Customer Reviews

The Nursing Mother's Companion

5 star:		(96)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is a wonderful tool to use if breastfeeding your child. It breaks down the breastfeeding experience into specific time periods (first week, first two weeks, first two months, months 2 to 6, etc.) and details problems and solutions specific to that time period. I found the solutions to be incredibly helpful- clogged ducts and latching-on difficulties were two problems I had with my first child, and the book's step by step method for correction was right on target. The author provides help in developing your child's diet as they start to eat solid food and continue nursing, and helps in the weaning process, all the while never making you feel guilty if you don't nurse until your child is four years old, but not making you feel guilty if you nurse that long either. The book is especially useful for first-time breastfeeding, although I did refer back to it a few times with my second child. Highly recommended.

I am a first time mother, and took nursing classes while in the hospital after giving birth. They were a big help, but it was easy to forget specifics after going home. This book was a life saver! Especially when I had to face the questioning/criticism of my mother in law and other well meaning friends who told me not to nurse my baby every two hours, to let her sleep, etc. After 11 weeks of exclusively and very successfully nursing my daughter, I am happy to have had this book to refer to!! Because I followed the advice in this book, my milk came in right away, and has been plentiful since! The book also helped me deduce that my newborn's "colic" was possibly a reaction to cow's milk protein (which my pediatrician said was unlikely), as well as her awful facial rash (which my pediatrician labled excema). This book suggested eliminating dairy from my diet for 2 weeks, and then reintroducing it; sure enough the symtoms went away and then reappeared briefly until I eliminated dairy again. My baby has clear skin and does not cry for hours, and hasn't for weeks! I'm buying 2 copies of this book for pregnant friends!

After taking two breastfeeding classes through WIC (Women, Infants and Children) and two classes ofered through my hospital - I didn't want to hear another insight on breastfeeding - everything any instructor said always contradicted the other person...I really wasn't planning on reading anything on breastfeeding, because I didn't think there was anything to it...out of all of my childcare books, every reference seemed so clinical - and boring. When my son was born via emergency cesearean on the 4th of January, I was visited by a lactation consultant in my recovery room. Though we were progressing wonderfully and he was latching on fine - I was surprised with all of the questions I suddenly had...after all, I was planning on doing this for AT LEAST 9 months...she recommended this book, I ordered it from Amazon (and it arrived quickly in pristine condition!) and it really is great. I have questions every day and we are now on week 3 of nursing. If you are pregnant (or already have a child for that matter!) and think that you might need a breastfeeding book - get this one. The layout is great and all info. very relevant and helpful.

Having received an sampling of this book in my hospital goody bag, I ordered the full copy. It was so informative, and enlightening. A lot of information is not available to new mother's on breastfeeding, and support is not always readily available. Many times new mothers give up. But this book will give you the courage to go on. It is technical, and provides answers to the most commonly asked questions, as well as information on obscure problems and drug interactions. I highly recommend this book!

One thing about breastfeeding that you can't understand until you do it is that it is a constantly evolving process. Once you think you've got it down, something new starts happening. This book guides you through all the stages with in-depth information. I found myself returning to it often over the two years I nursed by son. None of my other baby books came close to the level of knowledge and understanding this book presents. The book certainly advocates breastfeeding, but in a non-judgmental way (not suggesting that you wrap it up by six months or suggesting you're a bad mother if you do); I really appreciated this attitude.

The Nursing Mother's Companion is so informative, concise, well-laid out, and comprehensive that I don't know how I would have survived learning to breastfeed without it.

It answered ALL of my questions as I was trying to master nursing my baby. It has chapters that go in-depth on all subjects relating to breastfeeding as well as wonderful "Survival Guide" sections that help you quickly pinpoint problems, tell you why you're having them, and then give you solutions that actually work and work well. When you're in pain (physical or emotional) from learning such a new skill, you want answers as quickly as possible.

This book covers preparation during pregnancy, learning to breastfeed, and it continues to teach and help throughout your entire nursing experience. It has sections on special circumstances like nursing premature babies, adopted babies, and babies with conditions or diseases that make nursing difficult. It also has advise for mothers with special circumstances.

One more aspect about this book that was wonderful was it's non-preachy tone. The author asserts that breast is best (which you probably know if you're reading the book), explains why, then moves on to the practical matters of breastfeeding. No annoying and repetitive condemnation of anyone choosing to formula feed.

This is a wonderful book! I recommend it to everyone who is breastfeeding and give it as shower gifts to soon-to-be nursing moms.

I have had several breastfeeding books over the course of the last 10 years, but this is the only one I use. My third child is now 9 months old and continuing to nurse while making a great transition to table food (this book has excellent advice on how to make this happen!). I had a previous edition with my older 2 children--it was a lifesaver with my second. I thought I had nursing down to an art after nursing my daughter 22 months, but my older son did not "get it". I felt encouraged to hang in there with lots of ideas from the book and worked with a lactation consultant, who taught my son how to suck. He also nursed till 22 months.
I lost my old copy between children, and picked up this new version when I found out I was pregnant again, because I didn't want to be without it. The new edition is even more fantastic--I wish I had had it five years ago with my older son. I would have known we were in trouble a lot sooner and needed help.
My younger son was a great nurser from the start, partially due to advice from this book(the parts on building a good milk supply are essential to success), and I will continue to use this book until it's time to wean him.
Recently I purchased this book as a baby shower present for a first-time mom. She was really pleased and interested in the "Survival Guide" sections. I have recommended it to countless friends and strangers alike. If you aren't sure you want to breastfeed, read this book. Kathleen Huggins is not preachy; she just gives the most up-to-date info on the benefits to both baby and mom, not just in terms of physical health, but also in connecting with your baby.

My first child's step-grandmother gave me an old copy of this book when she was born and I had decided to nurse her. I put the book on the shelf and, as an exhausted first-time working mom, never got around to reading it. Now I'm a new mom again, and one day I randomly picked the book off the shelf and finally read it. What a wonderful book! I sincerely wish I had read it BEFORE I had my first baby. Besides being a great resource on the how-to's of breastfeeding, the book covers all the difficult problems and issues the nursing mom may face. Huggins describes and helps you diagnose nursing problems, and provides good information about how and why these problems may occur. Her advice and solutions are clear, concise, and highlighted throughout the book. I had planned to breastfeed my daughter for at least a year, but she weaned at 9 months. When I read this book, I thought of all the things I could have done differently (and better) when I had nursed my daughter. This time around I am determined to breastfeed my son for at least a year. When I run into nursing problems, I will refer to Dr. Sears to remind myself why I decided to breastfeed in the first place, then I'll refer to this book to figure out how to overcome them.

This is an excellent resource to have before and throughout your nursing experience with your first or subsequent children! I read it through and later used it as a guide for problems I encountered. I have read five of the most reccomended books on this subject, and this is the one I go back to over and over. It is thorough, has depth, is comprehensive, and is supportive, but not pushy. It discusses the many reasons to nurse (this section is accurate and well-writen). It also takes you through the major stages your baby goes through during his/her nursing years), then after each of these sections, there is a chapter on common problems encounterred during each period. Also included is information about expressing milk, going back to work, nursing the older child, and weaning. In addition it discusses special situations, and has included several wonderful appendices. I continue to use this book even today. I reccommend it to all of my friends planning to have children and/or breastfeed! I wish I had had this book as a guide for my first child. I definately would have been more successful at breastfeeding with the support and knowledge this book provides!

I have been breastfeeding my new baby for 7 weeks now and had some problems getting started. I really wanted to breastfeed and was so upset when our pediatrician hinted we might want to throw in the towel. If it were not for this book, we probably would have just given up. I am so glad we persevered. It is going so well now and the baby and I are both so happy. While this book doesn't replace a lactation consultant, it is like having one on call 24 hours a day. It provides reassurance and step by step instructions for just about anything that can come up and has valuable information to help prevent problems from happening at all. I would highly recommend this to anyone considering or planning to breast feed. It's really the only book you'll need. You may not have any trouble at all but just in case you do, have this book on hand and save yourself and your baby many teary and sleepless days and nights.