argh! Crap bf advice in guardian.

[MoonFaceMamaaaaargh]

Sorry i can't link as i'm away and on mw phone but it's the "doctor, doctor" column on page 113 of yesterdays mag.

A lady who is struggling to bf a 1mo baby while looking after her toddler (who she bf for 11m) asking how the immunilogical benefits of bf will be affected as she plans to begin mixed feeding.

Dr Tom Smith begins "The immune benefits cross over in the first few weeks so you have done enough there already"

What is that supposed to mean? I genuinely do not understand what this is saying but the impression it gives me is that there is no immune benefit to bf after a few weeks? What? No antibodies?

He agree's that keeping some bf is good nutritionally...but offers no advice (or signposting) about how to mixed feed while not compromising supply. I would have though that would have been important this early on.

He does how ever suggest she might wish to consider expressing the bottle feeds as apparently "you can express far faster than your baby can suck." He says a mw or hv will advise on doing this efficiently...surely it isn't ever quicker to express, store, sterilise, bottle feed etc than just bf?.

No mention of trying a sling, that bf leaves a hand free to play with a toddler or that while you clean/make up bottles etc you are with neither child while you can be with both while bf... I'm not saying she should be pressured to bf, but just able to try making it easier before cutting back as it's a difficult decision to reverse.

Argh.

Think i might have to write in

Does anyone have suggestions for evidence i can site re immune benefits (or the rest) ?

I just want to say for me, for at least the first 4-6 months expressing and then feeding my DS was much much quicker than direct BF. My Ds was prem and so couldn't suck for a while, I got expressing sorted in that time and could soon yield about 8-10 oz every 2-3 hours he could never have had that much. I am not saying that this is a good way forward but for some people, in some circumstances expressing and bottle feeding can be, and is, much more efficient.

My main point with this is that one size does not fit all, and just because a lot of woman can't express quickly does not mean it may not work for some people, and IME particularly in the early weeks.

After about 6 months it switched and direct bf ebcame easier, and I am still going at 14 months

I understand that now Hilda, you are the second person on the thread to have found expressing easier. And that is why I put "most/majority of women" in my letter.

But the doctor said "You can express faster than your baby can suck" as though that is a universal truth when far and away most people on here have found that not to be the case.

Yes to my mind that means "the removal of milk will be quicker" Which as far as I understand it is rarely true.
Of course your baby may stay on the breast longer than he would on a bottle for other reasons but I think, suck for suck, more or equal milk is removed by direct feeding.

(I quite like "suck for suck" - going to try to use it in everyday conversation)