what books would you recommend for bfeeding?

[fizzypigs]

I am hoping to breast feed my baby and was wondering if there were any books that you would recommend i get to help me? i also wondered whether you thought it would be completely mad of me to attempt going out for an evening 6weeks post birth if breast feeding? it's my partner's birthday and i bought him tickets for a gig ages ago. having read some of the posts here i have the feeling going with him may not be an option!!

The Food of Love by Kate Evans is great. As for evening out it will be possible if you can express but you might not feel like going out!

Im only 30 weeks pregnant and have not yet ever breast fed a baby (though i hope to feed my baby exclusively breastmilk until past 1 year old)

I think this book by Claire Byam-Cook is fab. I also have her DVD and i think that is pretty good too..... (I was re-reading my GF contented baby book last night too, and realised GF recommends her and her book and DVD too)

but beware she doesnt do things "conventionally" but what she does, in my mind seems to make sense, and seem more logical.

As i say not tried it yet but thats what i think having not yet done it for myself

What books? Oh no, I would definitely use breasts.

A word of warning re the CBC book, her advice isn?t actually that bfing friendly really.

I found the NCT breastfeeding book very helpful, also reading Kellymom and the Dr Jack Newman website as well as lurking on here a lot.

The NCT Breastfeeding for Beginners book was very helpful - short and clear.

Claire Byam Cook has quite odd views about breastfeeding. I would go for something by trained breastfeeding experts instead.

I would second the NCT breastfeeding book - short and simple which is just what you need with a newborn.

www.nctshop.co.uk/Breastfeeding-for-Beginners-Caroline-Deacon/productinfo/2172/

Also the NCT called Your Birth Year has a good chapter on breastfeeding (and is generally a very good pregnancy / birth book).

Also not a book but www.kellymom.com is brilliant and worth looking at before you have the baby.

I would also suggest you find out where you will be able to get breastfeeding support before you have the baby. That way if you need extra help you know who to phone (e.g. health visitor, breastfeeding counsellor, local groups).

Re gig at six weeks. I wouldn't have been able to do it with either baby as they cluster fed in the evening but then I wouldn't have felt up to it anyway as I had c-sections both times. Also lots of people don't offer a bottle to the baby until it is older as it can cause problems with breast feeding.

Good luck.

I second the Food of Love. I bought in while pg and to be honest wasn't sure why everyone had raved about it on here. But a few days in when I was really doubting if I could do it I had another read and it made me feel soooo much better, in fact good about how it was all going. Now I feel quite emotional about that book!! Love it. It also has great short sections on co-sleeping and attatchment parenting which introduced me to these ideas.

Also kellymom.com - brilliant info.

Re the gig, personally I would never have gone at 6weeks, mostly because I was so knackered! But 'tis up to you.

Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (new edition) is brilliant. LLL meeting in a book

Food of Love is hands down winner - oh and kellymom.com for online support.

I have this. It's very good. Peersonally the only thing that Claire Byam-Cook book is good for is burning. But thats my opinion

Another CBC downer here - not very bf-ing friendly ironically...

This is a great website, too.
www.howbreastfeedingworks.com

I thought nannyl was taking the piss?!

Nct book was good but not in depth enough for my liking. Yy to kellymom, and most importantly find your nearest bfn or lll group, pop in now if you can!

About the gig, I've been out to the cinema once without DS, when he was 5 weeks, and that was okay. I'd expressed a bottle for him beforehand. I don't think I could manage a full night out though (he's now 6 weeks), but that's more because I feel so nervous without him, rather than because I think he'll actually have a problem in that time.

Yes, Womanly Art is fab, loads of information and very easy to read. Kellymom also a great resource. I would definitely avoid CBC.

Oh and about the gig- there's every chance that you won't want to be separated from your baby at that age, 6 weeks is pretty titchy and babies usually cluster feed in the evening anyway. I'd just play it by ear myself, I'd planned to go to a gig when DD1 was 2 months old and I was nowhere near ready. I'd wait and see how you feel- has your DH got someone else to go with as a back up?

thanks for all the suggestions - will be visiting amazon and the websites that you recommended! re gig - it's my partner's 30th so feeling guilty already! will speak to his best friend and see if he'd be a willing stand in! thanks again for all your help xx

Kellymom was a lifesaver for me - it answered many of the more random bfing questions I had.

I, too, would wait and see about the 6 weeks thing. It's still very early for a bfing little one, and I believe it's not generally recommended you start expressing before then, although what suits one is different to another, obviously. I know I wouldn't have been ready then.

How breastfeeding works and acorn pack on fb are also quite interesting.

I read 'The Politics of Breastfeeding' while bfing DS2. It was very interesting but quite heavy going, and not so much a how-to sort of thing.

I had 'Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding'. I found Ina May's Guide to Childbirth totally brilliant, the breastfeeding guide less so. I think The Food of Love and the NCT Guide are probably more practical in the early weeks, but the Ina May book does contain some really useful stuff on the politics of breastfeeding and why the US and UK are so nipple-phobic.

If you are in the East Midlands you will prob be given a copy of this free. It is really excellent, and covers the practical stuff you need to know in the first few weeks (including pictures of what a healthy newborn poo looks like and helpful stuff like that!). If you aren't in the East Midlands it would be well worth ordering a copy for £2.90.

I second the latest womanly art of breastfeeding LLL book, it really is very good a big improvement on previous additions. In regard to the CBC book/dvd/anything else she is even vaugely connected too. Steer well clear. she is in no way trained in BF or lactation, has very limmited understanding of the subject. She has some very outdated and basically plain wrong ideas about bf,and spreads myths by the case load in her books. I really would struggle to name a worse bf guide than hers. even GF is better and well she is atrocious.
Also I have a good friend who is in love with the food of love, I've never read it but the look on her face when it is mentioned is enough to tell me it is a great book :)

bestfeeding is a fantastic book for expectant first time mums. If anyone asks which book to get ante-natally, I recommend this.

I also like the womanly art of breastfeeding

and breastfeeding naturally

I would also, personally, steer clear of Claire Bryam-Cook's book and contented baby, myself. I find books written by people who are actually trained specifically in breastfeeding more helpful :) (I.E. breastfeeding counsellors, IBCLC's, etc)

You can search for support groups here

Hope everything goes well with your new arrival ;)

pesephone I know if your friend likes it, it must be good

Oh and Kellymom is great also

And Dr Jack has some great articles to read.

Another fan of The Food of Love here- the cartoons are so true and there's a reassuring tone to the writing, not patronising at all. And it's funny- sometimes you need a giggle in the early days!

OK, so just in case anybody needs any more convincing about CBC- then here's a piece by howbreastfeedingworks about her.

here