So now when my breastfeeding patients ask for a bottle....

[dicar123]

Well, I would have been your target audience for this 12 years ago. Do they like to make grown women cry?

I was 110% committed to breastfeeding and rooming in. But 10 hours after the child was born, it was 2 am and he was fussy as could be. Too fussy to settle down and try to nurse. I was exhausted and frustrated. The nurse came in, poked him in the foot, and came back to tell me his blood sugar was low. That's why he was fussy. She suggested whisking him off to the nursery and giving him a bottle while I tried to get some rest.

I nearly kissed the woman! After that, my son and I settled into a wonderful breastfeeding routine (well, except for that little refusing to EVER take a bottle, thing) that lasted 14 months. Sometimes, I think we moms need to cut ourselves some slack.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Well, I would have been your target audience for this 12 years ago. Do they like to make grown women cry?

I was 110% committed to breastfeeding and rooming in. But 10 hours after the child was born, it was 2 am and he was fussy as could be. Too fussy to settle down and try to nurse. I was exhausted and frustrated. The nurse came in, poked him in the foot, and came back to tell me his blood sugar was low. That's why he was fussy. She suggested whisking him off to the nursery and giving him a bottle while I tried to get some rest.

I nearly kissed the woman! After that, my son and I settled into a wonderful breastfeeding routine (well, except for that little refusing to EVER take a bottle, thing) that lasted 14 months. Sometimes, I think we moms need to cut ourselves some slack.

My son had low blood sugars at birth. His formula was prescribed. Why? Colostrum is protein (as in very low carb and that is what you first nurse with) and the formula has carbohydrates that were needed to raise his blood sugar.

And me being the skeptic--allowed it, but cross checked it with the la leche league. (was misinformed that my last child before "needed" formula)--it is actually one of the few "blessed" formula interventions. You simply cannot raise blood sugar with colostrum and your baby will get sick if they don't get it raised.

Due to those first two feeds (he had to have formula until he had 2 good blood readings in a row that his sugars were normal)--we had a tough go that first week. But after that, we managed an unsupplemented nursing relationship just fine.

It is sad that when it was truly medically necessary , I was skeptical b/c I had been misinformed (aka lied to) in the past that FF was necessary for something when it truly wasn't for that particular child.

We need to be able to trust the L&D and Mother/Baby staff and if they are inconsistent and pushing an agenda--versus simply conveying truth....it just isn't healthy for mom and baby whatever their feeding decisions may be.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I just have to ask, what happens to the moms whose babies end up in the NICU? As if they don't have anything to worry about... I speak from experience. That poor kid was breast-fed, bottle-fed, and tube-fed.

I'm not blaming you or anything, I just don't know why the "powers that be" are enforcing this, and I hope they're not doing this to the NICU mommies.

Yep, I went thru that too. DD14 was a preemie and born with pneumonia. She was at Brenners Childrens Hospital for the first 7 days of her life. This hospital is about an hour away from where we live. So, I pumped like crazy. I couldn't even nurse her when I was there, because they wouldn't let us hold her very long (they didn't know exactly what was wrong at the time). The lactation consultant was so sweet. And thank goodness she was there, because I had never used a breast pump before. My first daughter there was no need, I was a SAHM so I nursed whenever. I was worried that when DD14 came home, she would only take a bottle. It was just the opposite.

I would just like to add that Sunday, my daughter Hannah will be 15 years old. She is healthy, thank God. There were so many babies in the NICU that most likely didn't make it. It was heartbreaking.
Hannah was born April 18, 1995. She was sent to the childrens hospital the night of her birth. I forced my hospital to release me the next morning (I tried like crazy to make them discharge me when they took her, but I had given birth only 2 hours before). The morning of April 19, 1995, we went to the childrens hospital and for the next 7 days, we were totally ignorant of what happened that morning in Oklahoma City. I remember going to the cafeteria in the hospital and there was a newspaper stand. I didn't stop to read it, but there was a picture of a man standing on rubble. I assumed it was an earthquake somewhere. We stayed with Hannah every day, all day and all night til they kicked us out. We didn't know until we brought Hannah home what happened that day. Can you believe it's been 15 years?

 

[marcyinPA]

I tried nursing my first DS (who will be 15 soon). It worked in the hospital, but once I got home, I could not get him to nurse! I was recovering from a c-section, sleep deprived, emotional, hormonal....the last thing I needed was a lecture. What I really needed was someone to assure me that giving him a bottle was probably the best thing I could do for him at that moment. In an emotional panic, I contacted a name on the breast feeding list they gave me at the hospital...and I did not get that assurance at all. Instead, I got off the phone feeling worse and more guilty, and still having to deal with a screaming newborn. Luckily, my DH and my mom gently took him from me and fed him the bottle...Very smart move on their part, at least I felt so!!

 

[cassiez76]

that's pretty horrible to do to new moms. the powers that be are usually never in touch with a hormonal, sleep deprived mom.

when i had my son, i was told by everybody that i had to breastfeed. i didn't want to.

well in the hospital, he latches on perfectly. everything was good until the next nite. i had him on one side, then the other. gave him to the nurse so i could get some sleep and 2 hours later she was back with him. he was on each side again for another hour. this was repeated about 4 hours until the nurse came back and said he's trying to suck on the nurses arm i think he's hungry again...i said well he's not coming near my "girls" ( i was more colorful in language at 4.30am ) she finally saw how red my headlights were and said you want me to give him formula?

i was beyond thrilled with that decision. what they failed to tell me was that since i have pretty much zero thyroid, my milk wouldn't come in like it does on normal people. and 2...that my son wasn't getting anything that entire time and dropped a full pound.

my milk finally did come in over a week later, but it only covered the bottom of a bottle liner. i could read through it

this hospital was supposed to have the best lactation dept in the area...i call BS on that one! i couldn't have been the 1st patient with thyroid/milk problems.

but really...if the nurse had started rattling off a list of things, i know i would have fallen asleep after that horrible nite and raw headlights!! lol and i'd have thanked her in the morning

he got drops of breastmilk, but was a similac sensitive baby and i didn't feel any more or less connected to him when i gave him the bottle as opposed to the girls. i stopped breastfeeding when he was 2 months old when my psoriasis came back worse than before, but that's another story!

but now when i have a 2nd baby, i will know what's up and know how to deal with those ladies from lacation. *cracks whip*

ooh...and at 2 months, he was in the 95th percentile for weight, but now at 16 months he's dropped to 20 percentile.

 

[ZeitgeistDuck]

I chose to bottle feed my kids for a variety of reasons- which are nobody's business. I would have thrown a nurse that dared to question that out of the room with a few four letter words! Parents deal with enough nonsense without some lactation consultant deciding to interject and play big brother too. Parents parent. We do not need nurses to decide to insert themselves into our parenting decision.

 

[GingerJay]

I had no problems with breastfeeding, unless you count the DD's risk of drowning when the floodgates opened However, I regretted not introducing a bottle right away. At that time, they recommended waiting at least 3 weeks before introducing a pumped bottle to decrease nipple confusion. Well, by 3 weeks old, she had developed her preference and would NOT take a bottle at all. My poor husband never once got to feed her and I never once got a break, until she was on solids and a sippy cup. If I were to have another baby, there would be one bottle a day in there somewhere right from the start.

I wouldn't have a problem with being read 'the list'. I am a nurse and I know they are just doing their jobs. If there is someone is out there that it helps, then who am I to tell them to stop because I don't need the info. I would just thank them politely and take the bottle anyway.

I completely agree. I nursed all 3 of my children...but we used a bottle too. With my first, I took the advice of the lactation nurse and only introduced a bottle after 3 weeks. Never again. With my other two, I learned my lesson and used both from the beginning...

I think as long as a child is well nourished, happy, and thriving, it should not matter whether a mother chooses to nurse or bottle-feed. Even though I nursed all of mine, "nursing nazis" who have nothing to offer but guilt drive me crazy.

 

[PebblesMom]

As a maternity nurse, I think this applies both to moms & nurses. Even on this thread, there are comments about both feeling pressured to breastfeed & pressured to bottle feed. Bottom line: you are the mom, you decide.

But my job is to make sure you have the facts. And the fact is breastfeeding doesn't always go smoothly. It takes some work & patience to get going. New moms should be offered help to get started, not a bottle. Unfortunately, many nurses just don't have the time to stay thru the whole feeding. In my hospital, the nurse cares for 4-5 moms & their babies. That's 8- 10 patients. It is a heavy patient load, considering we are a high risk facility & patients are only in hospital for 2-3 days.

I think most hospitals have only 1 lactation consultant on at a time. If they were serious about encouraging breastfeeding, they should have more lactation consultants working. They are the ones who would have time to help. Have them on all shifts, not just days. And arrange follow up visits.

As to the OP & her list, I think it's just another silly thing management came up with to make it seem like they were addressing a problem ( mom's giving up breastfeeding). I'm sure it won't change any mom's mind.

I completely agree!!!! My DS was born on a Saturday and the lactation consultant only worked Mon.-Fri. 8-4. The nurses were wonderful and tried to get him to latch, but they only had so much time. He was born very quickly, our blood mixed and he became jaundiced, which made him lethargic and he would not latch. No lactation consultant meant no access to a pump (even the medical supply place was closed)...and we had to wait until Monday. On Monday we were discharged without seeing the lactation consultant, because she had a breastfeeding support group meeting that morning...and I was welcome to attend the following week! I struggled with breast feeding for a month and then called it quits. I think if hospitals are going to inforce something like this, and breastfeeding is as important they say, they need to invest the money in programs to help moms, not just force nurses to implement a program that puts new moms and nurses in a bad position.