Commitment, or lack thereof...
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Commitment, or lack thereof...
| Tue, 01-08-2008 - 1:56pm |
So I just saw something somewhere else (won't specify where, but I bet a few of you will figure it out!) where a woman indicated that she WAS planning on breastfeeding, but now because of a heated debate about it, she doesn't want to anymore.
Ummmmm, are you kidding me?


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It's a shame the hospital wasn't more supportive of you and bfing.
"formula is generally unnecessary??? i am sorry but i am hysterical laughing over here that you think this"
Well, yeah, formula is mostly unnecessary b/c we as mammals are built to produce milk for our babies.
Debbie-
Totally OT but my 6 y.o. DS just walked by & said, "who's that baby? I like her smile, she's got cute cheeks". I 2nd what he said.
Andi
Becky, I'm so sorry things didn't go as planned wrt breastfeeding. Unfortunately, your story is far too common and a classic story of breastfeeding being mismanaged by medical professionals who don't know the knowledge about nursing and don't take the right steps to make sure bf is successful. None of this is your fault and you can't be expected to know.
I started out breastfeeding in the hospital & thought I was one of the "lucky" ones as he seemed to latch on like a pro. The nurses didn't bother to help me out when I asked them to check if he was latched on properly, they just took quick looks and said "he's fine."
Where was the lactation consultant through all of this? Can I presume your hospital didn't have one or that person was too busy to see you?
Then on day 3, his weight dropped below the dreaded 10% mark to 10.5%. In retrospect, I think it was because he was 11 days overdue & had 12 meconium poops his first day of life. But anyway, the panic was then on at the hospital
Yep, at 10%, formula supplementation is typically recommended, so that's legit.
insisted I pump & supplement with formula.
In retrospect, what should have happened was that you continued to nurse at the breast and supplemented after each feeding with formula NOT given through a bottle (through alternative means such as finger feeding, dropper or syringe). Bottles should NOT be introduced until after the 3 week mark - ever hear of nipple confusion? Obviously, they didn't. The pump is never as good as the baby at stimulating your milk supply so by removing direct nursing from the picture, it's likely for your supply to decrease. There was no reason to tell you to pump exclusively at this point.
Baby wouldn't latch & was starving
That's because they made you introduce bottles too early. Nipple confusion, nipple confusion, nipple confusion.
I decided to pump my breast milk & give it to him that way because I live in a small Northern town & the public health nurse couldn't come & see me for 3 daysThat seems like a pretty good plan of attack for that point in time.
I pumped successfully & then experienced clogged ducts about a week & a half ago. I just got over them & I experienced them again 2 days later.
Just curious what type of pump you were using. For a non-latching baby, the hospital should have suggested a hospital rental like the Medela Lactina. The minimum decent pump for EPing would be a double electric like the Pump in Style, Purely Yours or Lansinoh. Any chance you were using a lower-quality pump? That stinks about the plugged ducts - ow!! I'm assuming since you weren't getting any LC help that no one suggested lecithin. It's a natural supplement that helps prevent plugged ducts: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/lecithin.html
So did you just switch to formula very recently? If that's the case, it's not too late AT ALL to relactate. I really really wish you had reached out for help while you were having the issues rather than after you had already switched to formula. The issues you ran into are absolutely fixable with the right information and assistance, neither of which you received.
LIke I said, none of this is your fault. It's the fault of a hospital who mismanaged your breastfeeding relationship and left you with few choices and little support. I really don't think you lack commitment, Becky. You're just a classic example of a new mom who didn't have the right support from the right people when it counted.
If you do indeed want to relactate, please stop by the Breastfeeding/LC board (link in my sig). We'll be waiting and ready to help you every step of the way.
Dana, mom to Kevin (10/24/01) and Jason (10/15/04)
I'm sorry you had such a difficult delivery and such a tough time in the first weeks of your little one's life :(
"However, I don't think it would be good for my baby to have a mother who is not sleeping, and run down, and bordering on becoming depressed, and who is not strong & healthy. No amount of breast milk would magically make that good for my baby."
Honestly, this is where you lost me.
"alcohol has MORE risks than formula..."
Do you have a study to back this up, or is it purely your opinion?
"formula is generally unnecessary"
Yes.
"Does anyone know exactly how much alcohol has to be consumed by a pregnant or nursing woman before it becomes more risky than a BF vs FF? Even approximately?"
The consensus for preg women is that there is no known safe amount, then again, they can't pinpoint exactly how much will be *unsafe* either...
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