Why am I the only one who believes in my milk?

[CherryChoc]

Sorry just a tiny little rant.

DP made a comment last night that he was concerned I am not feeding DS (4 months) enough. Don't know where he got that from as DS is happy, healthy, alert etc with no weight gain issues. So I asked and he said DS seems to be asleep all the time, and there was a misunderstanding about weight gain too - at 10 weeks a GP took his weight and marked it on the 9 week mark by mistake. I didn't notice and thought his weight gain was still accelerating, as it had been up to that point. Based on this I estimated his weight at 3 months to be around 13lb. When I got him weighed he was 12lb 12oz and it looked like he had dipped sharply on the chart - but when I got home and realised the mistake, re-plotted it looked fine and like a normal breastfed baby's pattern (ie more sharply up, then levelling out at 3m) I am due to get him weighed today (wasn't going to bother but will now for DP to see).

Anyway I was speaking to my mum today and she said hmm well you're not eating very well are you, maybe your milk isn't very good quality - you need to eat a healthy balanced diet for him to get the vitamins.

Now - I know I'm not eating fantastically well (really shouldn't let DP do the shopping!) - but am I wrong in thinking that he will get all the nutrients etc from my milk first, and my body will suffer if there are not enough?

CherryChoc - I had exactly this conversation with the HV, my DH, my MiL and my mum with DS two months ago when DS was 4 months. To be clear, DS was born a few weeks early at about seven pounds and then was 19 pounds (at four months) - he's six months now and we haven't had him weighed recently but I reckon he's about 25lbs and excessively tall (he's bursting out the bottom of the legs of 9-12 month suits).

So if I get the same rubbish advice as you do with a monster sized son, please realise that people just like to have an opinion (stupid as it may be) and you can comfortably ignore them.

It would be good for you to eat well for your long term health (I achieved this by ordering the groceries form Ocado online!) but your little one is thriving and you are doing marvellously.

WE BELIEVE IN YOUR MILK!!!

It sounds like he is doing very well and you don't need to worry - but re the diet and quality of breastmilk thing.. I am sure it does make a difference to some people. I breastfed for at least a year with both my sons and before they started on solids I definitely found that on the days I didn't eat heartily that they were hungrier. I especially found that if I didn't eat loads of protein in whatever form and drink loads of water that they were not as satisfied. My SIL however who is a veggie and eats like a bird claims she doesnt have to eat or drink any extra and it makes no difference. She also breastfed for England but her sons were rubbish sleepers. Mine slept really well.

Take from that what you will.

Iv been bf my boy for just over a year now and he has gained weight and healthy. At times babies can lose weight for all sorts of reasons it isnt due to mothers milk. Ivnever been a healthy eater and can go a whole day without proper meals and still produce enough for him n more. At the begining I thought maybe my milk wasnt good enough after hearing the same stuff but I begto differ now and am glad that I stuck with my decision to bf.....n am still going
There might be times wen you feel there aint enough for baby or breast feel empty let him suckle on you when he needs to and in a day or so it flows like a river....keep up with it and dont listen to anyone n it goes without saying men think they know everything

Cherrychoc, basically what I originally meant was that it's in your entire family's best interests if you try to eat as well as you can in order to stay as healthy as you can.

It's importnat that us mums stay healthy to be there to cope with all the stuff that we have to. It's a cliche but it's a 24 hour a day 7 day a week job!

After all, as they say, "you are what you eat"

Anyway, lets hope I've put that one to bed now!

you are right. and the baby will get all the nutrients from you but make sure you keep eating alot too because at six months i suddenly lost loads of weight from breast feeding and i didn;t really have that much to lose and it made me feel exhausted and i have been eating six big meals a day since then and still can't put it back on and although I'm still bf my ds at 1 year with enough milk I do feel pretty wan and hate being so skinny

Actually, no, you haven't put that one to bed, Gunner

You were just wrong about breastfeeding and diet, and a mite sarcastic, too (post about A* milk). And I haven't seen you say 'whoops' or withdraw

No one is saying it's good for mothers (or anyone) to eat badly.

But perpetuating myth and anxiety about babies' being affected in this way just isn't helpful.

Don't you think mothers worry enough without creating more stuff to worry about?

cherrychoc - your milk is obviously doing a brilliant job! I think men feel the need to add 'felpful' comments as there's not much else they can do to make their child grow and thrive when we're bf our babies.

marge2 - as a bf veggie I can tell you that my daughter was a brilliant sleeper from very early on, and my son is rubbish and he's 14 months, so I don't think it has anything to do with my breastmilk. You're lucky to have 2 great sleepers!

Oh get a life Tiktok - people are always wittering on about what a natural thing bfeedig is - and it is - so it shouldn't cause that level of anxiety. It will if people like you endlessly over-analyse it though!

No wonder so many people are put off or feel like failures when they are actively encouraged to over alanlyse it by people like you.

No Gunner.
It's no wonder people get put off and feel like failures when ill informed posters like you come on and perpetuate tripe.

Have you been on here long?
If you haven't you should know that Tiktok knows more about breastfeeding than all of us put together and is one of the most higlhy respected posters on MN.

Now clear orf.

Cherry I haven't read the whole thread, but I believe in your milk!

Keep at it, you are doing the right thing for you and your baby!

And if anyone is over aalysing, it's you, wittering on about nutrition and 'poor quality milk'.

Toktok is (like most people who know what they are on about)advocating putting baby to the breast and stopping worrying.

Thank god for people like tiktok who are able to come on here and correct myths and crap spouted about breastfeeding in order to ensure parents are correctly informed about breastfeeding rather than believing the crap.

Thanks for the back-up, moondog, herc, TBE

Gunner - I could have been rude to you and in fact composed a post which I deleted instead of sending, and which was harder hitting....I thought 'she's just trying to help, and now feels embarrassed about looking like a knobend, so I'll pull my punches.'

Wish I hadn't now

Over-analysing??? You're the one that's doing that, going on (and on) about diet and nutrition. And yet you manage to mention twice that I am doing it.....how odd.

well i have been bf for the last 4 1/2 years without ever eating sardines and my boys seem fine.my milk must be A. I have wine and chocolate.and i take painkillers when i need to and other meds when prescribed and suitable for bf.

and i get bloody annoyed when people infer that unless you follow a macrobiotic or organic diet and only eat the best food all the time and never have alcohol or the odd carry out and never take any meds then your child woudl be better off with formula

guess who benefits from this "advice"? is it mums or babies? no its formula manufacturers

Aye Kristina.
So that the vast majority of women who probably eat a fair bit of crap, like a drink, maybe even the odd fag, then think 'God, it all sounds too restricting and something only holier than thou earth mothers do. Better off with formula and all its 'natural defences that gently support the support system''.

Loada shite.

I couldn't wait to get back into the wine after I'd had a baby. Not something to be proud of or ashamed of either way but I simply carried on doing exactly what I had done, which was getting into good food and enjoying plenty of nice wine.

LMAO at Gunnerbean's last post. I take it you've not bothered to look at many threads on this Forum before taking a pop at someone offering advice.

All I ever set out to say is that the OP should try to eat healthily both for her own sake and the sake of her family.

Why on earth would I want to "back down" from saying that? On the contrary, I wholeheartedly stand by it.

I have certainly never tried to perpetuate any myths about breastfeeding. I have no agenda where it is concerned. I have acknowledged it is best for babies, wherever possible, and I stand by that too. Why should that rile you? No, on second thoughts don't bother to regail me with the reasons why because I've just remembered I've got some paint I need to watch drying.

The OP got my point anyway and that's all I care about so now Moondog, why don't you get down off your soapbox and fuck off and crack open another bottle of that wine you love so much