My pediatrician

[mamangazelle]

So this week I went to the ped for dd's babywell checkup.
He asks me what solids she eats (he told me many times on my 2 previous appointments to start before 5 1/2 months, preferably around 4, 41/2 months: ) So I said "not a lot" (a teaspoon a day )
He then asks me what milk she is drinking. I say, proudly : " mine only" . So then, he tells me to start giving her formula (by the cup, so I wouldn't have to wean her from a bottle : ) right now, because at 9 months, the nutritionnal value of breast milk is not good enough anymore
WTF. My sis is a ped and I know that that's not what they learn. I don't know where he got that crappy info. Why would you tell such insanities The worst is that some people will believe him and start weaning
And when I asked him what he thought about dd waking every hour at night (she is on that schedule since birth, so I wondered if it could be allergies or something that would need tests), he told me that this is another reason why I should switch to formula
I was so shocked that I didn't say anything, I just noded, while telling myself I would never follow his advices anymore. I'm so mad at myself for not
Just had to vent

[Viola]

Re: My pediatrician

Originally posted by mamato2

I was so shocked that I didn't say anything, I just noded, while telling myself I would never follow his advices anymore. I'm so mad at myself for not
Just had to vent

Can you write a letter to him, sending him information on breastfeeding and explaining that what he told you is not correct and you don't feel that a doctor with so little information about breastfeeding should be giving advice on it? Can you switch peds? Just a thought if you want to make a statment after the fact.

[Jillerina]

Oh, these stories really make me MAD!!!

I live in the same city as you and have been disappointed so many times by advice my friends have recieved from their peds.

So far, I've basically chosen not to ask for any advice so no one asks about our feeding situation (DD is still nursing plenty at 18months) or our sleeping situation.

I think as responsible mothers we now have to take over the role of researcher and doctor for our children and simply demand the tests we feel are necessary for our kids, it seems like peds are always so quick to brush off our concerns and blame them on our sleeping and or/ feeding situations.

Grrrr... Good luck Edith - maybe you could look into switching peds if you have access to another office?

[Cajunmomma]

I'd find myself a new ped. It's hard enough to be a good mother without having to take grief like that from someone who probably knows almost nothing about nursing. This guy sounds like a real jerk.

[Justice2]

My ped had the exact opposite reaction....at Kaeleb's 9 month app, I told her that my mom is trying to pressure my dh into making me go back to work (as if....) her response was "NOOOOOO. You need to be at home with your son, is 3 months you will have made that year and he needs that"....I love her! Now, if only Kaeleb wouldn't have weaned himself a month later

[Momtwice]

Exclusive Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants; it is also an integral part of the reproductive process with important implications for the health of mothers. A recent review of evidence has shown that, on a population basis, exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is the optimal way of feeding infants. Thereafter infants should receive complementary foods with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond.

World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/child-adolescent-..._exclusive.htm

How to Know a Health Professional
is not Supportive of Breastfeeding

All health professionals say they are supportive of breastfeeding. But many are supportive only when breastfeeding is going well, and some, not even then. As soon as breastfeeding, or anything in the life of the new mother is not perfect, too many advise weaning or supplementation. The following is a partial list of clues that help you judge whether the health professional is supportive of breastfeeding, at least supportive enough so that if there is trouble, s/he will make efforts to help you continue breastfeeding.

How to Know a Health Professional is not Supportive...

.....7. S/he is surprised to learn that your 6 month old is still breastfeeding. Many health professionals believe that babies should be continued on artificial baby milk for at least nine months and even twelve months, but at the same time seem to believe that breastmilk and breastfeeding are unnecessary and even harmful if continued longer than six months. Why is the imitation better than the original? Shouldn't you wonder what this line of reasoning implies? In most of the world, breastfeeding to 2 or 3 years of age is common and normal.

8. S/he tells you that there breastmilk has no nutritional value after the baby is 6 months or older. Even if it were true, there is still value in breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is a unique interaction between two people in love even without the milk. But it is not true. Breastmilk is still milk, with fat, protein, calories, vitamins and the rest, and the antibodies and other elements which protect the baby against infections are still there, some in greater quantities than when the baby was younger. Anyone who tells you this doesn't know the first thing about breastfeeding.

"How to Know a Health Professional is Not Supportive of Breastfeeding" by Canadian pediatrician Dr. Jack Newman
http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/18.html

Obstacles to the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding include physician apathy and misinformation...
The AAP identifies breastfeeding as the ideal method of feeding and nurturing infants and recognizes breastfeeding as primary in achieving optimal infant and child health, growth, and development. The AAP emphasizes the essential role of the pediatrician in promoting, protecting, and supporting breastfeeding and recommends the following breastfeeding policies.
RECOMMENDED BREASTFEEDING PRACTICES
9. Human milk is the preferred feeding for all infants, including premature and sick newborns, with rare exceptions....

14. Exclusive breastfeeding is ideal nutrition and sufficient to support optimal growth and development for approximately the first 6 months after birth....It is recommended that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mutually desired.

The American Academy of Pediatrics breastfeeding recommendations, in the article “Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk” (USA)
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org...s%3b100/6/1035

Breastfeeding (Position Paper)

AAFP Policy Statement on Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is the physiological norm for both mothers and their children. The AAFP recommends that all babies, with rare exceptions, be breastfed and/or receive expressed human milk exclusively for about the first six months of life. Breastfeeding should continue with the addition of complementary foods throughout the second half of the first year. Breastfeeding beyond the first year offers considerable benefits to both mother and child, and should continue as long as mutually desired....

...Breastfeeding should ideally continue beyond infancy, but this is currently not the cultural norm and requires ongoing support and encouragement.... If the child is younger than two years of age, the child is at increased risk of illness if weaned.

American Academy of Family Physicians breastfeeding policy (USA)
http://www.aafp.org/x6633.xml

[mamangazelle]

Thanks for all of you who replied.
I met a nurse today and she gave me a list of peds in my area (and told me which ones are pro-bf), so I won't meet this one anymore.
I think I'll send him articles from medical sources about breastfeeding, and maybe encourage him to look for new info on this subject.
Édith

[Meiri]

20/20 hindsight, you could've asked him where he learned that and to please cite his sources.

We left a practice because of garbage like that. Our reasoning was that if he was so abysmally ignorant of something so basic, what else was he ignoring AND if he was giving advice about this issue based on personal prejudice instead of fact, then what other medical subjects was he ignoring the research on?

Then ask him how much the company is giving him kick backs. :LOL

[onegr8mom03]

I think you definately need to report him to the AAP.
Not that i think the AAP is great or anything but they do want the US's bf rates up (so they say) and would be outraged that a fellow dr. tried to get you to supplement! That has to be some kind of serious violation of thier code..... I'd check into it, he doesn't deserve to practice anymore!

[Gavin's mama]

please help I need to find A new pediatrician

I have not found a pediatrician in my area who suports breast feeding, my sons ped is always telling me to swich him to formula.. When I said I would not do this he stated I needed to offer him solid food first, then if he was still hungry i could brest feed him: . I realy need to find some one new, and I cant find any one who knows of a pro brest feeding ped in my area.
Please help

[onegr8mom03]

nak

have you called your local LLL to ask for a bf friendly doctor? they should be able to tell you a good one.
my dr. is pretty good about being pro-bf (his wife is bfing thier 10 month old, even at night ) but i just make it a habit to never really talk about things that aren't of a medical nature. If he started to pry about too much (delaying solids, co-sleeping) i'd just remind him that i only come to see him for medical advice, not child rearing advice.
Your ped. needs to just let you know your child is doing alright, and isn't sick everything else just isn't his business. right?
In fact unless you immunize (no flames from me, i do) do you really have to take him for well child care visits? (i'm not sure, i heard some momma's don't, and figured it'd be ok, as long as the child is doing well, there isn't any reason to take him, i guess)

some other mommas might have better advice

[Justice2]

Originally posted by onegr8mom03
I think you definately need to report him to the AAP.
Not that i think the AAP is great or anything but they do want the US's bf rates up (so they say) and would be outraged that a fellow dr. tried to get you to supplement! That has to be some kind of serious violation of thier code.....

Not according to the new head of the AAP...sorry, still seeing blood whenever the AAP and breastfeeding are mentioned in the same sentence (with that whole Breastfeeding Campaign and his comments) Totally T, but AF is here and it's affecting my brain.

[onegr8mom03]

Oh ITA!! I think the AAP is a joke! I've often thought about showing them my lack of surport and not going to a ped. and taking us to my family doctor but my ped. is really good and pretty bf friendly (his wife is bfing thier dc) but now i hear he's moving and a lady ped will replace him. I hope she's good, this ped. and i have a good thing because he never asks stupid questions like what's he eating, how's he sleeping, ya know.


ETA: I still think it's worth checking into about reporting him, there has to be someone he has to answer to.

[Gavin's mama]

thank you all for you sudjestions, i will defenitly be reporting him.

[mamangazelle]

Originally posted by Meiri


Our reasoning was that if he was so abysmally ignorant of something so basic, what else was he ignoring AND if he was giving advice about this issue based on personal prejudice instead of fact, then what other medical subjects was he ignoring the research on?

That's exaclty what I thought!

[maria423]

I would have gone off on him. Really. What an ignorant... ah, I won't say what I want to call him! Seriously, I would write him a letter, letting him know how disappointed I am in his opinion and telling him I'm switching doctors as a result.

Not according to the new head of the AAP...sorry, still seeing blood whenever the AAP and breastfeeding are mentioned in the same sentence (with that whole Breastfeeding Campaign and his comments)

Totally agree!

[gethane]

I live in a small town, and as such, have VERY limited choices for pediatricians... we have one.

If the doctor wants to talk about weight gain, congestion in the nose, lung/heart sounds, etc, hey let's go for it. But my choices to co-sleep, not CIO, and breastfeed as long as my baby and I both want are NOT up for discussion. I go to my doctor for medical advice. I won't force doctoring advice on my pediatrician, if she won't force mothering advice on me . This is my fourth child. I'm pretty sure I've got a lot more "mothering" experience than she has.

You don't have to "duke it out" with your doctor. You can just smile and nod, or you can find a new doctor. Though I do rather like the suggestions listed here to try and educate the doctor. I'm afraid the doctor wouldn't open his/her own mail at the office, though, and would never get to read your education

[Bekka]

small towns, limited choice

When I was a teenager, my mom came home in tears with my youngest sib, her 7th. The ped had told her something along the lines of "who made you the expert"... She's had SEVEN kids (at the time) and it's her baby!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, end rant. Two peds in the whole town.

[rareimer]

why oh why oh why are so many peds so clueless?! i can't understand why any MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL would advocate formula when breastfeeding is going well.

my personal outlook on peds is similar to gethane's...childhood is not a medical problem. if she has medical issues, i go to him and i trust him to help us overcome these issues. but i do not even ask him about breastfeeding, solids, co-sleeping, CIO, sleep problems, etc. because unfortunately i know more about these areas than he does...or at least i know what i feel comfortable with, and i don't need him to undermine what i know feels right to me.

i'm sorry you have to deal with such ignorance. at least you are smart enough to know not to listen. there are so many people who do EVERYTHING their pediatrician tells them to do. there are alot of really good peds out there, but ones like this give all the others a bad name.

[Momtwice]

why oh why oh why are so many peds so clueless?! i can't understand why any MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL would advocate formula when breastfeeding is going well.

Obstacles to the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding include physician apathy and misinformation,61-63 insufficient prenatal breastfeeding education,64 disruptive hospital policies,65 inappropriate interruption of breastfeeding,62 early hospital discharge in some populations,66 lack of timely routine follow-up care and postpartum home health visits,67 maternal employment68,69 (especially in the absence of workplace facilities and support for breastfeeding),70 lack of broad societal support,71 media portrayal of bottle-feeding as normative,72 and commercial promotion of infant formula through distribution of hospital discharge packs, coupons for free or discounted formula, and television and general magazine advertising.73,74

“Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk” American Academy of Pediatrics
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org...s%3b100/6/1035

The Breastfeeding Group at the AAP does have a clue and they can't stand the current president either IMHO:
"The Milky Way of Doing Business" Katie Granju
http://www.drjaygordon.com/bf/stories/milky.htm

"If Breastfeeding is So Great, Why are the Rates so Low?"
http://www.promom.org/bf_info/why_low.htm

"Formula for disaster" part 2, Katie A. Granju
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/199...la2/index.html