I am copying, with full permission, a post from a lady in the above area.
I wonder if there are any "Lactnetters" who may be able to offer
support/encouragement to this lady, who is quite obviously having a hard
time of it from her current doctor?  If anyone knows of a doctor such as
she is seeking, please contact me and I will pass on any appropriate
details.  She is keen to find a doctor who is open to homoeopathy.

Many thanks in anticipation,

Sincerely,

Sue Lunn
BFC (UK)

------------------------------------------
Forwarded message:

I am looking for a pediatrician in the Central Valley, CA  who TRUELY
supports breastfeeding.

I took my youngest 10 months in for a weight check yesterday, and even
though he is gaining steadily at the bottom of the reccommended amount for
breastfed babies according to LLL's standards, he is dropping percentile
lines according to the current weight chart. A month ago, his doctor
suggested that I start 16 additional ounces of formula per day, but if I do
that, obviously, the little guy can't nurse all he should. I did it for 2
days, and lost 2 nursings per bottle. SO I dropped the bottles and upped
the nursings to approx 5-6 times per day plus the food he is eating. He now
generally nurses on both sides for a total of about 10 min per side...more
or less depending on how hungry he is.

This trip to the doctor he told me to cut the nursings to 3 times per day
and add in the equivalent of 3 eight ounce bottles, but mixed slightly
stronger at 3 scoops per 5 ounces instead of 6 ounces and to all but
eliminate fruits and vegetables from his diet because these thngs have too
many readily available carbs which would cause him to eat less, but to
increase the rice and pasta (HUH!). My little guy eats like a proverbial
pig both table food and nursing, but he is SO active that he is very lean.

The doctor stopped just short of saying that I was HARMING my little guy BY
nursing rather than switchng to formula, and that he did not have
sufficient fat content on his body, but the implication was certainly
there.

I do not know how telephone happy this doctor is, but I have worked in
county child care, and I know that the charge of medical neglect and
malnutrition is sure to turn heads at the CPS office. So I need a second
and maybe even a third opinion to the contrary ASAP to support my position
that Breast is Best. I am afraid that if I do not go back in a month is
fingers will start itching to be calling CPS. AND I see exactly where he is
going with this bottle thing, he wants my son weaned ASAP because he can't
count ounces or caloric intake when he is breast feeding.

Even if I pumped and fed my little guy the required ounces, that would
still not satisfy this doctor because I have been told by him that milk
QUALITY is very variable from person to person, and that I am probably not
producing the proper QUALITY of milk for my little guy.

Thankfully this doctor does NOT know that I am homeschooling as well.

Because of research I have done I am aware that WHO is beginning a 5 year
process to revise the current growth charts to better reflect breast fed
babies, but when I said this, I was told that on average most breast fed
babies were larger and plumper than formula fed babies.

I am just fit to be tied, I am a well-educated RN who understands how to go
about finding credible research, but the doctor ignores that fact, and I
need to find a doctor who will work with me as a partner rather than write
off anything I bring to the table as basically little more than
superstition and old wives tales!

But that said, I also do not need to become known in the community for
doctor hopping because that is a real trigger here too especially with
the "medical neglect, malnutrition" words.

My little guy has met every developmental milestone so far, and even the
doctor said that nursing vs. bottles would not mean that he would not walk,
but that it could cause hidden neurological damage which could not be
assessed in the short term.

He also said to only use Simalac or Enfamil, and NOT Carnation (Heaven
forbid (;ob) that I use the Carnation stuff which worked so well with my
first son when I had to stop nursing because he bit me EVERY time I tried
from 4 months on). Does the man not know that ALL formula sold in the US
MUST meet the same criteria set by the FDA for infant formula whether it is
Carnation, one of the big drug company brands, or another generic option?
They all have to provide the same nutrition, caloric intake and fat content
etc, UNLESS they ae specifically designed for a certain use, and then most
often they must be prescribed and used under the supervision of an MD. Only
within this year has an anit-diarrheal formula been released for
generalized use by the public etc.

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