Your instincts are right Linda...they don't what they are asking in
terms of the loss of the breastfeeding relationship, the difficulty
of pumping, and the milk supply struggles involved with pumping...and
ultimately they will actually be reducing the amount of the most
nutrient dense food in the child's diet...
Coincidentally on another thread we are talking about the value or
lack of value in test weighing, and this is a situation which I
pointed out I routinely use a scale with positive effect...
Where I live whenever a breastfed baby is hospitalized regardless of
the reason for the hospitalization the first thing doctors and nurses
ask of the mother is that
she pump so they can quantify the child's intake...they of course
don't know what the heck they are doing...a scale that is accurate to
3 grams can be used to satisfy their desire to quantify the milk...
I suspect the mother will be surprised by how much she is
producing...my experience with mothers of toddler is that they are
what I call "just in time producers"...that is, unlike new mothers
who feel full all the time, as lactation progress the breast feels
softer and softer even though it still produces a lot of milk while
the baby is at the breast- the mother just doesn't realize it...if
the mother is producing a lot of milk she should fight the polycose
concept because there is no reason the toddler can't be supplemented
in a way that doesn't interfere with breastfeeding...and hopefully
they will do it with something more nutritious than polycose!
If the mother is not producing much milk, she should point out that
her daughter is comfort nursing and she and the baby should be
treated as any other mother baby pair in this situation who are not
breastfeeding...
The mother needs to look at her situation with a new perspective.
Otherwise healthy babies and children will eat a lot of other foods
offered to them if their mother's milk supply is low, in fact when I
see young babies 6-12 months eating a lot of solids I know the mom
probably had poor breastfeeding management skills...
When mother has good breastfeeding management and her supply is
copious babies 6-18 months old consume more milk than solid
food...getting a full complement of teeth, so that they can easily
eat solids, is what makes a child transition from mostly milk to
mostly solids...
If the baby is unusual in that at 17 months she already has all her
primary teeth and still doesn't eat much, it is probably related to
her ill health. We all know when babies are sick they often revert to
exclusive or near exclusive breastfeeding. If breastfeeding is taken
away from a child who is not eating because she feels sick it is
highly unlikely she will start eating a lot- she will just be getting
even less nutrition than she did when she was breastfeeding...
If the mom attends LLL meetings that would be a good place for her to
hear from other mothers whose nursing toddlers increased their
breastmilk intake when fighting an illness. Most mothers who have
nursed through toddlerhood will have at least one experience where
they were so grateful to still be nursing when their child got sick
and would take nothing else by mouth.
Good Luck with this mom and baby,
Jennifer O'Quinn
On May 1, 2006, at 9:41 PM, LinDA KOPECKY wrote:
> I am new to Lactnet and this is my first post. I am a LLLL and an
> aspiring LC (sitting for the exam this summer), so I am still
> growing in my understanding of complicated situations. I have
> permission to post the following story. I have been following a
> mother from afar (I know the mother in law), and now more closely,
> who has been successfully breastfeeding her now 17 month old girl,
> who developed polycystic kidney disease sometime last summer (so
> she's been sick 9 months or so). She has been doing rather well,
> eating fairly well on a restricted diet, loving breastfeeding and
> gaining slowly. However, last month little girl started losing
> weight. Specialist is very supportive of breastfeeding as well as
> nutritionist, but now it seems they want mom to start pumping
> exclusively, quantify the breastmilk, mix it with polycose
> (increasing the calorie content?), and then give to toddler - who
> doesn't like it given in any way other than at the breast. Mom has
> tried pumping (hasn't pumped hardly at all being at home with
> daughter), can't get much, thinks she's really not producing much,
> leaves the clinic each time feeling like a failure and that she's
> starving her child at the breast. I have put her in touch with the
> LC at that hospital, who will be a good resource for her, but has
> anyone encountered this type of situation? My local LCs haven't and
> suggested I post here. I believe the specialist and nutritionist
> are well intentioned (wanting to measure everything going into
> toddler, including the breastmilk, and upping the calories as much
> as possible), but I don't think they have a clue that suddenly
> making her pump is really going to alter her supply - when little
> girl is blissful at the breast! They have another appointment the
> 2nd of May, and they said that if toddler hasn't gained any weight,
> they will give her an NG tube. Any wise suggestions or insights?
>
> Linda Kopecky, MPH and LLLL in Winona, MN
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