What is your hospital's policy on supplemental feeding?

SmilingBluEyes · Nov 11, 2004

I am glad we were able to clear things up for you a bit, Chatsdale. Believe me, knowing what I do about the posters here, (they post all the time)---- cultural insensitivity, bigotry or stereotyping are not traits I have ever seen them display. Have a great day, now.

purplemania, BSN, RN · Nov 11, 2004

We encourage breastfeeding. Many of our Hispanic Moms want the baby to have a bottle till their milk comes in so our challenge is to prevent nipple confusion. Our case manager and some of the lactation nurses are Hispanic but not able to convince all Moms to breastfeed only.

RN Rotten Nurse · Nov 11, 2004

Golly! I guess I'm just one of the lucky ones. I raised 2 babies on formula(not babies anymore, they're 19 and 15). Both healthy as horses and quite intelligent. Both received perfect attendance awards most years in school because they are never sick. Hmmm, I must have just got a good batch of formula..........

mitchsmom · Nov 12, 2004

edited/deleted post... I was letting myself get dragged into something that is not what the original thread was about...

klone, MSN, RN · Nov 12, 2004

Golly! I guess I'm just one of the lucky ones. I raised 2 babies on formula(not babies anymore, they're 19 and 15). Both healthy as horses and quite intelligent. Both received perfect attendance awards most years in school because they are never sick. Hmmm, I must have just got a good batch of formula..........

Nobody here has said that formula-fed babies are going to be sick or stupid.

You sound defensive.

fergus51 · Nov 12, 2004

I hope it doesn't turn into that debate! I was also formula fed (I'm adopted) and I am not worried about being stupid or sick because of it. That doesn't mean I can't educate about the benefits of breastmilk. In the end, the most important thing is for the choice to be the right one for each individual family.

rnmi2004 · Nov 12, 2004

RNRottenNurse, there was an excellent post aimed at educating you on the value of breastmilk, as it sounds like you haven't been exposed to this information before. Please don't feel that anyone here has put you down--if you want to learn more, click the links; if not, please don't get defensive when no one has attacked you.

My OB clinical instructor, who is also an LC, explained to us her theory on why Hispanic women successfully breastfeed after the baby has been started on bottles. She said that these mothers don't consider bottlefeeding as an option--when they go home, they lay in bed and work with the baby until a successful relationship is established.

I think a lot of posts here have hit the nail on the head re: the lost art of breastfeeding. Women go into the bf'ding relationship expecting to have problems, fearing nipple confusion, poor latch, mastitis, and other issues they've read about. They forget that for centuries, women have been nursing without any books or LC's or classes.

MishlB · Nov 13, 2004

My OB clinical instructor, who is also an LC, explained to us her theory on why Hispanic women successfully breastfeed after the baby has been started on bottles. She said that these mothers don't consider bottlefeeding as an option--when they go home, they lay in bed and work with the baby until a successful relationship is established.

I guess I don't see this, since most of our new moms are teens, and they don't have time to BF, or they say they will do it later. Umm, OK??

CHATSDALE · Nov 13, 2004

I Give Up....there Is No Understanding In This World

mitchsmom · Nov 13, 2004

They forget that for centuries, women have been nursing without any books or LC's or classes.

That is very true... but I don't think it was because they never needed any help... I agree with you about the lost art... but I'm just taking the discussion a little further here...

even though they didn't have books/LC's/classes, they actually did have help in the form of all the other women who viewed it as the normal thing that it was and who had surely experienced nursing themselves - so they didn't have a need for all that back then because they weren't alone, on their own trying to figure it all out.

Many of us never saw a woman nursing a child when we were growing up... historically and in many cultures today that is something that people see every day their whole lives. We don't have that, with most of our moms having bottle fed us, with the shyness/ embarassment/ uncomfortableness/ lack of support for nursing wherever the babe may need it, and with a more fragmented society in general... meaning, not many people live together with their extended family with mom, sister, and aunt nearby to share their wisdom if an issue did come up. So the books/LC's/classes are our modern day substitutes (less effective, though I think needed nonetheless).

I don't think that they never had problems back then compared to now, although they were probably much less because of the culture of normalcy surrounding it. I think the historical success was mostly from a combination of the fact it is was a normal expectation, it was usually a necessity (you have to get through the problem or the baby would starve), they sometimes had birthing and baby-raising habits that were more conducive (depending on the culture), using wet nurses when health problems precluded nursing (my grandfather was wet nursed because his mom got typhoid fever shortly after he was born!), and having this less formal form of help when the need did arise.

Better run, I could blab on and on! :)

rnmi2004 · Nov 13, 2004

even though they didn't have books/LC's/classes, they actually did have help in the form of all the other women who viewed it as the normal thing that it was and who had surely experienced nursing themselves - so they didn't have a need for all that back then because they weren't alone, on their own trying to figure it all out.
Many of us never saw a woman nursing a child when we were growing up... historically and in many cultures today that is something that people see every day their whole lives.

I wonder how much of the help you are referring to is support/positive attitude and how much of it is "technical" assistance such as an LC would provide.

My situation is apparently not the norm--my mom nursed all 6 of her children, all of her friends & family nursed, & my sisters & I did too. Although I saw many nursing women while growing up, I don't recall ever closely observing anyone breastfeeding so I'm not sure how much of the actual "mechanics" I would have picked up from childhood on, but I do know that when I had my children, it was the only option I considered.

I'm really curious about this. Do various cultures have women who act as lay lactation consultants? Does anyone else have any thoughts?

ayndim · Nov 13, 2004

My oldest and youngest both had nipple confusion. They didn't realize that they could take a rubber/silicone nipple. They just flat out refused to have anything to do with a bottle. In fact, I sit here feeding my youngest who has the flu, yes bf babes get sick too. But I am glad to be able to offer him something other than water/juice while he is sick. For some reason, it is okay to nurse a baby for 2 years but the bottle must come away at a year. It is very comforting for them either way.

Bf may be natural but it sure does not come naturally. Only two people in my family nursed before me so I didn't grow up around it. My dd, who has watched me nurse both her brothers and can remeber nursing too, thinks that is the only way to feed a baby. Told her older cousin, while playing dolls, that babies ate from the ninny (our word for the breast) and proceeded to lift up her shirt. I have had to explain to her that some mom's give milk in bottles. I want her to have my values but not to be judgemental. To me, it doesn't matter how you feed YOUR baby. I only concern myself with MY kids. So if a mom wants to bf, great and hopefully I can be of help. If she wants to formula feed, fine it is her child.

But there is no getting around the science of the benefits of breastfeeding. Doesn't mean that formula fed children are going to be stupid or have health problems. Just means that bf lowers the risk (of health problems). But if you have a bf baby who is now an adult that weighs 300 lbs, they are most likely still going to get diabetes whether bf lowers the risk or not.