Thoughts that woke me up at 2 am last night:
I run groups for moms and newborns.  I have a fairly large lending library,
with multiple copies of the books I am often recommending.  I also have a
collection of books I have purchased, to be armed with knowledge of what
moms might be reading, that I of course would not put into my library as a
sign of endorsement.  So I've been thinking- maybe the thing to do is to
make a Shelf of Shame... on it would be:

BabyWise and BabyWise II  (paid .25 at a yard sale, and worth every penny
making sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands).  Peggy Robins'
"Bottlefeeding Without Guilt" (absolutely priceless for comedic relief- I
highly recommend it).  Ferber's "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems"- a
national bestseller for years, amazing that so many million American
children have 'sleep problems', isn't it?  Now I can add Hogg's "Baby
Whisperer".   Various breastfeeding "support" guides put out by the formula
companies... like the one I have from Ross (okay, it's a few years old)
that claims that breastmilk is good in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours (so
unstable, isn't it?).  What To Expect The First Year (and Toddler Years)
for their completely unbiased (ha!) presentation on breastfeeding past ten
or twelve months...   the list goes on and on.

The fun thing about the Shelf of Shame is that the books are fair game for
rebuttal.  Particularly heinous passages can be high-lighted and factual
information (or scathing comments) noted in the margins.  So many moms have
had fun with the Peggy Robins book that the thing looks like it was printed
on yellow paper. In fact, I had to tuck a copy of the AAP's breastfeeding
statement complete with it's three pages of references in the back. What
would you put on your Shelf of Shame?

Nancy Holtzman RN BSN IBCLC
Great Beginnings New Mothers Groups
near Boston MA

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