Dubious about paediatrician's bf advice.....

[Glup]

I'm not quite sure what to do here. My baby has benn diagnosed with reflux and we are on the meds etc. (you all know the drill, sadly).....but have been told off by the paediatrician twice for my bf technique. I am really not sure what to do here. He has said that I am over feeding her, which is partially to blame for the problem, but I didn't think this was possible. Is it?

He has advised the following:

Feed her for no more than ten minutes at a time, then leave her for two hours, building up to three hours over the next few weeks.

I am quite worried that this will mean I am under feeding her, as at five weeks old she currently feeds for much longer than that and, at different tims of the day wants feeding more frequently than two-hourly.

Gah! Advice please!

That is OLD FASHIONED advice!, breasfeeding should not be scheduled and eventually babies will fall into their own schedule...

Some babies like long feeds and others like to snack and graze, even for the same baby feeding can sometimes be a meal, sometimes a snack and sometimes a drink...

your baby will know how long she wants to feed. breastfed babies can't over feed and sometimes they just want to suck for comfort.

and cluster feed is normal, my daughter used to want to feed constantly from 6pm to about 9pm...

follow her cues, you will be fine

Oh ffs, I do wish Paeditricians would get their bf knowledge updated!

Firstly I believe it is very rare that a bf baby can over feed (I may be generalising here, but isn't the way a bf baby takes just the right amount of food the reason that obesity is less common in later life?). Bf babies should not be set a schedule - it'll just muck up your milk supply.

Secondly, nearly all babies have reflux to some degree (it is worse in prem babies), obviously some are worse though.

If I were you, I'd get in contact with a breastfeeding counsellor & see what they say.

From what I know, if a baby has reflux a) breastfeeding is better than bottle - but if you feed as he suggests, you are more likely to end up losing your supply and end up using formula. b) feeding little and often is better than giant feeds every so often.

And his recommended timings for feeding sound way too small, anyway!