Nutrition for breastfeeding/La Leche League

[Woodlands]

I've become really interested in breastfeeding since having a baby 3 months ago, and have been reading up on it (and reading this section of mn a lot!). I also went to a local La Leche League meeting the other day.

I'd be really interested to know what other MNers think of LLL. I can't decide if it's for me or not.

Also I borrowed a copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding at the meeting and have just finished reading it. LLL is obviously very into wholefoods etc, but I read <a class="break-all" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080517065853/www.westonaprice.org/bookreviews/laleche.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this review commenting on the nutritional advice given, and being very critical. Who do you think is right? Is the reviewer talking bullshit? What about the stuff about extra vit A in pregnancy - I thought you were meant to avoid it? Any opinions welcome! I'm asking this on more of an academic level than for practical advice - I'm confident in my own diet which includes plenty of cake and frequent glasses of wine (in moderation!).

I have no experience of LLL and havn't read their book. But my understanding of nutrients in BF and pregnancy is that the baby/milk production takes what it needs, and the mother is left with what's left. Also that the body is more efficient at extracting nutrients during this period (which makes me wonder why it can't be that efficient at all times). I thought that if you basically ate well, you and your baby would be fine... (eating well obviously includes lots of cake and fine wine )

Weston Price - where your link is from - propagates a very particular view of food and nutrition and some of their views are unconventional and not supported by mainstream thinking.

I would ignore the review, personally. We have plenty of evidence that women on a range of diets make perfectly good breastmilk;
www.linkagesproject.org/publications/index.php?detail=16 is a referenced link that shows this.

The dietary advice in LLL's book is only a small part of the book, it is middle of the road advice, and the reviewer is making a Big Fuss over nothing.

I ahve had very good experiences with the LLL, only been a couple of times but loved it
am surprised if the book says what the reviewer claims it does (haven't read it) will be interested to see wht more knowledgeable people have to say

tiktok, but if the quotes by the reviewr are correct I am surprised they go into such detail about a healthy diet and link it to breastfeeding?

The dietary advice in the book is pretty measured - the overarching message is that it doesn't really matter what you eat in order to bf successfully, which as far as i understand it is correct. however it argues that having a baby is a good time to ensure that the diet of thewhole family is good so that the baby will eat a healthy diet from early on. it's all a bit american and humourless, but i think it makes sense.

tiktok, interesting to hear that the source of the review has a particular agenda.

i think i liked lll - am planning to do extended breastfeeding, we cosleep etc - and it was made clear to me that different parenting choices are respected. it was all quite lentils, natural toys and earnestness though!

Well....I don't think the reviewer's knowledge about breastmilk is entirely correct.

"Human milk contains sodium chloride for a reason, but there won't be much there if the mother is avoiding salt."

You can't avoid sodium totally, anyway, as small amounts are present in many foods....breastmilk is naturally very low in sodium (because the baby's kidneys cannot cope with high salt, one of the reasons why formula has to have its sodium level artificially lowered), and even if the mother's own diet is very low indeed in sodium, the exact right amount will still be in her milk.

I would ignore. I don't know enough about nutrition to take it apart line by line, but that quote is a big enough hint to me!

i think the reviewers opinion on what you need to eat at any time, not even just when BF, is actually very flawed!
so of course they won't agree with what the LLL book says about it, which is basically to eat healthily!

it also refers to an older version of the book anyway

woodlands, whereabouts are you?
in my area there are several LLL meetings, and some are better than others!
a friend of mine has stopped going to one she always used to attend because they were getting v. judgy judgy over things like home ed and stuff like that!

i'm in north-east london.

yes, was just subtly trying to find out others' experiences of it. i guess like anything it's the members who make it what it is.

absolutely, i mean i am fairly lentil-weavery myself and considered HE and use cloth nappies etc etc etc

BUT, I actually find it quite hard being at this particular group because so many of them seem so smug about it, and when they've had peopole come along that don't do things that way I get a really "judgy" vibe off a lot of them and that makes me sad because LLL should be about enabling women to breastfeed first and foremost, and give support without being judgemental.
we're lucky enough to have several within reasonable driving distance of me tho so i just swapped to a different one which is LOVELY! and because it was set up not hugely long ago we get a real mix of people, and lots of new mums

Hmm...this is interesting as I've been thinking about going along to a lll meeting so I'm interested to hear your experiences. There is only one anywhere near me, in a small town on the other side of a big city... [hconfused] ..the town is not very lentil weavy imo, more waxed jackets... bit unsure for this reason... (I have a home on the lentil weaving spectrum)

I've only made it to one LLL meeting with ds so far, but plan to go again. The meeting was in quite a middle class part of town and most of the women there were a bit older than me (not quite the same demographic as the baby groups I go to), but all very welcoming and not at all judgy. I found it lovely to see people bfing toddlers too.

I like LLL and generally agree with their stance on eating. Their concept relating to weaning is : 'LLL believes ?Good nutrition means eating a well-balanced and varied diet of foods in as close to their natural state as possible' - if you look at the 'about the reviewer' bit it looks like she has a certain bias anyway.

TIY - would bbe interested where in the SE you are? I'm that way too and we have 1 local meeting and another starting soon close by.

am further west than you! :)

Aha! I think I may have been to an event in spring in your area.

My personal/anecdotal experience about food and breastfeeding (3 months in) is that although I can produce breastmilk at any time and any stage of nutrition (even in the middle of the night/ first thing in the morning when I'm ravenous, or after a day or two of eating toast and ice cream and not much good), I feel better when I'm eating meals including citrus fruits, green leaves and tasty things that are high-protein and lowish in saturated fats. And when I feel better in maah bellah, I feel better about everything, and more capable.

If you see what I mean.

As for LLL - I went to a meeting before I had the PFB and one since, and they've been lovely. I'm on the lentilweavery spectrum I suppose, so it works for me - but in our town they meet on Wed mornings once a month and I'm at work then. In the neighbouring town they have an evening meeting which is supposedly great for working-and-breastfeeding support, as it's the one all the working mums go to. I keep meaning to check it out but am not yet ready to leave the PFB and get on a bus at 7pm!

blackcurrants - wouldn't you be taking your PFB with you to the evening meeting? Pop them in the sling a hop on the bus I would have thought.

I think it is very much a case of if you have a less then exemplary diet you will suffer as your body will still make good milk so stands to reason you might as eat properly yourself and fell better as a result.

The womanly art of BF is a wonderfully supportive, sensible book that I wish more Mothers wanting to turn to a book would turn to, ifyswim.

I have this idealised view of LLL in my mind now, thinking they will be just like the women in the book (you know, BF 10 kids, made all their clothes, they all still live close by now they are grown up...).

I would go but they have a meeting at 9am on a Thursday on the opposite side of the city that I live in. Boo.

yes blackcurrants, take the pfb with you! tis fine

Oh, the new Womanly Art is just Fantastic. I love it.

Wot and thisis - would you believe, for all my attachment-theory laid-backness, PFB demands to be in bed by 6.30pm on the dot, or we have screamyunhappyboy. He started wanting a bedtime routine two weeks ago, and for a few nights DH and I stared at each other going "is this sudden-onset Colic? The Witching Hour?" and then we realised he was just tired.

So now he has a bedtime. I'd always thought he'd just drop off while feeding from me at 10pm for the rest of his baby days, but it seems not. Hah! Maybe he's more into routines than I am [hwink]

Sorry for thread hijack

Hehe, they do like to discombobulate parental expectations don't they? I'm from a long line of school-haters (myself included) and was all set on HE but DS1 loves routine, went to preschool and loved it and now is at reception and on weekends complains because he wants to go to school [hconfused]