Customer Reviews

The Maternity Leave Breastfeeding Plan: How to Nurse Your Baby for 3 Months and Go Back to Work Guilt Free

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Telling a mother to limit breastfeeding to the "duration of her maternity leave" and that this short term nursing is good enough ignores medical facts and condescends to mothers and women in general.

The guilt does not come from feeling bad about breastfeeding or stopping, it comes later when moms realize that they failed to get the advice and support they needed to breastfeed while they returned to work.

Medical professionals truly well-versed in infant and pediatric nutrition would never counsel healthy mothers to shorten the duration of breastfeeding. These authors fall far short. Get Sears' or Newman's books instead.

Jay Gordon, MD, FAAP

I was very disappointed by the tone of this book. It made it seem like very few women are capeable of continuing to breastfeed after returning to work, when in fact the opposite is true. It also discounted well known organizations (including the American Academy of Pediatrics) recommendations about the importance of breastfeeding exclusively for 6 months and continuing to breastfeed with complementary solids for at least a year. I am not a militant breastfeeding fanatic - just a mom, and I was able to continue breastfeeding with very few modifications. This book needs work....

I read this book, and I didn't get from it the message that others did at all. I think that the book suggests that many women don't nurse at all because they know their employers will be unsupportive of pumping, and Dr. Wilkoff suggests that nursing for 3 months is better than none. I'm personally a round-the-clock sort of breastfeeding mom and nurse my children into toddlerhood, but I was not offended by this book. I think some of the reviewers of this book were choosing to focus only on the parts of it that they disagreed with. There's a lot of good in this book too: he condemns having formula samples in the house for new mothers as he rightly thinks it sabotages breastfeeding, he thinks nursing until babies start solids would be preferable, and he does indeed offer several suggestions for getting employers to be supportive of pumping. But he also acknowledges the sad reality that some employers will not make it feasible enough for women to nurse.

There's a lot of good in this book for women who want to breastfeed but know from the start that they won't do it long-term. I love the Sears and LLL books personally, but I'm also so strongly a believer in breastfeeding that I think 3 months of breastfeeding is better than none. If Dr. Wilkoff's book encourages some women to nurse for 3 months who otherwise wouldn't have nursed their babies at all, then I think it serves a useful function. I rated it only 4 stars though because I think the book makes nursing sound exhausting and in my experience it isn't. New motherhood is inherently exhausting whether you breastfeed or not.

Afraid of working and breastfeeding? Don't worry your pretty little head about it. If you like that type of advice, then buy this book. Dr. Wilkoff's book promises "no guilt trips or political agendas." Instead, he offers patronization. The motto of this book: Since you might be afraid to try working and continuing to breastfeed, then why bother trying?

Many times in life we are afraid of the unknown. Breastfeeding can fall into that category. As with many things, you don't know what you are capable of until you try or even allow yourself to dream. Dr. Wilkoff's book does not give you the tools or resources to even consider trying to go beyond time off from work and that is unfortunate. Thankfully there are other books and resources available.

Have faith in yourself and you just might be ready, willing and able to continue the special relationship with your baby beyond your maternity leave. Take things one day at a time, know that there is a learning curve and that you, like millions of women before you, will get over any hurdles. Asses how you feel as your maternity leave is ending and make a decision that you feel comfortable with and that suits your needs. Working and breastfeeding can be combined. There are great, affordable pumps on the market (an Avent Isis for about $40 works wonderfully) that allow you to continue to exclusively feed your baby breastmilk. You can even combine the use of formula with breastfeeding if that is what works for you. Remember, breastfeeding does not have to be an all or nothing approach.

If you plan to nurse, learn as much about it as you can and do not be afraid to turn to educated professionals for help (e.g. a certified nurse lactation consultant - be forewarned, there is no requirement to learn about breastfeeding in medical school and many doctors know less than they realize, others have taken it upon themselves (thankfully) to learn). Often your hospital has a breastfeeding support nursing staff including classes and will assist you during your stay. You can even call them for help after you go home when/if problems arise. Set small achievable goals and then as you accomplish them, move forward: maternity leave, 6 mos, 9 mos, etc.

Forget about this book and go buy "So That's What They're There For." You'll have a laugh while getting tons of helpful advice about what to expect for ALL aspects of breastfeeding no matter how long you stick with it. Most of all, enjoy your baby and have faith in your abilities.

Wilkoff labels breastfeeding after returning to work as being overly troublesome for new moms. Not so. As a breastfeeding mother, I have successfully breastfed while working full time with minimal hassle or interruptions to my life. I recommend any woman looking for good breastfeeding information and support buy Dr. Sears The Breastfeeding Book or The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. Breast is best - and for a lot longer than just the first three months!

As a first time mom, I was able to return to work after just 6 weeks and keep hapily and exclusively breastfeeding. On top of everything, my daughter was 6 weeks premature!

It is a FEDERAL LAW that your employer has to give you unpaid time every 4 hours to express (pump) milk for your baby. To deny you is to discriminate against you and your baby's civil rights (lactation is covered under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act).

I was an inexperienced new mom who knew nothing about breastfeeding and can gladly say that going back to work was much easier pumping than if I would have switched to formula.

Weaning early can cause you to have SEVERE Post Pardum Depression, and won't it be fun going back to work depressed and overworked because you spend every morning and night washing and sterilizing bottles, boiling water and mixing formula? Oh by the way, it is an urban legend that husbands get up for midnight feedings, so add sleep deprivation on that list (I know, he says he will, but that may last a week, until he gets tired of it - then it's only you getting up at 2am to bottle feed the baby).

I wore a nursing camisole under my business suit and nursed right before I left my daughter at the baby sitter and left extra milk in case I was late coming to get her. I would nurse again as soon as I got there to pick her up. We would go home and I would put my pumped milk in the freezer and we would nurse on demand all evening.

I worked in a cubicle and before I went back, I told my employer that I was willing to take 2 - 15 minutes mini-lunch breaks instead of the 30 minutes I was entitled to, so I could pump. He had absolutely no problem with this arangement and told me if I neded extra time to take it (employers are surprisingly accomidating if they see you are willing to work with them).

I pumped in the windowless meeting room (all you need is privacy and an electrical outlet - or a battery kit for your pump), or one of my coworker's private offices (other moms understand). At work, I would pump every 3 hours using the Medela Pump In Style Traveler (it has an optional hands free kit that attaches to your bra, so I could eat my mini lunch) and I was done in 15 minutes max! Those of you with 1 hour lunches should have no problem fitting the time to pump into your schedules (if fact I have a friend who cuts hair in 12 hour shifts and she was able to make pumping work).

Be careful of the books you read, anyone with money can print a book that gives bad and harmful advice. The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends ALL infants be breastfed exclusively for 6 months, at which time solids can be inroduced; after that, they recommend continuing breastfeeding for at least 1 year (or more if mutually desired).

New studies show that the #1 way to reduce your chances of getting breast cancer (even if you have a family history) is to breastfeed your baby for 18 months. That's right, 300 years ago the only women who got breast cancer were nuns - becasue they didn't have babies to nurse.

Overall this book has the worst advice I have ever heard about breastfeeding. The author wrote this book just to make money and does not consider the ramifications of the advice. There should be a safety recall on this book becasue of the harmfull advice it gives new moms about their baby's health. Read Dr. Sears The Breasfeeding Book instead.

I think it is ridiculous that this author assumes any working woman in the US gets 3 months leave. Even it you are lucky enough to have paid leave, it is often only 6 weeks long, half the time recommended in this book.

The idea that something is better than nothing is good, but it just ignores the real issue: that women aren't allowed even a minimum of time home to establish breastfeeding and that companies are so unyielding about not allowing new mothers to have breaks in order to pump.

I am quite liberal about doing what is right for you and your baby and not being guilted into breastfeeding. But at the same time, this book is SO negative.

The author (a man) kept referring to breastfeeding and pumping as a hassle. I've never felt like it is a hassle.

He constantly talked about breadtfeeding in public as offensive. huh?

This guy is on the other side of the spectrum.

If you truly want to breastfeed, this is not the book for you. It is not encouraging at all. Thankfully I was already committed to breastfeeding before I read it. Otherwise I think the book would have discouraged me.

I am succesfully continueing to nurse after I've gone back to work. And it's not a hassle, but a wonderful way to stay connected to my baby. I'm currently reading the Milk Memos and it's the better choice. I'm loving it so far.

I was very disappointed by the tone of this book. It made it seem like very few women are capeable of continuing to breastfeed after returning to work, when in fact the opposite is true. It also discounted well known organizations (including the American Academy of Pediatrics) recommendations about the importance of breastfeeding exclusively for 6 months and continuing to breastfeed with complementary solids for at least a year. I am not a militant breastfeeding fanatic - just a mom, and I was able to continue breastfeeding with very few modifications. This book needs work....

This book is incredibly usable and full of common sense information and advice on breastfeeding in general, as well as infant care and ways to make the experience successful! I read this book, intending to wean once I went back to work and instead nursed for 1 yr!