diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 1c6f7ad..90565e9 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ The consumer works by launching a process per shard in the stream and then imple
 
     consumer = KinesisConsumer(stream_name='my-stream')
     for message in consumer:
-        print "Received message: {0}".format(message)
+        print("Received message: {0}".format(message))
 
 Messages received from each of the shard processes are passed back to the main process through a Python Queue where they
 are yielded for processing.  Messages are not strictly ordered, but this is a property of Kinesis and not this
@@ -78,11 +78,32 @@ where in the stream we are currently reading from.
 
     consumer = KinesisConsumer(stream_name='my-stream', state=DynamoDB(table_name='my-kinesis-state'))
     for message in consumer:
-        print "Received message: {0}".format(message)
+        print("Received message: {0}".format(message))
 
 
 The DynamoDB table must already exist and must have a ``HASH`` key of ``shard``, with type ``S`` (string).
 
+A consumer state can also checkpointed with the stream offset, allowing stateful consumers to pickup where they left
+off. Please note that use of this saved state is somewhat expensive, and its size and use should be minimized.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    from kinesis.consumer import KinesisConsumer
+    from kinesis.state import DynamoDB
+
+    consumer = KinesisConsumer(stream_name='my-stream', state=DynamoDB(table_name='my-kinesis-state'))
+
+    messages = consumer.items_with_state()
+    state, shard_id, message = next(messages)
+    while True:
+        if state is None:
+            state = {'count': 0}
+        state['count'] += 1
+
+        print("Received message: {0}, #{1}".format(message, state['count']))
+
+        state, shard_id, message = messages.send(state)
+
 
 Producer
 ~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/src/kinesis/consumer.py b/src/kinesis/consumer.py
index d2a3d1b..423dc22 100644
--- a/src/kinesis/consumer.py
+++ b/src/kinesis/consumer.py
@@ -80,8 +80,9 @@ class KinesisConsumer(object):
     """
     LOCK_DURATION = 30
 
-    def __init__(self, stream_name, boto3_session=None, state=None, reader_sleep_time=None):
+    def __init__(self, stream_name, consumer_name=None, boto3_session=None, state=None, reader_sleep_time=None):
         self.stream_name = stream_name
+        self.consumer_name = consumer_name
         self.error_queue = multiprocessing.Queue()
         self.record_queue = multiprocessing.Queue()
 
@@ -97,7 +98,10 @@ def __init__(self, stream_name, boto3_session=None, state=None, reader_sleep_tim
         self.run = True
 
     def state_shard_id(self, shard_id):
-        return '_'.join([self.stream_name, shard_id])
+        if self.consumer_name is None:
+            return '_'.join([self.stream_name, shard_id])
+        else:
+            return '_'.join([self.stream_name, self.consumer_name, shard_id])
 
     def shutdown_shard_reader(self, shard_id):
         try:
@@ -179,7 +183,7 @@ def shutdown(self):
         self.shards = {}
         self.run = False
 
-    def __iter__(self):
+    def items_with_state(self):
         try:
             # use lock duration - 1 here since we want to renew our lock before it expires
             lock_duration_check = self.LOCK_DURATION - 1
@@ -194,14 +198,22 @@ def __iter__(self):
                         pass
                     else:
                         state_shard_id = self.state_shard_id(shard_id)
+
+                        try:
+                            c_state = self.state.get_consumer_state(state_shard_id)
+                        except AttributeError:
+                            # no self.state
+                            c_state = None
+
                         for item in resp['Records']:
                             if not self.run:
                                 break
 
                             log.debug(item)
-                            yield item
+                            c_state = yield c_state, shard_id, item
 
                             try:
+                                self.state.set_consumer_state(state_shard_id, c_state)
                                 self.state.checkpoint(state_shard_id, item['SequenceNumber'])
                             except AttributeError:
                                 # no self.state
@@ -228,3 +240,7 @@ def __iter__(self):
             self.run = False
         finally:
             self.shutdown()
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        for _, _, item in self.items_with_state():
+            yield item
diff --git a/src/kinesis/state.py b/src/kinesis/state.py
index 9808fc4..d296bb1 100644
--- a/src/kinesis/state.py
+++ b/src/kinesis/state.py
@@ -32,21 +32,36 @@ def get_iterator_args(self, shard_id):
                 ShardIteratorType='LATEST'
             )
 
+    def get_consumer_state(self, shard_id):
+        try:
+            return self.shards[shard_id]['consumer_state']
+        except KeyError:
+            return None
+
+    def set_consumer_state(self, shard_id, consumer_state):
+        try:
+            self.shards[shard_id]['consumer_state'] = consumer_state
+        except KeyError:
+            pass
+
     def checkpoint(self, shard_id, seq):
         fqdn = socket.getfqdn()
+        consumer_state = self.get_consumer_state(shard_id)
 
         try:
             # update the seq attr in our item
             # ensure our fqdn still holds the lock and the new seq is bigger than what's already there
             self.dynamo_table.update_item(
                 Key={'shard': shard_id},
-                UpdateExpression="set seq = :seq",
+                UpdateExpression="set seq = :seq, consumer_state = :consumer_state",
                 ConditionExpression="fqdn = :fqdn AND (attribute_not_exists(seq) OR seq < :seq)",
                 ExpressionAttributeValues={
                     ':fqdn': fqdn,
                     ':seq': seq,
+                    ':consumer_state': consumer_state,
                 }
             )
+
         except ClientError as exc:
             if exc.response['Error']['Code'] in RETRY_EXCEPTIONS:
                 log.warn("Throttled while trying to read lock table in Dynamo: %s", exc)