Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers : The Most Comprehensive Problem-Solution Guide to Breastfeeding from the Foremost Expert in North America

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

When I was having problems getting started breastfeeding, I looked everywhere on the net for information that could help me. I came across Dr. Jack Newmann's webpages (was impressed)and then saw his book in the store. It has been the most helpful book I could have purchased! His information is totally up to date and backed up with studies. He dispels many common myths (i.e. breastfed babies require extra water when the weather is hot, you cannot breast feed while taking many common medications...)about breastfeeding. The information is very well layed out and easy to find. It really opened my eyes to the unsung values of breastfeeding (and the dangers of not). I highly recommend this book to mothers, educators and even doctors! (FYI this book goes under the name "Dr. Jack Newmann's Guide to Breastfeeding" in Canada - it is the exact same book.)

I thought I had read plenty of breastfeeding books by now, but for some reason when browsing the bookstore for another topic, I picked up this book and started leafing through it -- no doubt because of the rather arrogant title.

I found it was everything it promised to be. I learned a lot about latching, medications, and came up with ideas for the sore nipples I was resigned to before I even brought the book home. If I were to start again, I'd buy this book and the Sears Breastfeeding book, and skip the others. Both are excellent references for problems you don't think you'll have until you're at your wit's end on a Saturday evening when there's no one to call.

Dr. Newman seems to have a lot of practical experience with breastfeeding problems and presents many case examples along with good general instructions for solving problems.

As someone who has had trouble breastfeeding, I highly recommend this book - more than a quick reference, this is an in-depth problem solver for women who have the slightest worry that there is a problem with their breastfeeding relationship. Because of the lack of breastfeeding info in many hospitals and doctors' offices, and the lack of baby-knowledge in general in our culture, it is such a relief to just get answers. The book is divided into three sections - the first is a primer on breastfeeding - benifits, proper positioning, good and bad "advice" and how to deal with it, and the tactics used by formula companies to undermine breastfeeding. The second section deals with common problems and solutions, and the third deals with special situations like introducing solids, weaning, nursing toddlers, sleep, seperation, and troubleshooting. I'd give this one out as a baby gift , and leave copies of it in hospital waiting rooms and NICU nurses lounges:).

I bought three books on breastfeeding--the Womanly Art, the Breastfeeding Mother's Comanion and this one. Although the first two books are informative and may be excellent if yo have few problems I recommend this book if your situation is a bit unusual. This book that made me persevere through latch problems, impatient baby and late onset of milk. Without it, I would have given up after pumping for three weeks producing absolutely nothing (my milk didn't come in until my baby was a month old) and later would not have tried to put my baby to the breast, assuming it wouldn't be possible to teach her latch on after taking in so many bottles. This book gave me the knowledge that my problems are not unique and that most important, they can be solved. Thanks to this book, I kept on trying and trying and now, despite a rocky start, my four month old is feeding happily at the breast hopefully for many more months to come. Books cannot really teach you to breastfeed, but they can motivate you and empower you to look for solutions and that's what this book did for me. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

I am an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant at a hospital. I use this book for the majority of my client and staff education. Dr. Newman's advice stands the test of time and gives excellent advice for dealing with difficulties and concerns that may arise during the entire duration of the breastfeeding relationship. We have provided this book to all of our physicians as a reference as well and they have said it is extremely helpful. I would highly recommend new parents and professionals who deal with breastfeeding families to have a copy of this book available. For issues that may not be covered in depth, there are many other resources available, but most of the issues encountered by new parents will be dealt with in this book.

Dr. Newman has great advice for breastfeeding issues Newman's position is to teach and inform you, and dispell cultural myths, and mis-information. He wants to help women to be successful in spite of the poor inform out there. He shows formula company advertising and helps readers understand the advertising techniques used to sway parents. I reccomend getting breastfeeding info from a source such as his and nothing printed by say, Mead Johnson. (The booklet they publish is inferior at best.) They do not have your best interests at heart, honest... "Never accept a parachute from someone who has a vested interest in your hitting the ground." Author unknown
I have against the odds taught my 8 week old (38 weeks gestation now) once tube fed, once bottle fed 29 weeker preemie, to breastfeed full time after pumping for 8 weeks. Newman's book outlines how things must be done to be successful, read it before your baby comes if you can. I agree with his do's and don'ts. He is a master at what he does.
If you are having breastfeeding problems, get help immediately, don't turn to those little bottles of formula and ready to use nipples that the formula companies send. The formula companies are there at 2 am with there products to help you fail. They'll hold your hand right into your pocket book, and most importantly rob your baby of the most superior brain food there is. Breast milk is a living thing that can't be duplicated in a lab. You must read Newman's book. Formula companies can't build brain tissue like your milk can, though they'd like you to think they can. Breast is best! Good luck to you, and if you are struggling, get help quickly. Call your hospital and go see the lactation consultant, or call the LeLeche league. You can succeed, I did against all odds with help from a lact. consultant and Newman's Book! Now you can get the right kind of help. I found out that I did not know it all when this baby (my 6th) came. Even though I have nursed 5 other babies without much trouble. I learned a lot from this book.
Update-My baby is 5 1/2 months old and we are going strong with no plans to quit!
Another update- I weaned my baby at 18 months old! We had a great experience and so can you! Read this book and call to get help quickly for problems that arise.

My wife was given this book to help her through the first weeks of nursing our second child. I did a considerable amount of reading the text aloud to my wife. At first we thought this was a great book. It talked in depth about a good latch and suggested a new position; these helped our daughter to nurse more easily. But when my wife ran into problems with engorgement, and when our daughter began nursing poorly on the left side, we felt worse and worse about this book. Now I have really begun to resent it.

The most annoying problem with the book is its horribly imcomplete index. I wanted to find information about burping the baby. There's no entry for it in the index, but sure enough there's a strong opinion about it stated in the "Gas" section of the "Colic" chapter. (I stumbled onto it somehow.)

Secondly, I find the text to be quite incomplete. For instance, there is no discussion of posture during nursing at all. This is a major issue for my wife, and seems to me a quite relevant one for any nursing mother. Also I think that the "ultimate" guide ought to give detailed diagrams of common nursing positions, and hints for how to manage the baby properly in those positions. This book contains no such information--only some random photos with captions (and again, no entries in the index--not even for "football hold").

The last issue I will mention: the author communicates an extreme arrogance throughout the text. He presumes that any problem a mother has with nursing comes down to one thing: the baby's latch. And it's clear that he feels that this is almost always the mother's fault. My wife needed encouragement; she was doing her best, she was engorged, and needed help to remedy the problem. This book merely served to tell her that she shouldn't have let the problem happen in the first place. Well, thanks.

Surely there are less annoying, more complete, and more encouraging books on breastfeeding.

I am a Certified Lactation Educator and breastfeeding mother. I really wish this book would have been available when I first started nursing almost 5 years ago. Dr. Newman states it like it is, and encourages responsibility in new parents to seek help when they need it. There are little known remedies that the other books don't talk about. Dr. Newman offers real world solutions, not repeating the same information that most other mainstream breastfeeding books do. He is a champion of the nursing relationship. Parents and professionals alike would be wise to buy this book. I tell all of my clients to at least check it out if they can't buy it.

The other reviewer seems a little disgruntled because it looks like he went to one book for help instead of consulting an IBCLC or La Leche League Leader for his wife's breastfeeding issues. These trained people exist in most communities to help with issues like latch and side preferences. Dr. Newman also has a webpage and email if the reviewer needed some specialized help and support beyond what is offered in any book. Nothing can substitute for personal care in a face to face situation, no matter how great or informative the book is.

Definitely worth the price and more! This is a wonderful resource and guide providing helpful hints about nursing, whether it be for first-timers or those who have a lot of experience! The book is up-to-date, comprehensive and easy to use. It promotes common sense as opposed to blindly following common practise and dispells numerous "myths" surrounding breastfeeding. The guide has useful sections on special situations and is also great for people in the medical field or those supporting breastfeeding mothers. It provides clear answers or options to common and uncommon problems, such as having sore nipples, not having enough milk, having blocked ducts, taking medication, feeding babies with cleft palates, etc. It was indespensible to me and remains so.....

I read this cover-to-cover along with The Nursing Mother's Companion (also very good) while I was on bedrest during the last few weeks of my pregnancy. There are excellent photos of what a good latch looks like, and a pervasive "you can do this" tone throughout which I found empowering. There is a wonderful section that debunks a lot of myths about colic. One of my favorite chapters discusses introducing solid foods. I am not good at following a lot of rules, and his relaxed and happy way to introduce foods to your baby appealed to me greatly. Another favorite chapter was about your and your baby's sleep; although the "family bed" philosophy doesn't fit for my family, I loved his reassurance that sleeping with your baby is OKAY (I do it as often as I can!), and offers many alternatives to the "cry it out" culture which I hate.

Don't be put off by the fact this is written by a man. This is a pediatrician who has devoted many years to understanding and promoting lactation. I am grateful that he has done so and written such an outstanding book about it; it was the best money I have ever spent, and I figure it saved me hundreds if not thousands of dollars on the formula I assumed I would need.

It was by far the best education I received on all aspects of breastfeeding, including an eye-opening section on formulas and formula companies. You will want to be forearmed with the information in this book BEFORE you head to the hospital, as you may come across outdated hospital procedures that will undermine your best efforts to breastfeed. I was unnecessarily separated from my baby for three hours after his birth, because that's what the nurses' routine was ("temperature stabilization" was the reason--that's hooey, he would have been better off skin-to-skin with me). And this was a hospital that in all other respects provided me a wonderful labor experience. Fortunately he latched on without difficulty despite our separation.

As a registered nurse who worked in pediatrics ten or so years ago, I was humbled and embarrassed by how underserved my patients were by me, as I had no unbiased information about formulas, and only rudimentary knowledge about breastmilk, breastfeeding, and its benefits. We routinely and cavalierly bottle-fed sick babies without thinking of alternatives; told nursing moms to leave the hospital for the night so "they could rest", and treated breast milk as a mildly disgusting body fluid. I wish I had had this book back then.

A reviewer complained about the strident "political" tone in the book; I did not find that negative at all-- it was the equivalent of someone shaking my shoulders and saying Listen to me! Sometimes we need to hear things that way in order to get the message. And frankly it was not a "political" message, but a factual explanation of how our profit-driven marketplace can influence something as important and private as breastfeeding. That's not political, that's the plain truth about drug and formula companies.

I am now in the third month of breastfeeding my healthy and thriving son. I can't imagine denying any child the benefits of breastfeeding now that I understand where the bottle-feeding culture came from. Thanks Dr. Newman!