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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 can result 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 will likely 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 two 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 on 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.
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 start eating solids around 6
months, well 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 not going well 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
awake and up to it. Neither
the medications used during anaesthesia, nor pain medications
nor antibiotics used after surgery require the mother to
interrupt 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 handouts #1 Breastfeeding—Starting Out Right and #1a
The Importance of
Skin to Skin Contact).
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 baby getting milk from the breast? That’s what’s important, not how full the breast feels.
See videos.
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
woman 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.
Questions?
(416)
813-5757 (option 3) or drjacknewman@sympatico.ca or
my book Dr. Jack Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding (called The Ultimate
Breastfeeding Book of Answers in
the USA)
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
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