What's the stupidest advice/comments you have received about pregnancy or childrearing

[Garliccheesechips]

Sorry if this has been done lots of times before (had a search to no avail) but I'm wondering if anyone had encountered jaw-droppingly ridiculous advice from medics/family/friends/colleagues etc when they were up the duff?

A (slightly batty and worryingly skinny) colleague told me that throwing up was a great way to lose the baby weight postpartum so long as you don't 'rely on it too much'.

Oh! I HAVE had one and it came from a midwife at my ante- natal class. She said that bfing was an effective form of contraception.

Just apparently cats are heating seeking baby murderers from non cat lover MIL. My two cats stayed well clear of DS and one of them went a bit bald when DS started teething (stressful for everyone methinks). Although have figured out bottom of high chair is a good place to be when we have chicken for tea.

my mother (an absolute expert on bf NOT) told me that if my DS2 was suckling all night "all he was getting was air" which would be the reason he was grizzly all the time.
So his being grizzly had nothing to do with his dislocated hips and the splint he was in then.......??!!

How does the air get in to your milk ducts?

Breastfeeding causes postnatal depression apparently.

You are all great mothers! Be confident & trust your judgements. You don't need advice from stupid people that are clueless/jealous/interfering. I have brilliant friends who too are first time mums- we share experiences & learn from one another. Mind you I'm also blessed with a fantastic hubby, who's a hands on dad & a very good GP. Remember, a mother always knows best. And your children, just want a healthy, happy mum! X

To clarify a pp who asked how it is possible to strangle a baby when it doesn't actually breathe, compression of the cord stops oxygen flow to the baby.

gallicgreetings i spent nearly an hour trying to work that one out and then sent a text to my older sister who bf her two kids. Got a reply back saying "PMSL our mother is mental"

Re the brestfeeding will make you lose your baby weight one, i actually have lost all my baby weight and more by breast feeding only. Very lucky i know but I'm now in size 8's which I've not fit into since in since I was a teen!

You ladies want to try living in Costa Rica, there is some hilarious unusual advice given out here:

my fave's

when pregnant dont go out when there is an eclipse of the moon or your baby will have birthmarks. I love how this is so specific, my baby DOES have birthmarks and I am constantly asked if I went out when there was an eclipse (and they dont believe me when I say "no"!)

dont bend down or lean forward (or you will end up incontinent)

dont eat... a huge long list of tasty healthy things (tomatoes, black beans, sweetcorn etc) most sugary fatty things appear to be fine though

wear jumpers and a scarf when you go out (its about 30 degrees here!!!) until 40 days have passed after the birth (or you will get very sick)

they also love to see babies swaddled in at least two polyester blankets, whilst wearing hats and thick sleepsuits. I get looked at like a child torturer for letting mine wear a T-shirt and a sunhat.

Can vouch for the losing baby weight with bfing . I am a stone less than pre pregnant days.

BF does burn about 500 cals a day, so would almost definitely aid weightloss unless counteracted accompanied by copious amounts of cake... :D

that might be true (reg bg using a lot of calories), but for me it was all in vain because I was sooooooo hungry all the time and ate loads of cake :)

Yeah bfing did nothing for my weight, in fact I'm only starting to lose weight now that I'm stopping bfing. I think it's because my brain doesn't differentiate thirst and hunger very well so instead of drinking loads like I should have I was eating loads!

My sister's SIL has two DCs 11 mths apart because her DP told her that breast feeding was an effective contraceptive. I know that this is a common misconception, but he is a doctor (albeit a psychiatrist)!

A midwife told me (at about 20 weeks) "not to eat ice cream, watch horror films, or have sex". I think she was trying to give me advice about food poisoning and stress but she didn't explain it well at all. She also had a poor grasp of english and wrote the wrong blood type in all my notes. This was the deciding factor in me changing hospitals.

My, male, 60+ colleague said to me when he found out I was pregnant, "have an epidural as soon as you get to hospital, I don't know why all women don't just have an epidural straight away."
This was just out of the blue.

tanyaah I can totally see where he is coming from - good advice if you ask me!!

DS1 born blue (emergency forceps, me just on G&A / Tens and in shock afterwards) - didn't really 'wake up' for the first few days, in a incubator etc. Midwife 1 gave him some formula as he couldn't suckle at the time and left me some more to give him (i was very ill myself and then decided to keep to the formula). Midwife 2 comes on duty "you do realise this is poison compared to what you could be giving him don't you?"

Thanks ... that's really helpful

And just in case anyone is about to say i should really have tried to express etc. I was very young and very green at the time. MN etc. didn't exist and her comment made me sob and sob.

breathedeeply, he's sort of right, but he didn't give her enough info. I think the generally accepted science is that up to the point where you begin to menstruate again, breastfeeding is as reliable a form of contraception as any of the others IF:

1. You are feeding at least every 3 hours (day and night);
2. No other type of food has been introduced (not even water or formula)
3. You haven't restarted your periods (apologies for repeating).

If at any point you don't meet those three criteria then your protection is straight out the window - ooops :)

Another advocate of bf helping you shift weight. I am now lower than my pre-pregnancy weight (well, I was before the Christmas sweet binge!). However, my boobs have reduced from fulsome funbags to gnat bites now.
My sister, who has successfully reared two children tells me that they'll 'grow back' once I have finished weaning DD. . We'll see....

My mother was very anti my plans to have DS1 by waterbirth in case he drowned. He ended up being a forceps delivery though - haven't told her that I'm planning a waterbirth this time around too.

verbaldiarrhoea you were feeding your baby, you were keeping your baby alive. Nobody on here should dare tell you that you should have tried to express.

Well done for getting through all that - i presume DS1 is a rip roaring bouncing baby/tearaway toddler/all round lovely DS now

My Sikh neighbour was told by her MiL that drinking unpasteurised milk from the mother of a bull calf would make her unborn child a boy.

on many levels.