There have been many times when I sense mom does not want help or
suggestions when it is plain to see that her baby is very poorly
positioned and baby has a less than good latch. Sometimes, I'll simply
smile and make a comment about her baby (the beautiful head of black
hair, etc.) or perhaps comment on her labor and what a great job she
did, etc. and then jump right into how confident and relaxed she looks
breastfeeding her baby, with confidence being a very important part of
successful and long-term breastfeeding. She will then smile back and
thank me for the compliment. I will then quickly throw in that I am
happy to see from her chart that the baby is breastfeeding well
(pertaining to adequate diaper count or try and pick something positive)
and that I can see from the glow on her face that she is happy with the
way breastfeeding is going, (no sore nipples, etc.). I then tell her, "
I'm glad you feel baby is breastfeeding well at this time, however if
you do begin noticing discomfort or pain that you hadn't felt during the
first couple of days breastfeeding, (or first couple of
breastfeedings!)I know some moms find it helpful to put a pillow on
their lap so that baby is more level with the breast, nice and close,
usually resulting in a better latch with no pain". - or some other
simple suggestion, using "other mothers" versus "the lc's advice". I
have had a couple replies to this, one being, "Oh, gee thank you. I
guess I never gave much thought to how I had her positioned being this
is how my two year old nursed up until three months ago." That led to
us casually sharing with each other the other ways breastfeeding a
newborn is different from a toddler and the mom adjusting her
positioning and the baby's latch and thanking me.
The other reply has been, "Oh, ok, but I'm sure everything will be
fine. I've got your phone number, I'll call you if I have any
problems....."
I leave smiling, telling myself, "well, mom's comfortable, baby's ok
too, so if it ain't broke - don't fix it". Sometimes I get a call days
later - sometimes not.
As for being called in to see a mom and then have her refute or
challenge the advice, I simply remember that I can only help those who
truly want to be helped and not take it personally, holding on to the
thought that perhaps the mother might actually use my advice/suggestion
when I am not around.
***********************************************
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
