18/09/2020
Every day, I receive questions from breastfeeding mothers who ask about conflicting, inconsistent information about breastfeeding at a critical time when they need to know what to do immediately. Everybody sounds like an expert - from their own mothers to friends and health professionals. But it is no easy feat to distinguish helpful advice from well intended non-sense.
Here is a selected collection of recent unscientific and illogical advice from health professionals. On reading them collected, they have the cumulative effect of being almost unbelievable. And yet, time and again, bad advice comes up: from the traditional "you don't have any breastmilk yet in the first few days" and "your ni***es are flat or otherwise unsuitable for breastfeeding" and "it's normal to have sore ni***es" to the following I have gleaned recently:
1. My son (3.5 years old) had been sick 5 times in 5 months while staying at home. My daughter has not been sick once. Could my breast milk still be protecting her? The paediatrician did not think that at this point breast milk helps with immunity. (My comment: Why would there be a time limit to how long the immunity of breastfeeding lasts?)
2. My 9 month old baby is still very dependent on breastfeeding, does not show any sign of self weaning. However, my doctor only wants the baby to have breastmilk as a "snack" and not his main meal. (My comment: I cannot even imagine how one differentiates a "snack" from a "main meal")
3. I am having a CT Scan of my neck with contrast dye. I have asked a local lactation consultant and they weren't sure if I needed to wait before breastfeeding and the radiologist had conflicting answers – initially saying I could feed immediately after and then stating I should pump and dump. My 20 month old son still breastfeeds on demand and he feeds at night. (My comment: Yes, she can breastfeed, no need to "pump and dump".)
4. Almost every time after latching, the baby vomits a lot. My doctor explained that it could be because the baby is not able to handle the multiple holes from our ni**le as there is only one hole in the milk bottle. (My comment: Seriously, is this a joke and someone is having me on?)
5. My baby is soon to start solids. A local pediatrician told me that mixing solid foods with my breastmilk can be dangerous since it can break down nutrients in solid food, therefore, making it of no value. Is this true? Is it safe to mix breastmilk with for example pureed sweet potato? (My comment: Seriously, is this a joke and someone is having me on?)