Bottlefeeding Without Guilt: A Reassuring Guide for Loving Parents

This is an older but excellent book. It is fairly written by a nonbiased source (the author happily and successfully breastfed her first child and bottlefed her second due to problematic situations). When you give it a hard, cold look--the breastfeeding movement in its extreme manifestations is anti-feminist in many ways, sex-differentiates parents radically, is unfair to fathers, is unfair to working women, and is unfair to women in general. Please note I said In Its Extreme Manifestations. I have nothing against breastfeeding. I am alarmed by its hold over many women's emotions, psyche, and personal standards of mothering, however.

This book is excellent and much needed for the mother's who choose to formula feed rather than breastfeed. There are so many resources that support breastfeeding moms, but really nothing for formula feeders. This book is enlightening and helps dispell the ridiculous myth that formula is harmful. To the other reviewers who have lambasted this book....shame on you...you fall under the term of "breastmilk nazis" who ignorantly demonize mothers who choose to bottlefeed and the formula companies who are making their babies thrive. Stop making us feel like social pariahs. If you are hellbent on the fact that women should breastfeed....why did you read this book? You have your own books by your own organizations....leave this one for those of us who need it. My son and I are perfect examples of how wonderful formula is. At a year of age my son is healthy, far more advanced than his breastfed buddies (he has reached his milestones at an accelerated pace) has only had one cold therefore I can say he is healthier than his breastfed friends who are CONSTANTLY sick with ear infections, colds, etc...and as for the weightloss benefits of breastfeeding...I have bottlefed since my son was 6 weeks old...and I was back in size 2 jeans 8 weeks after he was born.....and I do see many breastfeeding moms who are quite heavy....Breastmilk is a wonderful thing, I will not deny that....but in many instances so is formula...especially when we live in a country where our diets lack in so much (and what a woman puts in her body goes straight into her breastmilk...let's not play around with that fact...). Another interesting thing...why are so many breastfeeders (not all of course! but some of the negative reviews here prove this point) so hostile towards bottlefeeders...if you are doing the right thing why be so judgemental and defensive...you will not see a formula feeder attack a breastfeeder on her choice.....interesting isn't it? We just have to defend our stance and decision against those out there who cannot mind their own business.

Since the choices are one star or five, I just have to weigh in with a five-star review in hopes of tipping the average a little higher. I read this book two years ago when my daughter was born, and it saved my sanity. I found it to be a very logical reasonable argument, and to the extent that she bashed breast-feeding extremists, I think they give as good as they get, as evidenced by dozens of reviews here.And now for the confessional section of the review... I had completely internalized the breast-is-best message. My mother breast fed me. All the women I ever knew breast fed their children, and I couldn't breast feed mine. I had to take medication which the doctors all said would poison my daughter. So there I was with poisonous milk feeling like a horrible horrible person. It's a long story, but it didn't make sense for me to go off the medication. My daughter is fine. She's been in day care since three months old and never had a problem with ear infections. More anecdotal evidence.This issue is so puzzling. Why is this such a loaded topic? Bottle feeding obviously isn't child abuse. I think it has more to do with what women think of themselves than how much we care or don't care for our children. Looking back on it, the book was a help, but what I really needed to do was get over myself and do what was sanely and logically the best for both me and my baby, which in this particular case was to bottle feed. Breast feeding isn't who you are. It's something you do.

I am reading this book for the second time just six weeks before my due date. I don't find that it is anti-breastfeeding at all. Peggy is just a woman pointing out her views and sharing information, much like all the women who share their views on breastfeeding in books and on the internet.If you don't agree with what she has to share, that is your business and you are entitled to air your displeasure with the views and information expressed in this book. I didn't find it was any more opinionated and judgmental than most of the breastfeeding advice books on the market today. I've read plenty of books on all topics of childcare over the past year and don't agree with them all- I pick and choose from the presented information and make up my own mind about what seems to suit our family. If you are against formula and bottlefeeding, why in the world would you even pick up this book? In all it is an excellent resource for people who know they want to use bottles at some point, whether filled with formula or expressed breast milk.

I am so glad to see a book about mothers who couldn't breastfeed. I fall into that category. It felt good to actually read a list of reasons why breastfeeding doesn't work. Yes, most of the time it isn't a real medical problem. But, support isn't always available when you need it. After being criticized and dismissed by the La Leche League in my area when I went for support, it relieved a lot of my guilt to read this book. It also helped me to understand why militant breastfeeders would attack women in public for feeding their babies. It was such a relief to read something that gave true information about bottlefeeding and having a loving relationship with your baby and that didn't begin "Breastfeeding is best, but..."