Breastfeeding, Take Two: Successful Breastfeeding the Second Time Around

by Stephanie Casemore

Breastfeeding is a biologically expected activity. It is, for many women, a relationship that is deeply desired, a relationship that is deeply emotional. To lose that relationship is to lose something very real, something that has value and purpose and meaning. Breastfeeding Take Successful Breastfeeding the Second Time Around examines the separation between biology and society and the balance that new mothers seek to find between the two. Written for women who have had previous breastfeeding challenges, Breastfeeding, Take Two will empower you to trust your body again, help you redefine what successful breastfeeding looks like, help you work through the emotions of your previous breastfeeding experience, provide information and advice to assist you in healing from the loss of your first breastfeeding experience, and position you for a successful experience--the second time around.

284 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

Stephanie Casemore is a mother, teacher, and writer living in eastern Ontario, Canada. She initially experienced breastfeeding as a challenge, and exclusively pumped for a year for her first child who was born nine weeks early, and then as a healing experience, nursing her second child for three years. Turning the challenges into a positive and an opportunity to support other mothers, Stephanie shares her experience through her books Breastfeeding, Take Two: Successful Breastfeeding the Second Time Around and Exclusively Pumping Breast Milk: A Guide to Providing Expressed Breast Milk for Your Baby. For further information, visit Stephanie's websites at www.exclusivelypumping.com and www.breastfeedingtaketwo.com

Reviews

[Renee]

i had mixed feelings about this book. she spends a lot of time talking about societal pressures (which i didn't feel) and how we are just advanced mammals (i'm a christian and believe we're made in the image of God and have souls--babies have personality and i believe that does play into attempting to breastfeed). so these parts i skimmed.

what i did find useful were the chapters discussing lack of support in your family (i love my family, but they were not supportive of nursing, and i've heard the men in my family make fun of it often), and how having issues with breastfeeding can lead to post-partum depression, which was my experience. the personal stories there Were extremely helpful to me--they felt like something I could've written myself, all the emotions and thoughts that run through the mind when that happens.

i also found her tips for moving past that first attempt to be useful--recognizing my feelings about what happened as valid grief and not me being "perfectonist" or "silly" as i've had some people in my life tell me. not being so afraid to fail again that i'm too afraid to try. and knowing that nursing is just one small part of motherhood; just because i did not succeed there, does not mean i have not succeeded as a mother.

i would recommend this book if you had trouble the first time; overall it was encouraging and what i needed to read to ease my significant fear of trying the second time around.

[Kate]

Now that I've officially announced my pregnancy everywhere, I can write my review of this book. I had a pretty traumatic breastfeeding experience with my first child, and the positive pregnancy test brought excitement that later turned to terror when I thought about breastfeeding another baby. I know a lot of women who have said that because their first was a bad experience, they don't intend to try with the second. I personally don't fall into that category. I want to try again, but am completely terrified that nothing will be different. As a librarian, researching and gaining information is how I try to allay my fears, and this book was part of that struggle.

This book offered a little hope. It told stories of women who have had successful breastfeeding relationships with their second (and later children) who faced struggles with their first. I just wish that it had been more. Maybe what I'm seeking doesn't exist, and I'm judging this book to harshly. As I've sought information, there is so little helpful information about tongue-ties which is the specific issue that we faced with my son. I don't feel like I walked away from this book with the plan of action that I was hoping for. But at the same time, I know that I want to at least try again.

Here's what I want, I want women to assure me that if I get my child checked for ties within days of birth that my experience will be better.

And one more thing that I hate: so many books that talk about issues with nursing point to birth complications as the cause of nursing issues. I had the "perfect birth" (if such a thing exists), and we still had issues. It is rather painful to me to read over and over that women who have un-medicated births have an easier time breastfeeding. While I can't speak to the differences between medicated and un-medicated, I can say that women with un-medicated, uncomplicated births can still have nursing issues and can still want help that is relevant to them.

And a final thought, I will be looking in MOBI (Mother's Overcoming Breastfeeding Issues). That might be one of the best parts of the book.