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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 result
in poor feeding and severe weight loss, and makes it even more difficult to get
the baby to take the breast. (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, sooner or later.
2. A
woman who becomes pregnant must stop breastfeeding.
Not true! If the mother and child desire, breastfeeding can continue.
There are women who 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 nor 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.
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 (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.
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 26 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 liquidy 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 anesthesia, 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 (Breastfeeding
- Starting Out Right). Many 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.
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 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 over dependent 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!
15.
Breastfeeding is blamed for everything.
True! Family, health professionals, neighbors, 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.
About The Author: Dr. Jack Newman is a Toronto
pediatrician who has practiced medicine since 1970. In 1984 he established the
first hospital based breastfeeding clinic in Canada, at the Hospital for Sick
Children in Toronto. He now holds breastfeeding clinics in several Toronto area
hospitals. Jack has been a consultant with UNICEF's Baby Friendly Hospital
Initiative and has spoken at conferences around the world. He is the father of
three children, all breastfed.
Dr. Newman is the author of
"The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers"
NOTE: The article above titled "Still
More Breastfeeding Myths" was written by Dr. Jack Newman and is the opinion of its author. "The New Parents Guide" does not guarantee the information to
be factual. Always use the guidance of your personal
doctor or your child's doctor over information you read on this site or elsewhere; your doctors know what is
best for you and your baby.
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