My GP's view on EBF - I'm not happy

[lyndyloo]

GP really p'd me off yesterday. Went to see her about a couple of things and it came up on my records that I had mastitis recently. She was incredulous that I am still feeding DD at 15 months and said 'it's not doing me or her any good' and 'no wonder I am so run down' blah blah blah. I quoted WHO guidelines to no effect so then just shut up and let her rabbit on about how DD doesn't need the milk now etc. (Maybe she doesn't but isn't bf about more than that????)

Anyway just ventilating - feel a bit miffed and don't like the lecture. No point in complaining - she's a bit old school tbh but feeling a bit down and really could have done without the lecture. (This was on the back of asking a HV a simple question on Monday and being told 'don't know - ask your GP' in an amazingly off hand manner! God - if some of these 'professionals' utilised their 'customer service skills' like that in the private sector, they would get the flaming sack!)

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

effie, I cannot say whether it is bf-ing or running after a toddler. But both of them combined will allow you to bring on the cakes.

My ds is also one and does not sleep for toffee. I am still bf-ing him.

2 months ago, I went back to WOH. Due to consequent separation, I bf less and sat on my arse more (office job). Whereas I too ate like a horse and was painfully thin, when I went back to work, the weight piled on almost immediately.

The last 2 days I was at home with an ill ds, full on bf-ing all day and night and running around. I have lost so much weight over those 2 days ...

Ah but I WOH 4 days a week with free lunch. Am getting away with it so far...

effie Is it a desk job?

Starlight, I am very interested in what kind of job you do. I am a solicitor, took six months leave, and now am back part-time. That means in the office from 9am to 5pm, and some work after DS goes to sleep in the evenings. I am still bfing and pumping three times a day at work. I am not travelling for work now, and my boss has given me a list of things I can do and get good at doing to remain on partner/counsel track. At DS's one year birthday we planned to review this schedule, and I think I will stay part-time but make myself available to travel again.

Anyway, just interested in what job you do and how you're planning to cope.

Mostly desk job, with some walking around and clibling the odd ladder. I'm sure it will catch up with me eventually

((((lyndy)))) sorry about the stupid attitude of your Health care professionals It's annoying, isn't it! Just be glad that you obviously know what you are doing and why and don't depend on their advice.

BF does not make you any more run down than doing the host of other things being a mummy + plus working o/s the home and / or then coming home to make tea, etc, makes you feel run down.

What would make ME run down is dealing with a sicky toddler who has more severe illnesses and up more due to said illnesses then still have to go to work the next day, etc.

no matter where a child lives, his immune system does not mature till they are around 5 yo.

My dd comes in contact with snotty kids all the time. When she wakes up sputtering from her snots, I feed her back to sleep. Case closed. More sleep for everyone.

yup

Yes, I work 9-5 every day.

I am still bfing on demand throughout the night and nanny gives DS expressed milk throughout the day.

I would like to keep our bf relationship going for as long as possible. This means, potentially, until he is 3 or 4. I don't know how realistic this is with my current career, or schedule, or travelling for work (what, do I take him with me??), or etc. the various commitments of a working mum, but I want to try my hardest.

I haven't felt really awake in ages, but I feel like I decided to have a child, and I decided to come back to work (I am the main breadwinner in the family), so I must carry on with a minimum of complaining.

So I come onto mumsnet to complain!

RoRo: I've stropped bfing during the day (stopped at about 10 mo IIRC). Just when I am home. MUCH less hassle, my milk has adapted and DS doesn't seem to mind

Not to be daft, but what does DS eat during the day, then?

And, out of curiousity, is DS with a childminder, or family, during the day while you work? Was there ever a time when this was particularly difficult, i.e, leaving was hard for DS?

Starlight, that doesn't sound like a bad deal at all. Three days a week, wow, that would be heaven. Five days in a row apart from DS is hard. That's why co-sleeping is so important to me. I want him to see my face as often as possible.

A bottle of wine sounds pretty heaven, too...

Anna888 - sorry for hijack - just curious to know how your daughter has managed to drop her daytime nap since starting school. Both mine used to sleep for up to three hours after lunch in in petite section - siesta was compulsory and they let them sleep as long as they liked. I remember the late bedtimes as a result and so the cycle continued - thank goodness those days are behind me. For the record I breastfed both mine for about 17 months and never found it that tiring (although various well meaning types seemed to think that it should be). I always thought being a mother of a toddler was tiring - breastfeeding made me sit down and take a break!

RoRo: I went back to work for 3 days (later 4 days) when DS was 6 mo. He's with a cm for 2 days and DH for 2 days (I'm v lucky in that DH is freelance and can do this). His eating is a bit erratic (peas are good, other stuff might be rejected). He was having cow's milk during the day when I stopped bf, but he's not too keen so now (at 12 mo) has just water or diluted juice, but has yoghurt and cheese. We're prob a bit lax on food, but he's gaining weight well and growing and developing rapidly.

He cries when I leave the house but enjoys his days at the cm (she takes him to playgorups and other daytime stuff that we don't do). Spending the day with his dad isn't an issue as he's been in on the childcare from day one, really. DS is getting a bit clingy atm - prefers me if I'm at home and if he wakes at night - but I think that's his age.

I'm certainly happier working, DS benefits from a)spending time with his dad without me interfering and b) socialising with other children at the cms. So no complaints!

That's a great way to look at it. As my DS is just 7 mo, I am still very mummy-centric about his needs, but truth be told he loves the cm, and my mother is coming from the States to live with us, so DS will have Nana to take him all over town (which I am sure she will do).

Sorry about hijacking the thread, but I was seeing some themes very similar to what I am going through at the mo (or thinking about, even), which is reassuring to say the least.

Can you be run down breastfeeding an almost 12 month old, (presumably as per guidelines - breast is best and cows milk only after a year). Only asking because I feel I neeeeeed a weekend in a boutique hotel with a spa attached, and I thought that was just me, but now I am thinking it is more a medical requirement?

Thanks Starlight, that makes me feel a lot better about the cm issue...Unfortunately I can't be everywhere at once.

That is an incredibly varied diet! Good for you. I am not sure whether DS will get much more than breastmilk and the occasional banana to stuff in his face before he's one...