Breastfeeding myths-BUSTED

[EdieMcredie]

Im so sick of hearing rubbish about breastfeeding-one of my friends simply didn't breastfeed because she was told some complete rubbish by a HV that put her off-how terrible.

What have you heard/been told about breastfeeding that you later found out was incorrect?

Yes, one is waterier than the other, the foremilk is less creamy than hindmilk, but I've often seen people saying ther baby isn't getting enough hindmilk and panicing, but it doesn't work like that!

oh, know what you mean...but if a baby only latches on for a short time, is there not a possiblilty they don't give themselfs time enough to get "enough" hindmilk...as it takes longer time to come through?

Isn't it somehting about the longer a Baby feeds the creamier the milk gets...or is that a myth?

Iirc, foremilk / hindmilk is like turning on a hot tap, as if the foremilk were the cold water & the hindmilk the hot. As the hot tap runs, it starts off cold & gradually gets warmer. There isn't some invisible "switch" where it suddenly turns into hindmilk.

Pukkapatch I wasn't saying you don't need to drink water, but I have heard it said so often that you need to drink lots & lots & lots of water to increase or even maintain your supply. Breastfeeding can make you thirsty just like any activity, but it is a myth that you must drink loads more fluids than normal.

As for the losing weight, the way I've heard it described is that during pregnancy your body stores extra fat specifically for the purpose of making milk. So that if you don't bf, you have to work extra hard in order to burn off those additional fat deposits and get back to your pre-pg weight.

As for burning 500 extra calories I've heard it put at 250 calories, 100 calories and 500 calories on different occasions. I wonder if it's more accurate to say it burns up to 500 calories a day?

I think as with all these things, some of these myths may have a small basis in fact.

So, for example, "'if breastfeeding is hurting you're not doing it right' is a myth" might well have basis in fact, in that if breastfeeding is hurting a lot after the first few days, baby might still be getting enough milk (i.e. you're not necessarily doing it "wrong") but a few subtle changes in positioning and attachment might decrease the pain drastically.

I read that if you are hot your body assumes that your baby is hot too, and therefore more in need of a bit longer drink of the quenching foremilk before the hindmilk.

How amazing is that?

"you don't know how much the baby is getting" - okay so I can't measure it in ounces, but I can tell you he has had 1 and a half tit fulls!!

formula fed babies sleep better annoys me too - how do you feel when you're absolutely stuffed with food? Knackered, sleepy, lethargic - not a state I want to make my baby! I don't like to see mothers making their ff baby drink the last oz - bf babies don't get that kind of pressure!

I thought the weight one was a bit of a myth as BF makes your uterus go down quicker and so that give the appearence of loosing wight quicker?

Switching to ff didn't make any of my first 3 babies sleep any better. So imo that is a myth.
Also ime it's not possible to force a baby to drink more formula milk. They either turn their head away and refuse it or if they're a bit greedy they just sick it back up anyway.

My appetite never returned to normal until after I stopped bfing so I didn't lose any weight until then. I seemed to be almost constantly hungry while bf.

well I've always had a large appetite but since DS turned 6 months have lost weight without trying. Am now half a stone to a stone lighter than pre pg. Although that could also be all the running round after him

I'm definitely losing weight and have done both times while bf. DS2 fed constantly for the first few months (in reflux pain) and the weight just dropped off - despite me eating way more than I normally do. But I know it's not the same for everyone - sorry !
Am actually wondering how to stop it now because my boobs are disappearing to nothing - hmm losing weight in the wrong places...

hv (who else would it be) told me that if i gave formula i'd have more milk. apparently there is a finite amount and it will run out too quickly unless supplemented.

The losing weight thing: it seems to vary from person to person. Some people do lose weight very quickly, and others, like me, hang on to the weight until they have finished bf.

I have read/heard that the reason for hanging onto the weight while breastfeeding is so that if there is a famine you still have large resrves on which to feed your baby. Is this the case? With ds1 and dd I did dramatically lose weight when stopped bf, and still feeding ds2 and haning on to the fat

oh fishie...if it wasn't so sad it would be hilarious really...hm...visualizing the Boob as a tank with a tab now...

fishie there's no need to worry just give one of the formula companies a call when your guage shows you're getting low and they'll come and top you up.

My MIL said i was 'starving' my baby by only BF! Apparently formula is much better, because if you are small you won't make enough milk and that was why my DD was crying!!

Some of these are brilliant

I may have to print thread and show to friends who are thinking about breastfeeding or those that are put off due to the ridiculous 'facts' they hear.

I have a lot of pregnant/trying to get pregnant friends.

I have to agree with the loosing weight one - complete myth in this house.

Fed DS1 (what felt like) constantly, ate a sensible diet (when I could actually get to the kitchen to get some food) and didn't lose an oz - infact I put more weight on!!!!

Do however agree with switching to FF doesn't help them sleep. DS1 (BF) nightmare sleeper - just the way he was. DS2 (FF) slept through from 3 weeks old ), DS3 (FF)- 8 months now and just started sleeping through 8-5/6 in the last week.

That eating grapes would make my milk acid.

I suppose it's even possible that it isn't a myth. I've heard it from one of my aunts and my lovely postnatal midwife. I just assumed it's the usual British lingering suspicion of any food that hasn't been boiled for several hours, but would be willing to be told that in fact it isn't a myth.

floosy - it's rubbish, and no matter how lovely your midwife was, she should be hauled in to retrain for saying rubbish like that.

Sorry to follow up again, but you know, it is outrageous to scare women like this. I mean, to give newborn babies breastmilk that was acid would be highly dangerous. When mothers eat something, it has to go through their stomach first before it gets anywhere near the milk. Grapes are nutritious and nice to eat. Why put people off?

ah, i'm glad it's a myth because i have told it as a hilarious story to other women, including my sister who had the same thing from the same aunt, and ridiculed it to them. Partly because in my grandmother's family, grapes are the traditional present to new Mums. The thing is though, the tradition also includes a bottle of a specific wine, which of course does cross to the breastmilk (doesn't it?) so the grapes thing perhaps doesn't appear as nuts as it otherwise would.

i certainly didn't manage to bf for too long but I doubt that acid milk had anything to do with it... though the discouraging family environment had everything to do with it...

It's the alcohol that passes to the breastmilk (in tiny, tiny quantities), though, choosy, not the grape part

Sorry. The grapes 'ban' is nuts