... easy, insightful and very practical information about breastfeeding that even experienced nursing moms like myself can learn from! Inlcuded information on adoptive nursing which was new information to me... and other important and crucial information like weaning, fussy babies, hopitalizations and so on.

Wonderful! A great gift and a fun resource... I have loaned out my copy quite a bit!

I'm totally having a Conan moment here as I urgently write 'Dear Internet!' My review will have to refute Mommy To Be in Virginia; this book is completely preachy from page one. I know there are those who argue tirelessly pro-breastfeeding, but in reality, there are some mothers who just can't. And for the first four chapters of this book, there is no reference material or support whatsoever for those who must seek breast milk alternatives. In fact, Anne Mark in no uncertain terms vilifies those who would choose formula over breastfeeding, as if she's preaching to someone who is on the fence about how to feed their infant. Her arguments are so incredibly weak, and the links she tries to make just aren't supported. For instance, her stipulation that not breastfeeding increases health care costs for everyone in the country; or how the WIC program spends billions of taxpayer dollars distributing needless formula each year. I got this book out of the library to learn about the mechanics of breastfeeding, because honestly the idea skeeves me out but I'm willing to try it when the time comes, and I know many who have had problems with it and succeeded or failed. As if new mothers don't have enough pressure on them from day one, now they have to read this ugly tome and feel bad if they make a choice other than what Ms. Mark would have them do! It became apparent to me in Chapter 5 that this book may be geared toward low-income single mothers, indicated by several pages dedicated to involving the baby's father in the choice to breastfeed. That is to say that a low-income mother may choose WIC supplemented formula over breastfeeding because both are cost free? I think this insults the intelligence of this demographic in a big way, which I don't appreciate. It's not until Chapter 9 that any science comes into play, which is what I wanted to learn in the first place. It's a shame I had to muddle through 80 pages of propaganda in order to get to that point. Page 99 is the clincher- you're supposed to wake up a sleeping baby to feed it? That's not on-demand feeding, if the baby is asleep and not demanding milk! Duh. I've never had a baby but I have tens of friends who have very recently, and it seems counterintuitive and plain idiotic to awaken a sleeping baby for any reason unless your house is on fire. God willing I find a better resource somewhere else because this book is utter trash.

After reading many breastfeeding books and not finding one that fit all my needs, I found this one. I loved it! It was a very interesting read. I really loved and learned a lot of interesting things from the chapter that told the history of breastfeeding. This book wasn't preachy at all. It had great how to information and problem solving information for all situations. It also had a lot of info on getting off to a good start in less than ideal situations, like premature birth and c-sections. It was also great at explaining breastfeeding/pumping while working and how to go about weaning. This book covers it all, and does it well, without putting you down for having problems.