The Nursing Mother's Companion - 7th Edition: The Breastfeeding Book Mothers Trust, from Pregnancy through Weaning

As a first time mom, I highly recommend!! In a nutshell, this book is detailed and well organized with information from before birth until weaning. I bought this book when I was 7 months pregnant and read it all the way through at that time. I felt confident that I understood the science behind breastfeeding but knew that I wouldn't fully grasp the concept until my little one arrived and we were working on mastering breastfeeding together. I browsed the early parts of the book again (mainly the trouble shooting sections of the first days/weeks of breastfeeding) about a week before I gave birth. I took this book to the hospital with me when it was time to meet my baby. I honestly didn't reference it once while I was there, but it was nice to have just in case! The hospital I delivered at has amazing lactation consultants, so I didn't necessarily need the book then but the lactation consultants were impressed by the amount of knowledge I knew/was applying to feeding. It was useful to have already read this book and have some background knowledge on the subject. If your hospital doesn't have LCs, I would definitely recommend taking it with you! Since we have been home from the hospital, and am on my own with mastering feeding, I have used this book many times! As a first time mom I as overly concered with if my baby was getting enough to eat. After relooking at this book, I felt confident she was. I had trouble with engorgement for a few days after my milk came in and successfully navigated through that with the help of this book. I also broke out in hives before my daughter was two weeks old and the drug interaction appendix was extremely helpful when it came to figuring out how I would treat them without affecting baby. Now I'm using it to make sure I am building my supply up (ie storing correctly)before returning to work and will continue to use it as a resource as I navigate back into my work role. If you are serious about breastfeeding buy this book!

My OB/GYN gave me this book when my first child was born in 1990. It is different than other books. It is a book that you CAN read cover to cover, but it has sections that deal with each bump in the breastfeeding road, problem solving, and infant age-specific chapters. It gives general information and how-to's, then gets right into the trouble shooting: Feeling pain while feeding? Struggling in the first two weeks of baby's life? Baby is fussy? Baby isn't latching on? Have twins? Body shape concern? Feeling engorged? My original copy fell apart as I re-read and referenced issues for each of my babies. I gave a copy to two of my pregnant daughters, now I am getting another for a third daughter. This is formatted much better then any of the other books I have had/seen. Sooo very helpful.

Everyone has an opinion when it comes to breastfeeding- nurses, pediatricians, lactation consultants, your friends, your mother in law, random people on the internet. You will hear a TON of conflicting information, and wonder who's right and who's wrong. Ultimately it will be up to you to sort out what's right for you and your baby. For me, this book was an indispensable tool to do just that. It wasn't preachy of judgy, and I really trusted the info. Pretty much any issue that came up during my nursing journey was covered. It was nice to have a book I trusted to reference while navigating the early days of nursing, especially having a baby that did not gain well right away.

This book is my go-to . I can't count how many times i have referred to it for my own use nursing each of my children (had the older edition as well). There is so much practical and helpful information on here that i haven't found in other nursing books or online. I highly recommend this to all of my nursing mom friends and anyone expecting, it would make an excellent gift for a first time mom or someone who has another baby on the way and has nursed in the past. I credit my nursing success of both my babies to this book. Very easy to understand and covers a wide range of issues and topics related to nursing. Can't say enough good things. Truly love this book.

I find this book practical and reassuring. It says specifically they are not here to please or promote anything and it really was helpful. I just wish I had it prior to having my little one. The book is easy to read and I found myself skipping to my current needs and going back to understand some other things I had questions about. I would still recommend (as the book does as well) to see an in person lactation consultant but this book has great information. Definitely a good purchase.

This is definitely the best book for nursing moms out there. I had the 6th edition for my own use, and purchased this new 7th edition for my sister-in-law. She says it is helping her. :) I also gave away my old 6th edition copy to another soon-to-be mom for her use. I'd recommend this to any woman who is planning on breastfeeding. The book gives lots of practical tips and troubleshooting, including common issues dealing with pain and latching as well as less-talked about issues like thrush and mastitis. Very useful, very practical. There are also some "survival guides" that break the book up into sections - surviving the first few weeks, surviving the first few months, etc. This is useful because you don't get overwhelmed with everything but just learn what you need to know for the time being.

Bought this book after reading some of the sample pages. I am about to have kid #3 and have never breast fed before. I was very unprepared with my first and due to issues gave up after 2 days. I didn't even try with the second. I decided to try with my third and had no idea where to start. Got this book due to the high ratings and recommendations. I like that it is factual and didn't shame me for having bottle fed my kids. It has lots of information and I feel much better than I did with my first. I would give this to every mom I know who want to beast feed.

Went into some detail, told the facts behind a few myths but overall some good information

Almost halfway through this book and 7 months pregnant. So far definitely helpful! I appreciate the lack of repetition you usually find in these sorts of books. Definitely an asset for first time moms wanting to prepare themselves for their journey into motherhood and breastfeeding

I personally love how well written and helpful this book is. As a first time mom, and far away from family who can give you tips or help... This book will help you tons. It is of course all the information you find online, BUT in one single book. Even now when my milk supply is good, there is a good latch and we are far away from the crazy beginning of lactation, I find myself reading again, información which I keep finding interstesting and mega helpful.

My partner has found this an interesting and informative read.

This book is filled with all things amazing when it comes to breastfeeding!! I am SO glad I had it for my second child and wish I had read it for my first!