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1.
Women with flat or inverted nipples cannot
breastfeed.
Not true! Babies do not breastfeed on nipples,
they breastfeed on the breast. Though it
may be easier for a baby to latch on to
a breast with a prominent nipple, it is
not necessary for nipples to stick out.
A proper start will usually prevent problems
and mothers with any shaped nipples can
breastfeed perfectly adequately. In the
past, a nipple shield was frequently suggested
to get the baby to take the breast. This
gadget should not be used, especially in
the first few days! Though it may seem a
solution, its use can result in poor feeding
and severe weight loss, and makes it even
more difficult to get the baby to take the
breast. (See handout #8 Finger
Feeding). If the baby does not take
the breast at first, with proper help, he
will often take the breast later. Breasts
also change in the first few weeks, and
as long as the mother maintains a good milk
supply, the baby will usually latch on by
8 weeks of age no matter what, but get help
and the baby may latch on before. See handout
#26 When
a Baby Refuses to Latch On.
2. A woman who becomes
pregnant must stop breastfeeding. Not
true! If the mother and child desire, breastfeeding
can continue. Some continue nursing the
older child even after delivery of the new
baby. Many women do decide to stop nursing
when they become pregnant because their
nipples are sore, or for other reasons,
but there is no rush or medical necessity
to do so. In fact, there are often good
reasons to continue. The milk supply will
likely decrease during pregnancy, but if
the baby is taking other foods, this is
not a usually a problem. However, some babies
will stop breastfeeding if the milk supply
is low.
3. A baby with diarrhea
should not breastfeed. Not true! The
best treatment for a gut infection (gastroenteritis)
is breastfeeding. Furthermore, it is very
unusual for the baby to require fluids other
than breastmilk. If lactose intolerance
is a problem, the baby can receive lactase
drops, available without prescription, just
before or after the feeding, but this is
rarely necessary in breastfeeding babies.
Get information on its use from the clinic.
In any case, lactose intolerance due to
gastroenteritis will disappear with time.
Lactose free formula is not better than
breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is better than
any formula.
4.
Babies will stay on the breast for two hours
because they like to suck. Not true!
Babies need and like to suck, but how much
do they need? Most babies who stay at the
breast for such a long time are probably
hungry, even though they may be gaining
well. Being on the breast is not the same
as drinking at the breast. Latching the
baby better onto the breast allows the baby
to nurse more effectively, and thus spend
more time actually drinking. You can also
help the baby to drink more by expressing
milk into his mouth when he is no longer
swallows on his own (See handout #15 Breast
Compression). Babies younger than 5-6
weeks often fall asleep at the breast because
the flow of milk is slow, not necessarily
because they have had enough to eat. See
also our videos.
5. Babies need to know
how to take a bottle. Therefore a bottle
should always be introduced before the baby
refuses to take one. Not true! Though
many mothers decide to introduce a bottle
for various reasons, there is no reason
a baby must learn how to use one. Indeed,
there is no great advantage in a baby's
taking a bottle. Since Canadian women are
supposed to receive 52 weeks maternity leave,
the baby can start eating solids around
6 months, well before the mother goes back
to her outside work. The baby can even take
fluids or solids that are quite liquid off
a spoon. At about 6 months of age, the baby
can start learning how to drink from a cup,
and though it may take several weeks for
him to learn to use it efficiently, he will
learn. If the mother is going to introduce
a bottle, it is better she wait until the
baby has been nursing well for 4-6 weeks,
and then give it only occasionally. Sometimes,
however, babies who take the bottle well
at 6 weeks, refuse it at 3 or 4 months even
if they have been getting bottles regularly
(smart babies). Do not worry, and proceed
as above with solids and spoon. Giving a
bottle when breastfeeding is not going well
is not a good idea and usually makes the
breastfeeding even more difficult. For your
sake and the baby's do not try to "starve
the baby into submission". Get help.
6. If a mother has surgery,
she has to wait a day before restarting
nursing. Not true! The mother can breastfeed
immediately after surgery, as soon as she
is awake and up to it. Neither the medications
used during anaesthesia, nor pain medications
nor antibiotics used after surgery require
the mother to interrupt breastfeeding, except
under exceptional circumstances. Enlightened
hospitals will accommodate breastfeeding
mothers and babies when either the mother
or the baby needs to be admitted to the
hospital, so that breastfeeding can continue.
Many rules that restrict breastfeeding are
more for the convenience of staff than for
the benefit of mothers and babies.
7.
Breastfeeding twins is too difficult to
manage. Not true! Breastfeeding twins
is easier than bottle feeding twins, if
breastfeeding is going well. This is why
it is so important that a special effort
should be made to get breastfeeding started
right when the mother has had twins (See
handouts #1 Breastfeeding—Starting
Out Right and #1a The
Importance of Skin to Skin Contact).
Some women have breastfed triplets exclusively.
This obviously takes a lot of work and time,
but twins and triplets take a lot of work
and time no matter how the infants are fed.
8. Women whose breasts
do not enlarge or enlarge only a little
during pregnancy, will not produce enough
milk. Not true! There are a very few
women who cannot produce enough milk (though
they can continue to breastfeed by supplementing
with a lactation aid). Some of these women
say that their breasts did not enlarge during
pregnancy. However, the vast majority of
women whose breasts do not seem to enlarge
during pregnancy produce more than enough
milk.
9.
A mother whose breasts do not seem full
has little milk in the breast. Not true!
Breasts do not have to feel full to produce
plenty of milk. It is normal that a breastfeeding
woman's breasts feel less full as her body
adjusts to her baby's milk intake. This
can happen suddenly and may occur as early
as two weeks after birth or even earlier.
The breast is never "empty" and
also produces milk as the baby nurses. Is
the baby getting milk from the breast? That’s
what’s important, not how full the
breast feels. See our videos.
10. Breastfeeding in
public is not decent. Not true! It is
the humiliation and harassment of mothers
who are nursing their babies that is not
decent. Women who are trying to do the best
for their babies should not be forced by
other people's hang-ups or lack of understanding
to stay home or feed their babies in public
washrooms. Those who are offended need only
avert their eyes. Children will not be damaged
psychologically by seeing a woman breastfeeding.
On the contrary, they might learn something
important, beautiful and fascinating. They
might even learn that breasts are not only
for selling beer. Other women who have left
their babies at home to be bottle fed when
they went out might be encouraged to bring
the baby with them the next time.
11. Breastfeeding a
child until 3 or 4 years of age is abnormal
and bad for the child, causing an overdependent
relationship between mother and child. Not
true! Breastfeeding for 2-4 years was the
rule in most cultures since the beginning
of human time on this planet. Only in the
last 100 years or so has breastfeeding been
seen as something to be limited. Children
nursed into the third year are not overly
dependent. On the contrary, they tend to
be very secure and thus more independent.
They themselves will make the step to stop
breastfeeding (with gentle encouragement
from the mother), and thus will be secure
in their accomplishment.
12. If the baby is off
the breast for a few days (weeks), the mother
should not restart breastfeeding because
the milk sours. Not true! The milk is
as good as it ever was. Breastmilk in the
breast is not milk or formula in a bottle.
13. After exercise a
mother should not breastfeed. Not true!
There is absolutely no reason why a mother
would not be able to breastfeed after exercising.
The study that purported to show that babies
were fussy feeding after mother exercising
was poorly done and contradicts the everyday
experience of millions of mothers.
14. A breastfeeding
mother cannot get a permanent or dye her
hair. Not true! I have no idea where
this comes from.
15. Breastfeeding is
blamed for everything. True! Family,
health professionals, neighbours, friends
and taxi drivers will blame breastfeeding
if the mother is tired, nervous, weepy,
sick, has pain in her knees, has difficulty
sleeping, is always sleepy, feels dizzy,
is anemic, has a relapse of her arthritis
(migraines, or any chronic problem) complains
of hair loss, change of vision, ringing
in the ears or itchy skin. Breastfeeding
will be blamed as the cause of marriage
problems and the other children acting up.
Breastfeeding is to blame when the mortgage
rates go up and the economy is faltering.
And whenever there is something that does
not fit the "picture book" life,
the mother will be advised by everyone that
it will be better if she stops breastfeeding.
Questions? (416) 813-5757
(option 3) or drjacknewman@sympatico.ca
or my book Dr. Jack Newman’s Guide
to Breastfeeding (called The Ultimate Breastfeeding
Book of Answers in the USA)
Handout #13. Still More
Breastfeeding Myths. Revised January 2005
Written by Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC. ©
2005
This handout may be copied
and distributed without further permission,
on the condition that it is not used in
any context in which the WHO code on the
marketing of breastmilk substitutes is violated
1. Breastfeeding:
Starting out right
a) The
importance of Skin-to-Skin contact
2. Colic in the Breastfed Baby
3. a) Sore Nipples
b) Treatments
for Sore Nipple and Sore Breasts
4. Is my baby getting enough?
5. Using a Lactation Aid
6. Using Gentian Violet
7. Breastfeeding and Jaundice
8. Finger Feeding
9. a) You should continue breastfeeding
(Medications and breastfeeding)
b) You
should continue breastfeeding (Illness in the mother or baby)
10. Breastfeeding and other foods
11. Some breastfeeding myths
12. More breastfeeding myths
13. Still more breastfeeding
myths
14. More and more breastfeeding
myths
15. Breast compression
16. Starting solid foods
17. What to feed the baby when
the mother is working outside the home
18. How to know a health professional
is not supportive of breastfeeding
19. a) Domperidone 1
b) Domperidone
2
20. Fluconazole
21. Breastfeed a toddler –
Why on earth?
22. Blocked ducts and
mastitis
23. Breastfeeding your adopted baby
24. Miscellaneous treatments for problems
25. Slow weight gain after
the first few months
26. When the Baby refuses to
latch on
27. Expressing Milk
28. Toxins and Infant Feeding
How breastmilk protects Newborns
Risks of formula feeding
Breastfeeding and guilt
Candida protocol
Protocol to increase the intake
of Breastmilk by the Baby ("Not enough milk")
When latching
Protocols for Induced Lactation
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