Customer Reviews

The Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning, Revised Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I am shocked at how negative some of the reviews were for this book.

First let me begin by saying there is some superfluous information about breastfeeding and weaning through the ages in the lengthy introduction. I actually found it fairly interesting but given that most mothers don't have much time to spare on such matters, I found it could be skipped if a reader so wished.

That being said, the rest of the book is organized brilliantly first by age of attempted weaning and then by situation/technique. This allows the reader to easily skip over anything not relevant and move through the details they are looking for.

Other reviewers said that the guide tries to dissuade the reader from weaning. I suppose this is true, but I view it more as advocacy in addressing why a woman is weaning, as opposed to a one-size-fits-all view on weaning. For instance the author mentions societal pressure we moms may feel towards weaning - and its absolutely true. I have had pediatricians, family and even other mothers scoff at the fact I am still breastfeeding my 18 month old. So for a mother who may be on the fence (like myself) - the passages were helpful and allowed me to re-evaluate what my next steps in the process would be.

I think the negative reviews stem from people who want an easy solution to a fairly complex and emotional situation. Just like childrearing - there is no easy route here.

First of all, let me just say that I am pro breastfeeding, but I also believe that it is a personal choice that every mother must make for themselves. So is weaning. I support nursing mothers whether they do it for 2 weeks or 2 years. My daughter is 9 months old and has always been breastfed. She never would take a bottle and doesn't like formula, even in a cup. I got this book because my plan is to wean my daughter at one year and I was looking for some practical advice. Well, I didn't find it in this book. The chapters are grouped by the child's age when you plan to wean. 90% of each chapter focuses on the reasons you may decide to wean at that age and why those reasons are not valid ones. The book basically shoots down every scenario for weaning your child. The sections on "how to" wean focus on how ineffective most of them are. This is not a book that will give you support and advice on weaning. It does not acknowledge and accept the fact that breastfeeding until your child is in preschool is just not the right choice for everyone. I am proud of the fact that I have breastfed this long but the decision to wean is something that I alone (taking my daughter's needs into consideration) will decide. If you are looking for a book to talk you out of weaning then this is the book for you.

While it's true that this book encourages extended nursing, it also contains useful strategies for weaning at any age. If you're on the fence about weaning, read the whole book and then decide. If you're sure you want to wean, skip the "whether to wean" sections and go straight to the "weaning ideas" pages. The book offers a variety of strategies and stories from numerous parents.

I bought The Nursing Mother's Companion and kept it next to the rocker in the nursery for a year. It was a good resource. Very "yay breastfeeding" and all that. I decided to see what information it offered on weaning. It basically said buy our other book, but I should have known it would be a mistake because even that sounded pushy and judgemental.

This book, The Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning, really, really pushed to continue breastfeeding to the age of 4. Ok, fine if I were going to do that I might need the support of a book that validates that choice (Which should be a guide to extended nursing not weaning), but this is a weaning book shouldn't it at least be understanding if not encouraging about weaning?

I was given lots of historical data on the physical and emotional damage weaning has done through the ages right off the bat. I had to put the book down several times and collect myself. When I turned to the appropriate chapter for weaning my one to two year old I was barraged with questions insinuating I was probably doing this for all the wrong reasons or wasn't really "ready." It was kind of awful. I started to feel sick reading about all the bad things that could happen.

When I got to the "useful" part it was alot of what I'd read else where, but it wasn't presented in a hopeful way. Here's an example:

"Weaning an avid nurser by distraction requires a lot of diligence. You can't let your child see you undressed. You may have to avoid cradling your child in your arms, or even sitting or laying down in her presence. You may have to stay away from your favorite nursing places, such as the bed or couch, and doing things that prompted nursing before, like talking on the phone."

Uh, yeah right. I just never sit down or hold my baby again, perfect. What am I supposed to take away from this? It felt like they were saying "it's almost impossible so just breastfeed and hope your baby losses interest before college." Now I'm being ridiculous, but I felt more frustrated instead of less after reading this book.

This is not the non-judgemental, this is a hard decision but you can do it book for the educated mother who just wants to feel a little more informed that I was looking for.

GRRRRR....

I absolutely love the Nursing Mother's Companion and have used it as a reference on and off since my son was born a year and a half ago. I was hoping that the Guide to Weaning would offer me some innovative tools or helpful exercises to better understand how and when to wean my son. Instead, it seemed like most of the chapter on toddlers (1-2 years) was a cheerleading session for strategies of how to continue nursing, with a short section on ideas for how to wean at the end. I really didn't get any new information here - I think that most moms who decide to prolong breastfeeding have already had to figure out how to manage where and when it's okay for the baby to nurse; it's the final step of actually weaning that can be difficult to tackle. In all, I didn't find the book to be particularly supportive of my choice to begin weaning my son or to offer any concrete suggestions beyond common sense and advice that's easily available from other moms who have been there before.

While I really enjoyed this book, I will concede that the previous reviewers have a point: calling this book "The Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning" makes it sound like it's just, and only, a how-to manual on weaning your baby. In fact, it is a somewhat condensed primer on weaning patterns throughout history that transitions into a breakdown of the nursing relationship by age group (under 3 months, 4 months to 1 year, 1&2 years, older than 3) and then discusses characteristics, challenges and possible solutions to these challenges other than full weaning before discussing weaning techniques. Thus, this book, in it's entirety, is for the nursing mom who is thinking about weaning and wants some things to ponder when making this decision. One point that I liked was also touched on in "Mothering Your Nursing Toddler," the fact that it's tempting to feel frustrated and tired and blame this on the fact that you're still nursing. This seems to me to be an oversimplification, however, a too-simple solution for a multi-faceted issue. For the mom who has absolutely decided to wean, as is stated in the introduction, the author has colorcoded bars at the top of the short segments at the end of each chapter that detail the weaning techniques by age group. (The setup of the book is similar to her breastfeeding book in that it contains full chapters and then important information condensed at the end, which I liked.) By skipping the chapters and just reading the pertinent colored pages, a mom could get just the info that they need very quickly. For a mom needing to wean immediately, certainly this book would be useful, though it would probably be prudent to just check it out of the library. I am glad that I bought it, though, and will be revisiting it in the next couple months as my son's and my nursing relationship winds down.

I loved The Nursing Mother's Companion, and thus, was hoping this would be a perfect sequel. I was looking for tips and ways to wean my toddler... and the 10 pages in this book didn't really provide any new or different ideas. I am/was specifically stumped by how to wean at nap and bed time (he is used to falling asleep while nursing) and I was hoping this book would provide some new ideas on how to break this habit. But, it didn't.

This book is not for someone who wants to wean! It focuses on what bad advice doctors give and why you should not wean. the chapters repeat themselves word for word-"dont give up, its terrible to wean before your child can ask for breastmilk, formual is bad stuff, its a pain to make it......!". I am a working mother and enjoy breastfeeding but i know with my schedule it wont last forever. this book just irritated me to no end. what i needed was a little advice and what i got was actually breastfeeding propaganda. i have worked in pediatrics and OB, i have assisted new mothers with breastfeeding and i would NEVER recommend this book to ANY of them.

...because this book is so detrimental I feel the need to warn women away from it.
Anyone who is considering weaning is already full of emotions about ending the breast feeding journey. Why on earth would this author think that any intelligent mother needs 50 pages of a guilt trip about it? I bought this book for practical advice on how to wean my baby - and my hormonal self - most gently. Instead I've been feeling like a horrible, selfish mother since reading it 8 hours ago.

Although I am not ready to wean my 9 month old daughter, I've read this book twice in the past month and have shared it with my husband and mother. I thought the history of breastfeeding and weaning in the US and other cultures was very interesting. I like how the book is organized and thought that it was full of helpful information. I think it would be good for someone to read who is nursing and just starting to think about when to wean.