Breastfeeding Myths Part 3
Please read the previous Part of Breastfeeding Myths before continue this Third Part:
+ Breastfeeding Myths Part 1
+ Breastfeeding Myths Part 2
One day while we were visiting my husband’s parents, I had a bottle of expressed breast milk to feed our daughter. (My in-laws were very uncomfortable with nursing, so I did it out of respect for them.) My father-in-law grabbed the bottle, held it up to the light, and exclaimed, “That’s not milk! It’s too thin! Here…” He went to the refrigerator, and brandished a half-gallon jug of milk in my face. “This is milk! No wonder that baby’s so skinny!”
It happens. Don’t let it get to you. Your baby is not a calf, and you don’t eat grass and moo.
“Breastfeeding mothers can’t eat certain foods.”
A nursing mother can eat anything she wants to, including spicy food and garlic. These flavors do alter the taste of the breast milk, but babies seem to enjoy the variety. Occasionally, babies do become sensitive to foods in the mother’s diet and develop uncomfortable gas or become restless and inconsolable. Common culprits include chocolate, caffeine, and dairy products, but there are others. A nursing mother should try to eliminate these foods from her diet before giving up and weaning the baby.
“You won’t have enough milk because your breasts are too small.”
Pre-pregnancy breast size usually has nothing to do with the ability to produce milk. Fatty deposits in the breasts determine their size, not the number of milk ducts. While breasts usually swell a cup size or two during pregnancy, you’ll be able to nurse just as well even if they don’t. Engorgement following delivery isn’t necessary, either.
“You’ll have to wean when you go back to work.”
Depending on your job, it’s quite possible that you can continue a wonderful nursing relationship even after you return to work. Many employers are becoming more supportive of breastfeeding mothers by providing breaks and areas for expressing milk, and there are effective, inexpensive pumps that make it easy to do so. But even if you can’t pump during work hours, nursing while you’re home with the baby can still continue. Your breasts will adjust to the schedule, and while you may produce less milk and not be able to satisfy all of the baby’s nutritional needs, he’ll still benefit from the closeness and comfort of nursing.
There are many other misconceptions about breastfeeding. If you have any concerns or questions, discuss them with your doctor, midwife, or a lactation consultant. La Leche League, an organization that supports nursing mothers and advocates breastfeeding, can provide information and direct you to a local support group.
Tag:Breastfeeding Myths|Breastfeeding|
“If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you Subscribe to my RSS Feed.”
Parents come here from these terms:
foods nurseing mothers should eat
Other Baby & Parenting Tips:
- Is Breastfeeding in Public Widely Accepted? Connie can only shake her head seeing how something as...
- HIV and Breastfeeding-Risks and Benefits Although, in most cases breastfeeding a new born infant is...
- What’s Best For Baby is Breastfeeding Mother nature set it up that breastfeeding would be the...
- Importance of Breast Feeding Breast feeding is the natural method for feeding a human...
- Top 5 Tips to Increase Your Milk Supply Summary For a new mother, it can be quite upsetting...
