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Two great new feeding guidesBy Sarah Lawson |  | |
The issue of breastfeeding continues to be a controversial and troubling one for many mums-to-be and new mums. Daunted by tales of how painful breastfeeding can be and sometimes overwhelmed by the heavy-handed campaigns to get more women feeding their babies, new mums end up turning to the bottle!
The drive to get more women breastfeeding in the UK is well-intentioned. We have some of the lowest breastfeeding figures in Europe, despite the well-documented physical benefits for baby and mother. However, because these messages are often sent out at the expense of shouting down bottle feeding, an even-handed debate never gets fully heard. Hurrah then, for respected breastfeeding counsellor and author, Clare Byam-Cook!
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Top Tips for Breastfeeding
Byam-Cook's excellent, encouraging but honest book, What To Expect When You're Breastfeeding is a great book for any woman who is thinking about breastfeeding or has just had her baby. However, not everyone has the time to read such a detailed guide, so her new little square (CD-sized) guide books break down tips and useful advice into a more manageable format.
With diagrams and simple explanations, the book takes you through the various important stages towards happy breastfeeding: preparing, what to expect in the early stages, settling into a feeding routine, how to express milk, overcoming problems (for mothers and for babies), and how to phase out feeding when you eventually want to stop.
Throughout, her tone is straightforward and understanding. Importantly, she also acknowledges that sometimes it's possible to mix bottle and breast and still have a healthy and bonding experience.
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Top Tips for Bottle-feeding
If you can't breastfeed, for whatever reason, it's important that you have safe advice about bottle feeding rather than finding that in many pro-breastfeeding 'help groups', you can't get any advice on this at all!
Like ThinkBaby, Clare Byam-Cook believes that it's better for everyone if we are realistic about the huge percentage of women who bottle-feed within six weeks of their baby being born. Thus, her guide (again, a handy, CD-sized format) is a valuable resource to keep to hand.
No regime (breast or bottle) is necessarily easy, because getting your baby's feeding regime on track is always a mix of trial and error, instinct and following simple guidelines. Here, Byam-Cook can offer ideas for trial and error, encourage you to learn to trust your instincts, and give you those all-important starting guidelines.
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Both 'Top Tips for Breastfeeding' and 'Top Tips for Bottle-Feeding' are out now, published by Vermillion. They cost £6.99 each.
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