Breastfeeding Myths and dealing with unwanted advice

Oh, another myth too is that I got told by my MIL that some women just can't breast feed. That's just not true. I went to a bf class when preggers and they said that only 3% of women can't bf due to medical reasons such as breast surgery etc. If you let your baby bf as much as they demand in those early days you will stimulate bm production and your body will supply all that your baby needs. Perhaps in my MIL's day as you were routine feeding that you just didn't have the chance to get your milk ducts working....

yet another great myth we have all had to ignore or overcome!!

bumpity bump, Sorry girls had comp issues but am back on track, will read more tomorrow if i get on! Kepp em coming, Im loveing reading about everyones myths they want busted

I was told by a midwife that if BF child doesnt put on 100gms a week they arent being fed enough and should be fed 15min each side and if still hungry give them bottles in 60ml doses as often as they need it as they obviousy arent getting enough breastmilk.

The same MW also told me that you should only feed a baby 15min each side otherwise it just teaches them they can sit there and feed for as long as they want and that isnt good for mother or child.

Another said to FF every now and then in case something happens to me eg- sick, medication etc. then it wont be such a shock to the baby and they will handle it better.

Flick,

And we wonder why most of the western world has appalling bf rates! Grrrr...it's this sort of misinformation that has women thinking that not only is bf hard, but almost impossible and that it can't be done without the "help" of supplemental feeds!

If you want to bf, the worst thing you can do is feed to a schedule, or a clock and supplementing is usually the kiss of death! It was for DS1 and I, it took nearly 10 months, but still believe 100% that it was those early formula top ups that contributed in a huge way to his premature weaning.

I think that knowing about, and keeping up to date in regards to bf should be mandatory for all medical personnel. Maybe then women wouldn't think that it was a lost cause and feel so guilty when they don't succeed at it.

I had thought of another myth but "lost"it. LOL DP and both boys have been full of cold so no one has been sleeping and my memory has been dumped while I slept!

Christina

I Know, I just had my 2nd (she was 3wks yesterday) and I have not met 2 "health professionals" yet that have told me the same thing.

Being 2nd time around i feel more comfortable to stand up for myself, Feel really sorry for 1st time mothers as its definatley really confusing for them.

Yeah, I totally agree.

With DS1 I just did what I was told. LOL I just assumed that they knew best, and what I should have done was trust my instincts more. Had alot of issues feeding DS1 and he had issues himself (colic and reflux) which were contributing factors, but we probably could have carried on how we had been those first 4 weeks and had a similar outcome to what I am experiencing now with DS2. Hindsight is 20/20.

I have been standing my ground this time, explaining myself "I've done heaps of research" etc, but they really don't like to be challenged! I am having a horrible time with my health nurse and think I am in for a battle at our next weight check on Wednesday. *sigh* I am the only one from antenatal group, out of 7 still bf. I kept hearing those who were mixed feeding keep saying how they didn't think they had enough milk and the like and though I tried to reassure them, think it didn't sink in and I feel kinda bad and sad at the same time. I think your first is your "crash test dummy" and any after that you just do what needs doing. LOL

Anyway...happy bf ladies and keep busting those myths any way you can!

Bump,Bump,Bumpity BUMP!!!!!!!

I was talking to some one the other day, Her doctor told her to only feed from one side durring the day and the other at nite because it will have time to produce more quailty milk, needless to say she now bottle feeds!! but worse than that because it was a DOCTOR (female) I think she belived it! Are there more people Ff now? I am the only one out of 3 that plans to bf for a year.

I dont know if this is a fact or a myth but i thought i'd tell anyways. I'm young myself only 18 and alot of younger people i know who havnt even had kids yet are already telling me they are not breastfeeding no matter what. Their reason is really immature and it being, breastfeeding makes your boobs go saggy. Younger girls obviously have a thing about perky breasts, even though they wont be perky forever anyway, we do get old and our bodies do change. I dont see how this should be the soul reason on not even considering breastfeeding. Maybe when it comes to their time of having children though they will wise up and do what is best for themselves and the baby and not soley about what they look like.

Posted by: stacie502
I dont know if this is a fact or a myth but i thought i'd tell anyways. Their reason is really immature and it being, breastfeeding makes your boobs go saggy. Younger girls obviously have a thing about perky breasts, even though they wont be perky forever anyway, we do get old and our bodies do change.

That's a good one, forgot about it! That one comes under myth....it's pregnancy that makes your boobs sag and I suspect genetics play a role too. So they may want to forgo pregnancy if they don't want saggy boobs. LOL

Have a look here for more on the whole "saggy breasts are related to bf" myth.

Christina

Thank heavens for this post. At my 6-8 week check for my daughter Luca I was told she was eating too frequently (every 1-2 hours) and that was why she wasn't sleeping during the day (I was told to stretch it to 3-4 hours and give her 150 mls not the 90 mls she was having at the time). When I mentioned that she seemed ok and woke up straight away to play I was told questioned about how a baby could play and told she should be sleeping instead 16 or more hours a day. I actually broke down and bawled during the visit as everything I did was apparently wrong although my girl was in the 50% percentiles for everything. She was due for a feed during the visit and was very grouchy and tired as well as we had had a bad night before so it didn't look the best for us I guess!
She has two small feeds in the morning now - about 60-80 mls and during the day two huge feeds 170-180 mls and then two small feeds later before her night sleep. She feeds two small times during the night as well - usually 12am and 4am. This is all wrong apparently?! But she's not a machine - some mornings I can't stomach brekkie either and she makes up for it during the day.

I have had some really good days where she will sleep (like Sunday and Monday) and eat every 3-4 hours but yesterday she had a very bad day and was unsettled all day and feeding practically every hour. I actually thought maybe I wasn't producing enough milk to keep up with it as she kept coming off my breasts crying (had more to do with the fact that she hadn't slept all day).
I was told by my well-meaning in-law that I should have my breast milk tested as it wasn't strong enough?! She also told my hubby that I should be topping her up with formula as well.

Funny thing is I did a google search on testing breast milk and couldn't find anything and turned to this forum looking to see if anyone else had the same probs. I actually think my girl has colic which is why she goes off her nana 3 days a week but I have Tresillion coming out next Wednesday to help. She'll actually self-settle on her good days but no chance in hell on her bad days...I bet I get a bad day when they come out and get lectured again about doing everything wrong! But I don't want to rule out anything so I booked them anyway.

It does make me very angry that these health professionals should be making mother's calm and reassure them instead of stressing them out and contributing to PND.
My two cents anyway.

Ruby
[Edited on 06/08/2008]

Ruby,

Those health professionals can be really "toxic" and some of their advice is just plain shocking.

If it feels right for you and it works and you are happy to do it then it's NOT wrong! They tend to treat every baby the same, when in fact they are all individuals and should be treated as such. I think it is largely due to certain baby "experts" who insist that babies should be doing x,y,z from a very early age that mums have these high expectations of their babies, that are in most cases unobtainable.

When I had DS1 I did what I "should", I did what I was told and I spent so much time worrying about whether I was doing the wrong thing that I forgot to enjoy my baby! This time I have been doing what feels right, which 9 times out of ten is what I "shouldn't" do, but it is working for us and I am much happier as is the rest of the family. The first child is unfortunately the "lab rat", and every one that you are blessed with afterwards is just along for the ride. Alex is a really laid back baby compared to how his older brother was, but I think that has alot to do with the fact that I am much calmer than I was first time round and how I am choosing to parent. I am also finding that my calm, easy going nature this time is rubbing off on how I interact with DS1 and in turn is rubbing off on him.

Sorry, didn't mean to ramble about parenting styles". So yeah, those health professionals need to be more on board and try to take each individual case on its merits instead of trying to pigeonhole them into one category. There's not enough support out there for new mums, whether it is your first baby or your tenth; plus I tend to find that if you have more than one child that it is automatically assumed that you know what you are doing. LOL For the most part it is true, but not always and I find that I am actually parenting in the complete opposite way that I parented DS1 so sometimes I think I'm starting all over again.

More support all the way round!!! smile]

Christina