[.ca] Nursing Mother, Working Mother: The Essential Guide for ... (ISBN 1558321160)

From Amazon.com:
Going back to work after having a baby? You don't have to wean your little one. In Nursing Mother, Working Mother: The Essential Guide for Breastfeeding and Staying Close to Your Baby After You Return to Work, Gale Pryor has written a nuts-and-bolts guide for nursing and working at the same time. Pryor breast-fed each of her two children while working full-time outside the home, and her experience and voice of reassurance informs this book. She makes a strong case for breast-feeding: not only is it good for your baby, but many working women find that it is the easiest way to care for their child, and for themselves. Early chapters cover breast-feeding basics. Later chapters focus on preparing to go back to work, instructions on pumping (equipment and positioning), how to manage life at home and at work, and how to cope if you "fall apart" when your baby is six months old (common among new mothers who work outside the home). The book describes a typical day of pumping and nursing for babies of various ages, how to combine nursing and formula feeding, and how to stop leaking breasts (discreetly press on your nipples with the back of your forearms or with your elbows). Appendices include a list of resources for nursing, working mothers and a sample proposal for pumping space.

This is a great read- helpful & not at all biased!:
I love this book! I've been back at work since baby is 7 weeks old (I'm self-employed and Dad decided to take parental leave - worked great for us!) Anyway, baby is now 13 months; we're still nursing part-time and I'm working too. I owe much of my nursing success to this book and the supoprt & encouragement it offers! Information is presented in a way that is unbiased, and helped me realize that nursing & working did not have to be separate; I could combine them together in my life and allow my child to thrive whether or not I was with her throughout the day. A must-read for all working moms!

This book makes you feel better!:
Some books about infant development and care make you feel as if your natural instincts are wrong. Not this book. The author gives the reader a great deal of information in a nonjudgmental way and encourages you to find your own way. After reading a book that told me that my child "should" be sleeping through the night at 7 weeks, this book helped me to realize that all children are different and that formula babies may be sleeping through the night, but my breastfeed baby needs to eat. In a society that discourages breastfeeding in general and specifically in public, this book lets you know that the decision you made to breastfeed your child is about his health. Also, this book gives you tools to accomplish that goal while providing your family with your working income. After reading this book, I feel more prepared to return to work and that I will not lose my connection with my son.

REALLY HELPFUL:
I'm back at work, and I read and re read this book every few days. Usually to remind myself why I do this. I didn't feel like it was co-sleeping propaganda. It described many tools to bonding with your child, and one of them (and you don't have to use it) is co-sleeping. This book tells you that it's the bonding that's important, not the method you use. This book continually tells you that you can do this. Just the support I needed!

Excellent for reluctant working mother!:
This is a marvellous book. It has all the necessary facts about breastfeeding in an accessible format so can be used as a general breastfeeding guide, even though it is a slimmer volume than generalised breastfeeding books. I liked the emphasis on attachment parenting, and how it shows that there is a solution for someone who likes the ideas of attachment parenting and yet has to go back to work. Often the literature is divided into books that assume you really want to work, and breastfeeding and attachment parenting books that assume the mother can afford to be at home. It shows that it is possible to breastfeed long-term while working, and gives good advice on how to do it. I have been back at work 1.5 months and I found the way Gale Pryor outlined how to prepare to go back to work very helpful. I am going to buy several copies now, to give to friends and to add to my midwife's library for expectant mothers.

Co-Sleeping Propaganda:
I purchased this book after the birth of my son, hoping for some insight into combining work and motherhood. There was some useful information, but most of the book made me feel inadequate for not co-sleeping with my child. The general message is that you will not be able to bond and maintain closeness with your child if you choose not to co-sleep. My son is now 5 months old and I continue breastfeeding, pumping and working fulltime and feel very good about our relationship. I wish the other reviews I read had been more upfront about this issue.