how serious is 'poor quality milk due to doing too much'???

[lunavix]

My HV is convinced bfing will go tits up for me. DD is four weeks old, I've been bfing her since day 1, and for various reasons she has a bottle of ebm at night as well.

When I first told the HV of this bottle (while my milk supply built up it was sometimes ebm sometimes formula but i can get enough now for it to be ebm) she told me it would screw up bfing as I was weaning dd off the breast. So far everythings been fine.

Dd was weighed tuesday, and she's only put on 1lb2oz in 3 weeks. The HV placed her on the 50th centile and said as she'd dropped from the 75th this was worrying. What a load of rubbish imo, as my dd is 9lb2, and the picture of health. Anyways she told me I had to give her top up formula feeds!!!!!! Which in my eyes is a sure way of losing my milk. The ironic thing is she actually placed dd on the chart wrong and she's on the 25th centile.

Now onto the bit of 'advice' that did concern me, she says I'm doing too much and that the quality of my milk will be impaired. I'm working 15 - 20 hours a week as a childminder, as well as looking after ds (2.5) and dd. Plus I'm responsible for most cleaning and cooking.

How true is that? And if so, what can I do to prevent it?

IF the bottle at night isnt interfering with her latch id keep it up. Its far better than stopping BFing. As for doing to much... nake sure you drink loads and try and get in a rest... but my HV is always pointing out people BF through wars, famine etc. Someone with more advice will answer shortly

your hv needs to have your head examined.

another example of some 'professional' who seriously needs to go to a proper bf workshop instead of listening to myths spouted by dinosaurs.

sweetie, i work full time and my dd has been on the 25th from 6 weeks old. she is now 17 months.

milk quality has nothing to do with workload and not much to do with nutrition. unless you were clinically malnourished - nearing starvation - then there would be concerns of milk quality. humanity as tiktok points out has existed on the edge of malnourishment for eons and still evolved to bf successfully.

i cant remember who told me, but someone medical told me the 'doing too much' thing is a load of bollocks. it wont impair the quality or quantity of your milk, just make sure you are not doing so much you forget to drink water/juice.
lack of sleep does not impair milk either as women are actually designed to cope with the lack of sleep that a new baby brings.
i dont know much about the weight thing tho as ds1 was 9lb9 and ds2 is 10lb12 so cant help there.
im pretty sure tho that dn was on amuch lower centile than that. the 10th i think? and she is fine.

luna - these are the facts:

• HVs are undertrained in bf support
• yours is especially undertrained
• all the research (as well as common sense) shows mothers' activity levels do not affect the quality and quantity of milk available
• if there is an issue about a baby's weight, then it can be addressed by adding further breastmilk to his diet (the milk is in your breasts - why use formula?)
• this breastmilk can be added by simply feeding your baby more often and by ensuring no long gaps between feeds/expressings
• topping up with formula will have a negative impact on your supply - the more you do it, the less likely you are to continue breastfeeding successfully

OK?

thanks tiktok i knew the top ups were a pile of crap but was unsure about this quality thing.

tiktok - oh and while I couldnt get dh to relent on the bottle in the evening, it's now entirely ebm, and I'm expressing about 30min earlier (plus another two times during the day) so I'm not panicking about the feed now. As its ebm shes now waking at 3am and 7am instead of just 5/6am so I'm happier with her regular feeding. Thank you for all your advice!

a general thank you to tiktok. i've never asked advice for myself but have learned from loads of things you've told others. THANK YOU!