Breastfeeding, Take Two: Successful Breastfeeding the Second Time Around

I had a terrible experience attempting to breastfeed my first child something which I carried about, along with the attendant guilt, for years after his birth. When I became pregnant again, I knew I wanted to do everything I could to have a better experience this time round.I bought this book and I only wish I'd bought it sooner. It helped me realise I wasnt alone with my feelings of guilt, grief and loss. And that I wasnt a failure as a mother for not feeding my first as I'd planned.Though it doesnt contain a lot of practical advice, it does help lay "demons" to rest that had haunted me, all the what ifs and why nots.And I'm pleased to say that it gave me the confidence to stick with breastfeeding my second even when it felt like we were going down the same path I'd been before. Over a year in and my second is still breastfeedingI'd recommend it to anyone who has wanted to, and been unable to, breastfeed whether they are pregnant, planning a second/further child or just want to come to terms with their feeding experiences.

No practical tips - i thought it was a bit too 'ranty'

Stephanie Casemore is a woman on a mission. In her own words, she experienced breastfeeding `failure' with her first baby, and, through the process, became determined to learn all she could to enable her to breastfeed her second.With Breastfeeding, Take Two, she hopes to help other mothers find their way through the pain of not being able to breastfeed their first baby so that they can move on and find peace in mothering their second, hopefully including a happier breastfeeding experience along the way.The book is split into two sections. The first section aims to help mothers disentangle their previous experiences of breastfeeding, and the second discusses ways to use that knowledge to move forwards and support your attempts to breastfeed your second or third or fourth baby.Stephanie's style is kind and encouraging, skilfully unpicking the mess of feelings of failure, mistrust in your body, guilt and grief that is often felt by mothers who wanted to breastfeed and found they were unable to.She discusses the importance of understanding how our society and culture influences our breastfeeding experiences - the media, advertising, and what we see if baby-feeding before we have our own babies.On the topic of support, she explains how everyone is likely to be doing their best, but is also influenced by our bottle-feeding culture, discussing why some support is more helpful than others, and encouraging readers to think about the support they received when they were breastfeeding their first babies.The feeling of loss of faith in our own bodies is explored in detail - where that comes from and how to tackle it, including the impact of self-fulfilling prophecy.Then the big, scary subject of judgement and guilt is tackled, something I feel passionate about and often touch on on my blog, The Awakened Parent ([...]). I learnt a lot reading this chapter, particularly about how Stephanie turns the whole guilt thing around so that it's clear that it is, in fact, grief that we are experiencing.She goes onto explain why we have such strong feelings about breastfeeding failure, and describes ways in which it may be helpful to tackle that grief so that you can move on and enjoy the experience you have with your second child.When thinking about subsequent breastfeeding experiences, Stephanie encourages mothers to explore their expectations, the issue of control, and the meaning of the word `failure' in order to know how to improve your chances of breastfeeding your next baby.The second section focusses on explaining the normal biological course of breastfeeding, how to help yourself get as close to that as possible, and also the consideration of what happens if it doesn't work out again.Stephanie explains things in way that causes those `a-ha' moments, where suddenly the things that had been niggling you become clear and you finally understand them. My favourite example of this was about support, right at the beginning in the introduction. I've always known that encouraging a struggling breastfeeding mother to stop isn't helpful, but her explanation as to why is just inspired:"Too often the support women receive is the equivalent of a marathon runner being told in the last mile of her race that it's okay to quit, she's tried hard, and that if she is tired and in pain, it's okay not to finish."Does this book fit well with my The Awakened Parent ethos? Yes, absolutely. If you're looking for a book that will help explain what's going on behind breastfeeding `failure' and help you, in a non-judgemental, supportive way to find your way to be able to breastfeed future babies, then this is absolutely it. I have no hesitation in recommending this book wholeheartedly not just to any second time parents but to anyone who struggled to breastfeed their first and wishes to be able to make sense of it, and to my breastfeeding counsellor colleagues as well.