Great Expectations: The Essential Guide to Breastfeeding

by Marianne Neifert

In Great The Essential Guide to Breastfeeding , Marianne Neifert, MD, one of America’s leading pediatricians and a nationally recognized lactation consultant, gives nursing mothers all the advice they need to breastfeed their babies successfully. Distilled from Dr. Mom’s Guide to Breastfeeding , this is the most up-to-date, comprehensive, and effective book on the subject. Neifert has spent the last 25 years addressing the situations that nursing mothers routinely encounter; her sound, reassuring, and practical advice makes this a must-have for all new moms and mothers-to-be.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2009

Reviews

[Kyle]

Flipped through it for reference as a supportive partner to the breastfeeding individual. Wish it had a little more information I could have used for introducing bottlefeeding with breastmilk to the baby so I could let mom get some time off here or there. Didn't really have much in this book and I had to go to others.

[Andrea]

A great resource! I skimmed it with baby #1, and recently picked it up again with baby #2, thinking I wouldn’t learn anything new, but found lots of little nuggets that were helpful, especially since my supply is low.

[Jessica]

A decent resource but I feel like it had a lot of repetitive information for some things and then not enough information for others.

[Lorriand]

Good info but really made me feel like I would be doing badly for my baby if I didn't breastfeed for at least a year, preferably more. Didn't like the condescending tone throughout the book

[Jennifer]

Good information, but a lot of scaremongering, which I thought was unnecessary and unhealthy.

[Brenna]

A lot of good information in here! I will definitely pick through this again I’m sure

[Kate Bryant]

Reads like a text book. Covers a lot of material.

[Tina]

I really wish I had picked up this book from the beginning of the the breastfeeding journey. So many things that I read that seemed little, but that were really interesting and enlightening. Very comprehensive guide. Easy to skip around and find pertinent information or read chapter by chapter.

Most interesting thing I read: I found a snippet of text regarding food allergies/ intolerance. I specifically wanted to read about cow's milk since Asher struggled with dairy in my breast milk. For the first 6 months- no diary for mom. The text read the the most common food sensitivities (no surprise) were milk, wheat, eggs, etc. But most interestingly the diet of the mother during pregnancy can affect these food allergies/intolerance (i.e. if you ate a lot of dairy during pregnancy... baby might be sensitive to that particular food). Hmm.... I ate nothing but dairy during my pregnancy. Go figures.

I wish I hadn't had to return this book to the library.

[Tiffany]

After nursing 3 kids already, you'd think I'd have it all down, but I've had a very different experience with nursing this baby. I have a lot of questions and this book seems very well written. Also, of note, is that Dr. Neifert, author of the book, has five children of her own. Her personal experience, coupled with her medical training really does make her well-qualified to write about this important subject.

[Meredith]

Pediatrician Dr. Marianne Neifert presents a guide to breastfeeding.

Although it doesn't have the same loving tone, this guidebook is actually more helpful in the nuts and bolts of breastfeeding and troubleshooting than The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. It even includes "the baby whisper" Dr. Harvey Karp's five calming techniques for crying babies.

[Sherry]

My Dad saw that I was reading this. He laughed that there needed to be a whole book written on the subject. Silly men. Anyway, I'm about half-way through this. Very informative and instructive. I appreciate the information. Thought I'd share the book for anyone who is planning on or struggling with the whole breast feeding thing. Cheers.

[Julie]

Thorough explanation of all things breastfeeding related. Much of the information was not new, but very helpful as a refresher to read in the days before delivery. I will also use the book as a reference guide as any issues arise in the first days and weeks of learning to breastfeed.

[Angela]

I posted my full review on the blog:

http://www.blisstree.com/breastfeedin...

[Kirsten Deeds]

Great all-encompassing book on everything to do with breastfeeding! From learning to storage to going back to work. Great book!

[Andrea]

Read part of this one but not all.

[Becky]

Very informative and covers all aspects of breastfeeding. Perfect for first time mother or repeat mother.

[Jessica Hollo]

Really is the essential guide, highly recommended if you are considering this, in early stages or needing a refresher. It has all the basics, very factual, but can be somewhat repetitive at times

[Kimmie]

This is an excellent introduction to breastfeeding as well as a handy resource for addressing questions and problems along the way.