Spilled Milk
Why I Wrote Spilled Milk: Breastfeeding Adventures and Advice From Less-Than-Perfect Moms
By Andy Steiner
In the spring of 2000, I gave birth to my first child, a healthy, happy girl. No one ever told me that having a baby would be easy, so I wasn’t surprised by the crushing exhaustion, the raging hormones, the unexplained tears (both hers and mine), or even the passionate love that sometimes made my heart feel like it would burst. What I was surprised by was just how difficult and stressful breastfeeding turned out to be.
From the time I first started thinking about having a baby, I always planned on breastfeeding, and though I was no innocent, I somehow thought that once we got over the awkward getting-started stage, my baby and I would become an efficient, loving nursing team. What’s more natural than breastfeeding, right?
Wrong. Looking back at my milky adventure, I realize now that while breastfeeding is a natural act, it’s also a difficult one. And after amassing an impressive collection of how-to breastfeeding books, nipple shields, lactation consultants, breast pumps, nursing bras (they do come in black!), storage bags, and wicked breast infections, I can only say that the one thing that was missing from the experience was a book that could tell me—in a casual, non-preachy tone—that I wasn’t alone, that everything was going to be okay, a book that felt like a rambling, ribald conversation with a gaggle of understanding, empathetic, crazy and kind friends who’d seen it all and knew better than to judge my experiences.
Crazy for a book that would offer this kind of solace, I hauled my strung-out new-mom self to the library. What I discovered was while there were literally hundreds of “how-to”- type books on breastfeeding out there, I still couldn’t find the one book I was looking for. What I needed was a book that provided support (and I’m not talking about nursing bras), an invaluable, advice-filled volume that spoke to me in a voice I that could relate to. Spilled Milk: Breastfeeding Adventures and Advice from Less-Than-Perfect Moms is that book.
Spilled Milk will appeal to new or second-time mothers of all ages who will find comfort—and maybe some humor—in not being alone in facing the stress and mess of breastfeeding. The book also provides realistic, useful advice from mothers who’ve been there. Readers who enjoyed such popular parenting books as the Girlfriends’ Guide series, The Hip Mama Survival Guide, and Mothers Who Think will also love Spilled Milk.
Buy Spilled Milk: Breastfeeding Adventures and Advice from Less-Than Perfect Moms
Spilled Milk Japanese-language version now available
Praise for Spilled Milk
“A deliciously important book. Myth-busting and empowering, this is the real deal about nursing from real moms.”
—Ariel Gore, editor, Hip Mama
“If you’re having a baby, do yourself a favor—ditch some of the mommy manuals and read this instead.”
—Monika Bauerlein, senior editor, Mother Jones
“This is a wonderfully wide-ranging book. Women who love breastfeeding, those who find it incredibly difficult, strange, or painful; and those who don’t yet know what they will decide or experience, will all feel welcome in Spilled Milk …. If you’ve ever breastfed, or thought you might, this is a book you’ll want to read.”
—Faulkner Fox, author, Dispatches from a Not-So-Perfect Life
“Finally! A commonsense book on breastfeeding that abandons dreary, holier-than-thou approaches and instead embraces what’s loving, healthy, and wonderful about one of the coolest ways to relate to your baby. Just relax, get real, and take the practical, lively advice from mom Andy Steiner. You’ll be fine!”
—Pamela Hill Nettleton, editor, Beginnings: Pregnancy, Birth, and Beyond and mother of three children (all breastfed, all healthy, all grown, none of them chainsaw murderers)
“Like a rollicking conversation with your best girlfriends-honest, intimate, and hilarious-Andy Steiner’s down-to-earth guide to breastfeeding is a refreshing blend of straight talk and practical wisdom.”
—Karen Olson, editor, Utne magazine
“Andy Steiner is the woman to turn to for all the nursing issues that get glossed over. In the weirdly political world of breastfeeding, Steiner stands out as a sympathetic compadre. She knows the difficulties, the rewards, and the judgments that come with infant feeding.”
—Jennifer Niesslein and Stephanie Wilkinson, editors, Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers
“In this spirited mamafesto, Andy Steiner boldly and wisely challenges myths not only about the process and protocol of breastfeeding itself, but about what our culture expects—often unfairly—of its mothers. Steiner and her fellow breastfeeders share their stories of both the joys and the, well, letdowns of lactation in voices that are so blunt, sassy, and loving you’ll want to keep them around even after the breast pumps and nursing bras are packed away.”
—Andi Zeisler, editor, Bitch magazine
“Instead of guilting moms with ‘best for baby’ moralizing, Steiner serves up a warm chat-fest of real-life mama experiences that help readers make fully-informed choices. And because of its big-picture look at breastfeeding’s impact on sex, love, and life in general, this book provides an engaging preview of life during Babytime that any would-be mom will prize.”
—Helen Cordes, editor, Daughters magazine
“I loved this book. It’s humorous, honest, and empowering without being unrealistic. It paints a very full, complex, and real picture of what it’s like to breastfeed—and that’s exactly what moms need.”
—Nancy Gruver, founder and publisher, New Moon magazine
“Spilled Milk is filled with the voices of the wise and witty girlfriends I wish I had had when my first baby was born and I was struggling to keep the milk bar open ’round the clock. It’s warm, compassionate, funny, and just the thing for a late-night nurse-a-thon.”
—Beth Hawkins, senior editor, City Pages (Minneapolis)
“Wise, witty, deliciously reassuring. The perfect pick-me-up for mothers convinced that they’re the only ones on the planet who are doing it wrong—which is pretty much all of us.”
—Barbara Graham, author, Women Who Run with the Poodles
