a former client called me up today with a couple of questions (like, is it
okay for her 3 1/2 month old to only nurse four times in 24 hours, arggh and
ack). she mentioned in passing that the baby gets a bottle of formula every
day or two on the doctor's orders. why? i innocently asked. because, she
patiently explained, the doctor said this was "necessary, so the baby learns
to drink formula." i asked, well, why would the baby *need *to drink formula?
the mother got confused and said, well don't they have to sometime before
they are a year old? i just said, no, they don't. she then went on to ask me
about the angled bottles, which say "causes fewer ear infections" or
something like that. her worry is that, the bottle is supposed to make you
able to hold the baby more upright to take the bottle. she has been nursing
the baby flat because of back problems.
i really had to laugh at that one. i explained, the reason the bottle helps
prevent ear infections by keeping the baby more upright is not the position
so much as the food. i said "formula causes a much higher incidence of ear
infection, breast milk does not." she was very amazed. what do you bet this
doctor has never mentioned any of the hazards of ABM to any of these patients?
and another client i saw today has a doctor who, despite having bf three
children, pushes formula to fix a weight gain problem in a baby who has had
formula twice and both times vomited and refused to nurse for thirteen hours
after a very small dose. what ARE they thinking?
and before you remind me that these clients are probably misreporting what
they were told, didn't understand, didn't get it straight etc., i will point
out that if this is true then every single one of my clients is lying about
what they were told. yup, every single one.'the epidural won't affect your
baby." "the pacifier won't interfere with breastfeeding." "you don't want to
nurse more than every three hours for ten minutes per side." "your baby is
constipated." etc., etc., ad nauseam.
carol brussel IBCLC
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