Common Breastfeeding Myths

Febgirl wrote: fattartsrock wrote: BREASTFEEDING MYTHS Never wake a sleeping baby Poor supply is due to stress, tiredness and bad diet and liquid intake Nipple confusion doesn’t exist Demand feeding makes a mother resentful Other members of the family need to feed the baby so they can bond as well I believe there is basis to all of these - maybe not 100% of the time or in every circumstance, but I wouldn't call them myths.

Ok there is BASIS to these, but generally they are myths for the best part. Although I would agree that they aren't myths for everyone, I have taken these from a published article, and I have referenced it at the bottom of my initial post, so its not me making it up, either! they come from reserched studies conducted over a long period of time.

The sleeping baby thing is a myth in part because not waking baby to feed can affect your supply in those early days when you need to feed all the time to get supply up. Not waking can lead to over hungry baby who won't latch correctly or comes off lll the time in frustration becasue they are hungry and want it now

The nipple confusion thing also, I see lots of women having huge BF issues becasue they started off with BF and expressing for a night feed right off the bat (so Dad can "bond"). Before BF is properly establiseshed (around 6 weeks) Baby can struggle with getting used to different sucking techniques. This is actually proven, I have 2 references on this, 2 differnt Drs conducted studies and when I can get my book out of the wardrobe in Charlys room, i will reference it, if you like.

And at the risk of a flaming, I have to say, there are millions of Dads/Grandparents etc out there who have managed to bond just fine with their babies without feeding them....

Like I said, though, they won't ring true for everyone, however it is safest to call them "myths", becasue we deal woth alot of worried mums out there who have their heads filled with these myths and they can create barriers to happy feeding!

I think good daddy baby bonding can occur via nappy changing

Maya wrote: Yeah, or that the whole areola should be in baby's mouth - my babies mouths aren't that huge!

Hehe that is what I was meaning, just in case I've got abnormal boobs I wasn't going to say it too loud!

If bubs had their lip on the bottom of my areola the nipples is no where near their mouths.

My theory was if it doesn't hurt then it's got to be all good.

Bizzy wrote: fattartsrock wrote: Bizzy wrote: weegee wrote: fattartsrock wrote: Poor supply is due to stress, tiredness and bad diet and liquid intake Really Annie?! I totally thought that was gospel! Is it just that stress inhibits letdown then? i certainly thought those things could contribute to a poor supply. come give us more info Fats! Sorry, been offline for a whole week!!! They can certainly be contributing factors and all three togethrr might make for poor supply, and yes., stress will make let down a bit slower, but poor supply is usually caused by lots of things such as - clock feeding instead of demand feeding, not feeding enough on one side before offering the other side, too short feeds, skipping feeds (not waking your sleeping new baby or giving a bottle of formula or ebm at night and not pumping to make up for lost feed), the list goes on. Diet and liquid intake have no effect really, Baby (and body) takes to your detriment, same as if you can't eat while you are pg cops of sickness. The body (and baby) take nutirents etc from your own stores. Even women in food lacking nations manage to feed their children... Tiredness also, no effect, although not having a good diet can contribute to tiredness as well, sheesh, toby was really abnormal then.. he was clock fed and given a dummy at less than a week old and none of that affected my supply (oh and i used to wake him to feed)... just goes to show really doesnt it that even tho there may be some basis for fact not all Myths are that!

Thats cos you like to go against the grain, Biz!

fattartsrock wrote: Thats cos you like to go against the grain, Biz!

cuppatea wrote: I think good daddy baby bonding can occur via nappy changing

Oh hell yeah!!!

Babykatnz wrote: Aliasmum wrote: Maya wrote: Yeah, or that the whole areola should be in baby's mouth - my babies mouths aren't that huge! Hehe that is what I was meaning, just in case I've got abnormal boobs I wasn't going to say it too loud! If bubs had their lip on the bottom of my areola the nipples is no where near their mouths. My theory was if it doesn't hurt then it's got to be all good. woohoo!! So its not just me who has that problem!! I had to get nipple shields cos she wouldnt take it in properly, too big and squishy for her teeny little mouth She feeds perfectly with them so I'm keeping it this way for now lol

when my husband heard that at antenatal classes he looked at me and cracked up laughing - mine arent small either!

cuppatea wrote: Having small boobs doesn't mean you can't feed or won't have enough milk. I'm only an A cup and both times I have had huge over supply problems.

Same here! BFing only got easy once my supply settled down at around 3 or so months.

Also agree with the "weight will fall off" one - yeah right!

Also - the chin must tuck in tight next to the breast - Campbell never did this well, I also figured that if it didn't hurt, it was all good!

Pregnancy makes your boobs soft and saggy as during pregnancy the fat deposits disappear to make way for milk production, so even those who don't bf end up with saggy soft ones. (or so someone told me anyway, could be another myth to make us feel better)

I dont think I saw "if you have a c-section you cant breastfeed". I was so worried I wasnt going to be able to feed as I had a section, didnt get skin to skin with Jake for over 2 hours and his tummy was so full of mucus he would latch on and suck for a couple of seconds and go back to sleep. With lots of hard work for the first 3 days of waking for feeding, hand expressing and then pumping every 3 hours my milk did come in.. phew.

I was also told that leaking does not mean you have oversupply just an active letdown.. is this true?