Yesterday a request came in to our group of Spanish-speaking La Leche
Leagtue Leaders, and I have permission to forward it: I am including both
the Spanish and my English translation, as I know many of you are bilingual:
The mom is in South America, and communicating through her local Leader, so
I have limited access to more details.
Me dirijo a uds porque necesito asesoría. Soy mami de dos bebes de 2 y 3
años, decidimos desde el principio seguir la lactancia para ambos y nos ha
funcionado muy bien. El punto es que mi bebe mayor esta en terapia de
lenguaje hace 4 meses por diagnostico de dispraxia verbal. La terapista
solicito el dia de ayer que debo cortar la lactancia ya para los dos porque
esto afecta su lenguaje. Tanto ella como el equipo de trabajo del centro
terapeutico han discutido y piensan que esto evita que mis bebes maduren.
Aparte de que se les hace feo verles lactar. Yo estoy haciendo que
retrocedan al continuarla. Tambien acoto que existe evidencia cientifica.
Yo he buscado desde mi primer embarazo y no he hallado publicacion que avale
estas aseveraciones. Por favor podrian ayudarme si tengo razon con links o
articulos cientificos que confirmen que la lactancia no esta ligada a los
problemas de lenguaje. Estamos muy dolidos y no queremos cortarlo por
prejuicios o decision de otros.
I am writing to you because I need advice. I am a mother of two babies 2 and
3 years, we decided from the beginning to continue breastfeeding both and it
has worked very well. The point is that my oldest baby has been in speech
therapy for 4 months with a diagnosis of verbal dyspraxia. The therapist
asked yesterday that I should stop breastfeeding both because it affects
their language. She and the team of the therapeutic center have been
discussing it and think this keeps my babies from maturing. Besides they
find it ugly to see them breastfeeding. They believe I'm making them delayed
by continuing it. She also added that there is scientific evidence. I have
searched since my first pregnancy and have found no publications that
confirms these statements. Please could someone help me find support of my
beliefs in scientific articles with links to confirm that breastfeeding is
not linked to language problems. We are very hurt and do not want to stop
due to the prejudice or decisions of others.
___________________________________
I had already replied:
I am not an expert on this subject and would like to have your permission to
ask for help from experts on Lactnet.
At the same time, my first thoughts are to support this mother’s resolve:
1. Insist that they provide to the mother the studies indicating a
connection between the "extended" breastfeeding and dyspraxia. (I’m pretty
sure they do not exist)
2. Provide proof that eliminating breastfeeding this child would not cause
more physical and emotional damage.
In my experience, many children suffer from a variety of speech problems -
whether or not they are breastfed. It seems that, finding no solution, they
have decided to remove what they do not understand or have studied in depth.
In this way they believe they will be able to find a "solution" although I
found publications on the subject that described that this will be a long
haul for the whole family:
http://agua.rediris.es/pub/nj_bscw.cgi/d642142/Dispraxia%20verbal.pdf
In my opinion, eliminating breastfeeding is not a treatment! They do not
understand that by adopting this "solution" it is very likely to cause an
elevation in stress for both mom and children (increase in cortisol,
reduction in oxytocin), and possibly increase the speech and emotional
problems. They have decided to recommend eliminating one of the most
effective communication tools between mother and child!
Until they provide more evidence to the contrary – I would continue to offer
support to this mother to follow her own instincts as a mother.
When you receive your permission, I'm willing to request opinions from
others in Lactnet.
________________________________
Jeanette Panchula, BSW, RN, PHN, IBCLC
Vacaville, CA
After being a La Leche League Leader since 1975 and an IBCLC since 1985 I
feel qualified to confirm the statement:
“Half of the information we teach today is wrong…the trouble is, we don’t
know which half!”
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