STILL MORE BREASTFEEDING MYTHS
1. Women with flat or inverted nipples
cannot breastfeed. Not true! Babies do not breastfeed on nipples, they
breastfeed on the breast. Though it may
be easier for a baby to latch on to a breast with a prominent nipple, it is not
necessary for nipples to stick out. A
proper start will usually prevent problems and mothers with any shaped nipples
can breastfeed perfectly adequately. In
the past, a nipple shield was frequently suggested to get the baby to take the
breast. This gadget should not be used,
especially in the first few days! Though
it may seem a solution, its use often results in poor feeding and severe weight
loss, and makes it even more difficult to get the baby to take the breast. (See handout #8 Finger Feeding). If the
baby does not take the breast at first, with proper help, he will often take
the breast later. Breasts also change
in the first few weeks, and as long as the mother maintains a good milk supply,
the baby will usually latch on, by 8 weeks of age no matter what, but get help
and the baby may latch on before. See handout #26 When a Baby Refuses to Latch
On.
2. A woman who becomes pregnant must
stop breastfeeding. Not true! If the mother and child desire,
breastfeeding can continue. Some continue
nursing the older child even after delivery of the new baby. Many women do decide to stop nursing when
they become pregnant because their nipples are sore, or for other reasons, but
there is no rush or medical necessity to do so. In fact, there are often good reasons to continue. The milk supply may decrease during
pregnancy, but if the baby is taking other foods, this is not a usually a
problem. However, some babies will stop
breastfeeding if the milk supply is low.
3. A baby with diarrhea should not
breastfeed. Not true! The best treatment for a gut infection
(gastroenteritis) is breastfeeding.
Furthermore, it is very unusual for the baby to require fluids other
than breastmilk. If lactose intolerance
is a problem, the baby can receive lactase drops, available without
prescription, just before or after the feeding, but this is rarely necessary in
breastfeeding babies. Get information
on its use from the clinic. In any
case, lactose intolerance due to gastroenteritis will disappear with time. Lactose free formula is not better than
breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is better
than any formula.
4. Babies will stay on the breast for 2
hours because they like to suck. Not true! Babies need and like to suck, but how much
do they need? Most babies who stay at
the breast for such a long time are probably hungry, even though they may be
gaining well. Being at the breast is not the same as drinking at the breast.
Latching the baby better onto the breast allows the baby to nurse more
effectively, and thus spend more time actually drinking. You can also help the baby to drink more by
expressing milk into his mouth when he is no longer swallows on his own (See
handout #15 Breast Compression). Babies younger than 5-6 weeks often fall
asleep at the breast because the flow of milk is slow, not necessarily because
they have had enough to eat. See videos
at www.thebirthden.com/Newman.html
5. Babies need to know how to take a
bottle. Therefore a bottle should
always be introduced before the baby refuses to take one. Not true! Though many mothers decide to introduce a
bottle for various reasons, there is no reason a baby must learn how to use one.
Indeed, there is no great advantage in a baby's taking a bottle. Since Canadian women are supposed to receive
52 weeks maternity leave, the baby can be started eating solids before the
mother goes back to her outside work.
The baby can even take fluids or solids that are quite liquid off a
spoon. At about 6 months of age, the
baby can start learning how to drink from a cup, and though it may take several
weeks for him to learn to use it efficiently, he will learn. If the mother is going to introduce a
bottle, it is better she wait until the baby has been nursing well for 4-6 weeks, and then give it
only occasionally. Sometimes, however,
babies who take the bottle well at 6 weeks, refuse it at 3 or 4 months even if
they have been getting bottles regularly (smart babies). Do not worry, and proceed as above with
solids and spoon. Giving a bottle when
breastfeeding is going badly is not a good idea and usually makes the
breastfeeding even more difficult. For
your sake and the baby's do not try to "starve the baby into
submission". Get help.
6. If a mother has surgery, she has to
wait a day before restarting nursing. Not true! The mother can breastfeed immediately after
surgery, as soon as she is up to it.
Neither the medications used during anaesthesia, nor pain medications
nor antibiotics used after surgery require the mother to avoid breastfeeding,
except under exceptional
circumstances. Enlightened hospitals
will accommodate breastfeeding mothers and babies when either the mother or the
baby needs to be admitted to the hospital, so that breastfeeding can continue. Many rules that restrict breastfeeding are
more for the convenience of staff than for the benefit of mothers and
babies.
7. Breastfeeding twins is too difficult
to manage. Not true! Breastfeeding twins is easier than bottle
feeding twins, if breastfeeding is going
well. This is why it is so important
that a special effort should be made to get breastfeeding started right when
the mother has had twins (See handout #1 Breastfeeding—Starting
Out Right). Some women have
breastfed triplets exclusively. This
obviously takes a lot of work and time, but twins and triplets take a lot of
work and time no matter how the infants are fed.
8. Women whose breasts do not enlarge
or enlarge only a little during pregnancy, will not produce enough milk. Not true! There are
a very few women who cannot produce enough milk (though they can continue to
breastfeed by supplementing with a lactation aid). Some of these women say that their breasts did not enlarge during
pregnancy. However, the vast majority
of women whose breasts do not seem to enlarge during pregnancy produce more
than enough milk.
9. A mother whose breasts do not seem
full has little milk in the breast. Not true! Breasts do not have to feel full to produce
plenty of milk. It is normal that a
breastfeeding woman's breasts feel less full as her body adjusts to her baby's
milk intake. This can happen suddenly
and may occur as early as two weeks after birth or even earlier. The breast is never "empty" and also
produces milk as the baby nurses. Is the bay getting enough milk from the
breast? That’s what’s important, no how full the breast fees. See videos at www.thebirthden.com/Newman.html
10. Breastfeeding in public is not
decent. Not true! It is the humiliation and harassment of
mothers who are nursing their babies that is not decent. Women who are trying to do the best for
their babies should not be forced by other people's hang-ups or lack of
understanding to stay home or feed their babies in public washrooms. Those who are offended need only avert their
eyes. Children will not be damaged psychologically
by seeing a women breastfeeding. On the
contrary, they might learn something important, beautiful and fascinating. They might even learn that breasts are not only
for selling beer. Other women who have left their babies at home to be bottle
fed when they went out might be encouraged to bring the baby with them the next
time.
11. Breastfeeding a child until 3 or 4
years of age is abnormal and bad for the child, causing an overdependent
relationship between mother and child. Not
true! Breastfeeding
for 2-4 years was the rule in most cultures since the beginning of human time
on this planet. Only in the last 100
years or so has breastfeeding been seen as something to be limited. Children nursed into the third year are not overly dependent. On the contrary, they tend to be very secure
and thus more independent. They themselves will make the step to stop
breastfeeding (with gentle encouragement from the mother), and thus will be
secure in their accomplishment.
12. If the baby is off the breast for a
few days (weeks), the mother should not restart breastfeeding because the milk
sours. Not
true! The
milk is as good as it ever was.
Breastmilk in the breast is not milk
or formula in a bottle.
13. After exercise a mother should not
breastfeed. Not
true! There
is absolutely no reason why a mother would not be able to breastfeed after
exercising. The study that purported to
show that babies were fussy feeding after mother exercising was poorly done and
contradicts the everyday experience of millions of mothers.
14. A breastfeeding mother cannot get a
permanent or dye her hair. Not
true! I
have no idea where this comes from.
15. Breastfeeding is blamed for
everything. True! Family, health professionals, neighbours,
friends and taxi drivers will blame breastfeeding if the mother is tired,
nervous, weepy, sick, has pain in her knees, has difficulty sleeping, is always
sleepy, feels dizzy, is anemic, has a relapse of her arthritis (migraines, or
any chronic problem) complains of hair loss, change of vision, ringing in the
ears or itchy skin. Breastfeeding will
be blamed as the cause of marriage problems and the other children acting
up. Breastfeeding is to blame when the
mortgage rates go up and the economy is faltering. And whenever there is something that does not fit the
"picture book" life, the mother will be advised by everyone that it
will be better if she stops breastfeeding.
Handout #13. Still More Breastfeeding Myths. Revised January 2005
Written by Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC. ©
2005
This handout may be copied and distributed
without further permission,
on
the condition that it is not used in any
context in which the WHO code on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes is
violated
I look forward to helping you
with your breastfeeding concerns
You can reach us at 847-484-0516 or in Illinois at 800-LACTATE or
e-mail us at: lactationsupportgroup.com
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Still More Breastfeeding Myths
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