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Summary: This book helped me tremendously!
Review: I am so glad to see a book about mothers who couldn't breastfeed. I fall into that category. It felt good to actually read a list of reasons why breastfeeding doesn't work. Yes, most of the time it isn't a real medical problem. But, support isn't always available when you need it. After being criticized and dismissed by the La Leche League in my area when I went for support, it relieved a lot of my guilt to read this book. It also helped me to understand why militant breastfeeders would attack women in public for feeding their babies. It was such a relief to read something that gave true information about bottlefeeding and having a loving relationship with your baby and that didn't begin "Breastfeeding is best, but..."
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Summary: wonderful!
Review: I was so happy to see a book that didn't push breastfeeding. It seems like so many moms have decided that motherhood consists of only HOW you feed your baby; bottlefeeders are evil and uncaring; breastfeeders are angels. There are thousands of decisions that a parent will need to make until their children can be responsible for themselves - there is not enough difference between breastfeed and bottlefed children to make any lasting change in their lives. After all, my generation was almost exclusively bottlefed, and we are the healthiest generation in history. I don't think we can describe millions of moms as 'bad mothers' when their babies turned out so well. As a middle school teacher, I see the decline in interest so many parents show in their children when they aren't so cute and cuddly anymore. Isn't their diet just as important at that age? I have never heard a parent complain about the junk food most kids at that age eat for lunch (much of it supplied by the parents). Breastfeeding won't mean a thing when you're stuffing McDonalds in their mouths a few years later. I think that new moms are so terrified of their new duties that they latch on to all of the new ideas as proof they're doing a good job. There are few creatures more paranoid than a new mom. (I know, I'm one!) We need to relax and realize we have at least 18 years to raise this kid, and there are thousands of things we can do to protect our children that are much more important than breast/formula. I have no respect for one-issue parents, whething the issue is feeding, homeschooling, co-sleeping, attachment, or whatever. If you thing one decision is going to make or break your kid, you desperately need perspective. One other thing I've noticed - breastfeeding sites NEVER mention the father of the baby. For me, the most important reason to bottlefeed is to encourage the father to take his equal share in the baby's life. My husband is my equal as a parent, and I feel sorry for any child whose father is pushed away from their development.
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Summary: This book almost convinced me to quit nursing.
Review: After reading parts of this book, I almost quit breastfeeding. I was having a great deal of difficulty - I had cracks, I was bleeding, and I developed mastitis. My sister bought me this book thinking it would make me feel better. Instead it made me torn on the issue of breastfeeding/bottlefeeding. Luckily, I called a lactation consultant and showed her the passages in the book that made me think that it was time for me to throw in the towel. Instead of agreeing with me, she convinced me to read another book, "The Nursing Mother's Companion," and stick with breastfeeding while taking some of that advice. Guess what, the advice worked! While I continued supplementing with formula, I was also able to continue nursing my son and I am so glad I didn't give in to the pressures of some of my friends and family who thought formula feeding was just as good or to the author of this book who is more concerned with telling some mothers what they want to hear instead of the truth.My lactation consultant also recommeded I attend La Leche League meetings. With all the help I received, I had no problems at all breastfeeding my second child and I never again picked up this book off my bookshelf. I fear that some vulnerable mothers may be influenced by this book to give up what, with a little work, could end up being a very rewarding experience.
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Summary: A disservice to ALL mothers!
Review: Can we give a NO star rating? I am a breastfeeding mom, but I do not consider formula to be 'poison' and I do respect every mother's right to make her own feeding choices for her child without feeling guilty about them. (My older son was both breast and bottle fed.) This book however does NOT focus on bottlefeeding without guilt, but rather it focuses on discrediting breastfeeding and mud-slinging towards breastfeeding mothers. The author seems to have a HUGE chip on her shoulder against all breastfeeding mothers and uses the topic of bottlefeeding as her own personal vindetta against breastfeeding. If someone chooses to formula feed, I do hope that it will be an informed decision because of their own personal feelings and not because of the misinformation that this author chooses to perpetuate.
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Summary: horrifying
Review: This book is an ode to Ms. Robin's guilt over bottle feeding. The reasons to choose bottle feeding over breastfeeding are strictly mom convienience ordered and have nothing to do with the health of the baby. This book is the same thing as saying "oh you can't find a car seat, well don't feel guilty, most kids ride unrestrained in the car without any problems at all". If you can't breastfeed or you are having difficulty, what you need is support to fix the problem (rarely is the problem a medical fact rather than technique or temporary). If that doesn't work then the mom needs help stopping breastfeeding without feeling like a failure. This book does not do this, rather it gives the impression that breastfeeding is over rated and that formula is somehow as healthy. Ms. Robin would do more moms justice if she helped spread the word on how to get help and that it is okay to ask for help. Most newly postpartum women suffer in silence trying to tough out a problem that can usually be straightened out with a few pointers. This book is guilty of the exact same hardcore attitude it preaches against. When I see it in a bookstore, I take all the copies and put them in the comedy or horror section out of the sight of fragile pregnant women. Debbie Codding
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Summary: Not a perfect book, but worth the read
Review: First of all, I have read some of the other reviews on here, and I am a little surprised that many Bfeeding advocates have felt the need to comment. I am sure many have not even read the book. The idea here is to talk about the book's contents, not to bash bottle feeding moms once again! That being said, this book was very helpful to me. I encountered some problems breastfeeding, though I maybe could have worked through them with help. I was never comfortable with it from day one, and my husband also wanted to feed the baby. It was just what worked for us (switching to formula) at the time. I would like to breastfeed next baby, but also do NOT think that there is anything WRONG with formula. This book backs this up. It is very good for a new mom who is made to feel guilty if she doesn't want to (or can't) breastfeed. There is little support elsewhere for these women. They are sometimes shunned by other new moms, and made to feel inferior. There are hundreds of books on breastfeeding, and hardly any on using formula. I realize it is easier to figure out the formula thing, but I know for me, I still had questions. This book talks about bottle preparation, types of formulas, etc. I would not say the author is a perfect writer, and she also spends too much time compaling about "Breastfeeding nazis." The book is still very useful, in spite of this. Read it... and stop feeling guilty! :)
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Summary: We need more books addressing this issue
Review: I am thankful for this book. In the world of mothering and parenting in general, there is this image that smart, "good", and "nurturing" moms breastfeed and that this is the only right way and it is the "natural" way. The term natural is always used to make one choice seem superior to other choices. I personally don't think any mother should be made to defend herself as a mother and her choice to anyone or be made to feel guilty. If formula was unhealthy, it would not be approved by the FDA and if it was a less quality choice then the millions of formula fed children in this country and around the world wouldn't be thriving and progressing in school and at home alongside breastfed peers; and breastfed kids do get sick sometimes and aren't totally immune from getting colds or ear infections, especially if they go to school where germs are inevitably spread. I am tired of the hype about breastfeeding and the arguments of those who claim it makes babies smarter, raises their IQ, protects them from illnesses and so on only to make a mother feel trapped into a decision that may not be right for her or her family, and she is not a bad mother for making a decision based on her needs. The advocates of breastfeeding have whatever scientific claims they can use to support their beliefs, but when it boils down to it this is all on the mother's shoulders as if being a mother and caring for a child wasn't hard enough when you have all these doctors, scientists, and advocacy groups telling you what you should do and you are selfish and ignorant mother if you don't. Breastfeeding advocates are so dogmatic about their beliefs and have quoted so much "scientific evidence" of the benefits of breastmilk that formula companies have to put on the formula's label that their formula promotes healthy brain development "like breastmilk" or is easily digested "like breastmilk" just so that concerned parents won't be frightened out of buying formula for their babies. Yes, breastmilk may be "healthier", more "natural" and contain certain beneficial properties that formula doesn't, but so does a vegetarian diet and organic vegetables but not everyone is feeding their kids vegetarian or organic diet, so why such an attack on parents who use formula! Enough already.
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Summary: Bad science, doesn't give necessary information
Review: It ought to be possible to have a book on how to bottle feed your baby safely and with love...but this book isn't it! Much of the book is spent blasting out breastfeeding, with entirely inaccurate, misleading, and unscientific information. It doesn't tell you how to feed the child in a manner that is anthropologially correct. There is a chapter in Dr. Sears' "The baby book" on how to bottle feed a baby safely. Granted, he prefers breastfeeding, but he has TONS of information for those who (for ANY reason) choose to bottle feed. And he states, over and over, do what is right for YOU. Peggy Robin doesn't try to empower moms to do what they want...she just blast those who choose differently that she did!
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Summary: Compassion and Understanding
Review: This book has been a God send to me. Today's society is so obsessed with breastfeeding that a woman who needs to or chooses to bottlefeed is made to feel like a failure. My first child was born 5 years ago and underwent lung surgery two days after her birth to remove a cyst from her lung. Try relaxing enough to produce milk when your precious baby could die in an operation! This book gave me hope. It gave me valuable information on how to properly clean and prepare bottles for use. It's focus was not to lecture me about which method of feeding was best, just how to be as successful as possible in my chosen method of bottle feeding. I appreciated this book's straight-forwardness. It was the only place I found that had all I needed to know about bottlefeeding in it. I felt empowered after reading this book. I would now be able to be the best bottle feeding Mom ever. Thank you Peggy Robin for making a positive difference in my family's life.
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Summary: Book is misleading and might scare of mothers who DO nurse!
Review: I am not a mother but I have lived with my sister for 12 years and have watched her nurse all 5 of her children and she is expecting a 6th. With the exception of one child who she had to stop nursing before she was ready due to being hospitalized, she has nursed them all successfully. She also works for La Leche Leauge in our area. I can tell you from listening to her counsel other mothers on the phone, she has NEVER ONCE criticized a mother because she is having problems. She is always very patient and offers several suggestions. She never criticizes a mother in her group when they choose to breastfeed. Obviously each group is different in how they feel. While SOME of the reasons that she has listed for choosing bottlefeeding are valid, such as a mother who has AIDS, there are many that I read that just to me are stupid or lazy excuses to choose the bottle. For instance, choosing to bottlefeed a second child "because you didn't nurse your first and you don't want them to be jealous!". Please! Your first child is going to be jealous of the new baby regardless of whether you bottlefeed or not!! Many of the reasons listed could be helped with GOOD medical adivce. And many NICU's encourage you to expres milk for your preemie. To say that "The Benefits of Breastfeeding have been overdramatized" is false. There are MANY reports out that will tell how and why breastmilk is better then formula. No, a child won't die if you choose not to breastfeed, but bottlefeeding is not all safe either. Babies have gotten ill while on bottles because the formula is made either too strong or not strong enough and many other reasons. THe author needs to do alot more research before she critcizes Breatmilk so much and NOT all Breastfeeding advocates are nazis. I know more mothers who get critized because they nurse for too long and in public then do bottlefed mothers.
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