Rating: 
Summary: A Must Have Book
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The best book if you encounter problems & need support
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Very Informative
Review: I breastfed my first child and am currently breastfeeding my second child. I have read a lot of books on nursing but could not find detailed information in dealing with recurrent bouts of mastitis and frequent clogs. Dr. Newman gives a lot of information and suggestions on a variety of topics and also talks about how doctors, hospitals and the media "help" women to fail at breatfeeding. The book was easy to read and well organized. I feel I got my money's worth and definately feel that following his advice has given me 8 weeks without any clogs or infections!
Rating: 
Summary: Funny and encouraging
Review: I found this book incredibly helpful (the pictures of good vs bad latch are worth it themselves...turns out a symmetrical latch isn't the best--who'd have thought?). I also found the book humorous and encouraging. His primary points are that breast milk is best and a good latch solves most problems. His humor shows throughout the book (and in the title). He uses terms like "absurd" and uses humorous analogies to debunk claims that some breasts just can't breastfeed or that formula is as good as breast milk. I found this book a great read (laughed out loud many times) during my third trimester while waiting for baby as well as helpful and encouraging during nursing and getting through those critical first two weeks. So if you or someone you love has been told their breasts aren't right, or their milk isn't right, or their nipples aren't right for breastfeeding, but they want to breastfeed, then get them this book and find out how to make it happen.
Rating: 
Summary: terrible!
Review: I found this book to be condescending and very biased. Though it contains good information, you have to sift through the authors' agenda (the formula world-wide conspiracy) to get to it. No one, not you or your doctors, knows as much as they do. Doesn't go into diet "do's" and "don'ts" and seems to assume that all mothers are staying at home. I'm glad I got this as a gift and didn't have to pay for it!
Rating:
Summary: THIS is the resource new moms really need
Review: I had many problems when I first started nursing. Doctors and nurses gave me conflicting and outdated advice. This book provided the solutions I needed! Dr. Newman has worked with thousands of real breastfeeding women and the material is straight forward without being preachy or giving guilt trips like so much info out there. I'm giving this book to all my breastfeeding friends! I even emailed Dr. Newman with questions and he replied ASAP - none of the other "experts" I emailed even bothered to reply! He really cares about this.
Rating:
Summary: Good info, but some is misleading
Review: I learned a lot from this book about formula, the benefits of staying away from it, and correct latching and positioning at the breast, plus good problem-solving info. However, I found it difficult to find information on how to make breastfeeding work in a variety of family situations, for instance, not very much information on going back to work, although it is mentioned briefly, (I got the impression Dr. Newman thinks all good moms stay home). He responds to real concerns and real issues sometimes by trivializing the problem. For example, he clearly supports co-sleeping and thinks it is no big deal for babies to wake frequently at night, even when they are older. Tell that to two working parents who are exhausted by constant night wakings! And some people really do not want to share their bed with a child, and they should not be critized for that. Adults need time together and time alone to be a couple in order to be good parents, which is rarely addressed. I think he also makes too big a deal of using a bottle to give expressed breastmilk. My baby has always been able to switch back and forth to bottles of breastmilk at the sitter and to my breast at home, no need for finger feeding or tubes. Just take some of that stuff with a grain of salt and know that each baby is different. I still think the book is a must-have for pregnant women planning to nurse, and remains a great resource as you continue to nurse your baby and toddler.
Rating:
Summary: DO YOURSELF AND THOSE YOU LOVE A FAVOR, READ IT!
Review: I looked at all the popular breastfeeding books when I was pregnant. I anticipated breastfeeding and educated myself about how to do it, what not to do etc. I never knew about Dr. Newman until my daughter was two months old and the nursing relationship was hopeless in many ways. If I had come across this book sooner I beleive I may have been able to nurse! Dr. Newman presenst clear and effective methods to solve common problems. Beleive it or not most hospital staff do not help when women run into breastfeeding issues. Breastfeeding eduaction is not a priority for most hospitals and it shows in how many women want to breastfeed versus actually successfully do so.
If you are pregnant or plan to be a parent one day you should really read this. Fathers, mothers, grandparents to be could all benefit from thsi book. Actually EVERYONE should read this book (particularly obstetricians, pediatricians, anyone calling themself a lactation consultant) and become educated about breastfeeding so you can see the beauty of a woman nusring in public instaed of feeling outraged or disgusted. Breastfeeding can save money in health insurance costs and taxes that are needed due to treating sicknesses that children acquire when they don't have the prooper nutrition and immunological support that breastmilk provides for them.Everyone can make a difference because breastfeeding mothers need all the effective help, understanding and encouragement they can get.
If you are pregnant, don't assume breastfeeding will be easy or that formula is an adequete alternative food for babies. Get educated! Read labels and ask yourself if you think the ingredients that make formulas seem to make nutritional sense. Everyone knows not to feed a baby milk but that is exactly what is in formula. the alternative formulas are mostly corn syrup! Most conscientious parents would not dream of giving their child soda but what is the difference? the nutrition that is shown on the formula labels does not equal what your child will absorb from the mixture because many of the vitamins are not easily aborbed by babies. Formual fed bablies are at risk for nuritional defeciencies that breastfed babies are not.
There are so many issues involved in breastfeeding that you cannot conceive of until you start trying to nurse and find that there is no adequete instruction and support available. That is what happened to me. I had never heard of a nipple shield despite having joined La Leche League months before my child's birth. The first and only method of breastfeeding presented to me after my baby's birth was to use a nipple shield. That is an artificial nipple. The nursre did not know how to get my baby feeding with the shield on and apparantly not without it either since she never even tried. It hurt like hell and she just told me it shouldn't. I was crushed by the failure and my daughter was starving so I knew enough not to give abottle but to supplement with a medicine cup. The nurse told me that was futile since my baby would have nipple confusion anyway due to the shield so I may as well give her a bottle. THIS WAS THE WORST ADVICE EVER which had the result of completely sabatoging my potential to breastfeed this baby ever! I had help for weeks from a la leche league leader and 2 lactattion consultants. My desperate attempts to nurse had the result of my child developong an actual aversion to the sight of my breasts! Of all the breastfeding books I've read, only Dr. Newman has the consideration to tell you about all the gadgets available for aiding in breatsfeeding.this is not because gadgets are good and everyone needs them but people need to be armed with this information in order to know what tools are available to them if certain situations arise. They need to know ahead of time how things work, why they work and that they have options if someone is trying to dissuade them from their endeavor to breastfeed. Feeding without contraptions is almsot always possible even if your nipples are flat or inverted! The baby needs to suck in more than the nipple anyway in order to be latched on properly, feed well and thrive. Milk does not come from the nipple alone! If you try the nipple only approach you will experience pain and the baby will not get enough milk anyway! Please do yourself, those you love, and babies,(and babies to be) a favor and read this book now! Also, see if you can persuade the hospitals in your community to work toward being certified baby friendly by The World Health Organization and UNICEF. This way more moms and babies can reap the benefits of a successful and fulfilling nursing relationship. ....
Rating:
Summary: The best breastfeeding book
Review: I rarely give a book 5 stars, but this book is terrific. If you only buy one book on breastfeeding, get this one. A board certified lactation consultant recommended it to me. I have read several books on the topic and Dr. Newman's is very comprehensive. It covers everything from starting out on day one with your newborn to breastfeeding into the toddler years and includes a wide range of information on problem solving. He is one of the leading researchers and experts in the area of breastfeeding. I also like the fact that his recommendations are well balanced and based on known facts and research. His all purpose breast ointment (he has the doses written down so you can ask your doctor for a prescription) was a life saver for me when I had soreness and eczema.
Rating:
Summary: Read this BEFORE you have your baby!!!
Review: 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!
| 
