Benefits of bf reduced at 3 months...

[PigeonPie]

... is what I heard from an NCT representative (not sure if she was an ante natal teacher or a bf counsellor, but hope the former). She was giving advice to someone sitting next to me and I really wish I could have stuck my oar in, but it wasn't really appropriate.

I did say that I thought it was good to take one day at a time and feed for as long as she felt comfortable.

Anyway, am I right to be shocked by this statement?

[natmatt]

she shouldnt have been given advice at all!!
only information for the person to make an informed choice.

[Astrophe]

OOh, its so frustrating, all the misimformation out there. A GP friend told me recently that there is no nutritional value in me feeding my 19months DS. Grrrrrr!

[PigeonPie]

I was wondering if I should contact the NCT, either locally or nationally just to ask that she get a little more training.

[spookthief]

Was she trying to make someone feel better about giving up? Not justifying it - she shouldn't have said it - but my hv said similar about 6 weeks when I was having difficulty.

Not that I suggested I was even thinking about giving up but she fell over herself trying to tell me that feeding for 6 weeks was the most important time and I shouldn't feel guilty for stopping.

[Astrophe]

spook, I had that experience too - HVs desperate to save me from guilt of stopping, even though I wasn't wanting to stop!

[spookthief]

Yes, it actually had the weird (I was very hormonal, sore and a leetle obsessed) effect of making me feel a bit guilty about continuing such was her emphasis on "enjoying your baby" as if this was incompatible with continuing to bf.

Luckily I was gettong lots of positive support elsewhere and haven't really spoken to her about bf since (except to say "yes" when she asks me if I'm still bf ds, to which she always responds "really?!? Gosh!").

[PigeonPie]

Spook, yes I think she was trying to make her feel better, but tbh, I don't think that that was the way to do it.

I would have said that she'd done well to get to three months and possibly, every day after that would be good and to take one day at a time; trying to keep it positive without forcing her to continue.

[theUrbanDevil]

grr, silly lady. i can see what she was trying to say, but not a very effective way of saying it, imo.

maybe tiktok will be along in a bit, she is an NCT bf-ing counsellor and might be able to tell you who to get in touch with about this lady. would it be inappropriate for you to speak to her another time?

[PigeonPie]

I've been wondering about contacting her directly, but I don't think it's really my place to. I don't belong to that group (was just helping out at a sale) although my sister used to, so it could be a bit awkward.

Also, I'm not a trained bf counsellor (am still thinking about it) and so have no qualifications to back my (little) knowledge up. I just don't like it when I hear something which is so patently inaccurate.

[tiktok]

Pigeon, please please do something about this, if you feel able to. Not only is what this person saying wrong, but she shouldn't be giving someone advice anyway.

I really hope to goodness it wasn't a bf counsellor, but whoever it was, if they were a trained NCT worker, they should know it's a ridiculous thing to say.

Can you contact a breastfeeding counsellor in your branch and share what you heard and who said it?

That would be the first step.