Psychologist Advice Column

[Cleopatra]

: Hello, ladies. I don't post much and I don't know if this has already been discussed on MDC. If so, forgive the repetition. I live in WI and on a local parenting site I frequent, Milwaukeemoms dot com, there is currently a perfectly offensive "advice" column on the front page called something like "Breastfeeding = Social Isolation." It involves toddler nursing, and a psychologist named Barbara Axelrod advises that there is "no medical reason" to breastfeed after age one (how it is that a psychologist deems herself qualified to comment on medical anything is never explained). Most irritating is that she uses the AAP statement to back herself up, trying to imply that they agree with her! I plan to drop her a lovely email reminding her of the ENTIRE statement from the Academy, including the parts she conveniently left out, and if any of you here have any links to any well done studies to refute her claim that toddler nursing is not healthy, please do go to the site and drop old Barbara a line. I bet she would just adore making some new online friends.

[Shantimama]

Good for you!

[Momtwice]

Here's a link from a child psychologist who nursed for several years:
http://www.naturalchild.org/advice/q64.html

Lots of good reasons to keep nursing
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html

The American Academy of Family Physicians says a child who is weaned under age two is at increased risk of illness:
http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/p...tionpaper.html

[velcromom]

She says, "A two year old should not be breastfeeding." She should have said, "In my personal opinion, a two year old should not be breastfeeding." I am quite sure the father did not write asking for her personal feelings. It's a shame she cannot separate her personal feelings out of her professional advice, especially when there is plenty of research that opposes her personal opinion. Ugh.

I truly think mental health professionals as a whole dislike breastfeeding past a few weeks, it seems like a massive failure of comprehension on their part. They could add so much skill to their practice if they learned current research and truths about breastfeeding, and they way it affects babies, mothers and families psychologically. Instead, they seem to take the easy route and and use it as a very convenient scapegoat to target - when a family comes in with a concern, if the child is nursing you can bet the psychologist will not leave that alone, they will try to change it somehow. I know from personal experience that the real issues are often given less (or no) attention and care while the good doctor focuses their energy on finding ways to minimize or eliminate the breastfeeding relationship.

[leafwood]

As a psychologist I am totally shocked that she would make claims like that. Actually, it is not ethical and a claim could be brought against her through APA (Am Psych Assoc). Our eithcs code specifically states that we can not practice out of our area of expertise and unless she has had training in lactation or pediatrics or something besides psychology this is a really fine line she's walking. This is especially true in light of medical research finding benefits of BF up to age two and a huge body of literature failing to find any negative impact of extended BF beyond that point.

This is such a hard issue for me as I am in this field but am also a lactavist and am still nursing my 2.5y old. I plan to tandem if I get preg before she is done. I battle these issues so frequently at work it's not even funny. Interestingly I have found many psychiatrists more pro-BF than psychologists/social workers.

In one training something about working with families came up and all these treatment plans included things like weaning and having the child sleep in their own bed. I (articulately) had a fit and again addressed eithical issues about parenting and diversity and the danger of assumptions. It was very eye-opening to me.

I have seen counselors encourage women to wean to go on meds when it is not necessary to do so. I have seen counselors in this field react based on their personal views/emotions/issues and it usually goes unchallenged (unless I am there, and then........watch out!).

Sorry for the long reply, this just really gets to me. I hope that I continue to have opportunities to promote BF and educate those who are in need of information. One of my long term goals is to conduct research on the impact of breastfeeding on attachment and PPD.

[Meiri]

Challenge her to produce the peer-reviewed studies to support her position.

[MommytoHHH]

Originally Posted by Meiri

Challenge her to produce the peer-reviewed studies to support her position.

I agree.

I also agree that she's violating the APA code of ethics with her misrepresentation of the AAP statement about BF.

[angelpie545]

Originally Posted by leafwood

As a psychologist I am totally shocked that she would make claims like that. Actually, it is not ethical and a claim could be brought against her through APA (Am Psych Assoc). Our eithcs code specifically states that we can not practice out of our area of expertise and unless she has had training in lactation or pediatrics or something besides psychology this is a really fine line she's walking. This is especially true in light of medical research finding benefits of BF up to age two and a huge body of literature failing to find any negative impact of extended BF beyond that point.

This is such a hard issue for me as I am in this field but am also a lactavist and am still nursing my 2.5y old. I plan to tandem if I get preg before she is done. I battle these issues so frequently at work it's not even funny. Interestingly I have found many psychiatrists more pro-BF than psychologists/social workers.

In one training something about working with families came up and all these treatment plans included things like weaning and having the child sleep in their own bed. I (articulately) had a fit and again addressed eithical issues about parenting and diversity and the danger of assumptions. It was very eye-opening to me.

I have seen counselors encourage women to wean to go on meds when it is not necessary to do so. I have seen counselors in this field react based on their personal views/emotions/issues and it usually goes unchallenged (unless I am there, and then........watch out!).

Sorry for the long reply, this just really gets to me. I hope that I continue to have opportunities to promote BF and educate those who are in need of information. One of my long term goals is to conduct research on the impact of breastfeeding on attachment and PPD.

Thanks for that. I'm glad that there are mental health care professionals out there that "get it".

[fly-mom]

I wrote her this:

"Two year olds should not be breastfeeding. This is not healthy for your son or his mother."

I only breastfed my daughter for 8 months, so I'm not coming at this from a defensive position but...

While I agree with you that this child needs some outside socialization, this comment is ridiculous. This is very opinionated and not evidence based. As a psychologist, are you qualified to comment on the health benefits of breastfeeding beyond one year? Furthermore, you misrepresented the statement of the AAP, this is what it says regarding duration of breastfeeding... "Breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child.185 "

....

Increased duration of breastfeeding confers significant health and developmental benefits for the child and the mother, especially in delaying return of fertility (thereby promoting optimal intervals between births).196

There is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychologic or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer.197

And here is where I copied and pasted this info from: http://www.breastfeedingtaskforla.org/aap-statement.htm

She responded:

A letter to the concerned readers who responded to my comments on breastfeeding in a recent column:



I have received several letters addressing concerns and disagreements with my recent column about the mother who was breast feeding her baby after the age of two using an on demand schedule and watching television with her baby for long periods each day.



I want to clarify that I am a strong supporter of breastfeeding all babies whenever possible. There is no doubt that there are many advantages to breastfeeding infants. The advantages of breastfeeding are documented by the American Academy of Pediatrics. I also am aware that the American Academy suggests that breastfeeding can be continued after the first year for as long as mother and child desire.



My concern about the specific circumstances that I addressed in this column was that both mother and baby appeared to be very isolated and were reportedly spending many hours watching TV and videos. This amount of time watching TV is not healthy for many reasons. I was also concerned about the number of times a day this child was being fed. Demand feeding is a useful technique for infants and young babies, but is not necessarily beneficial for toddlers.



My column was not a critique of breastfeeding. I am a strong supporter, but I do feel that mothers who cannot breast feed their babies should not be made to feel that they are bad mothers and inadequate. Feeding infants should be an experience of emotional closeness and caring whether breast or bottle feeding.



My column addressed my concerns about supporting a father who appeared to have appropriate and reasonable concerns about his child’s welfare. In all situations where a parent is concerned about a child’s welfare, support should be given to seek professional advice. I suggested to the father that he discuss his concerns with his child’s pediatrician and a counselor. I hope that he follows through with these suggestions. Breastfeeding is a wonderful experience, but a child’s emotional, social and intellectual needs at age 21/2 years old are equally important.



I hope that this response clarifies my position on breast feeding.



Dr. Betsy Axelrod – IN YOUR CORNER

P.S. I was a breastfeeding mom.

I wrote back:

yes, but... you SAID that the child should not be breastfeeding, that it was unhealthy, and implied that it was frowned upon by the AAP. If the isolation, TV watching, and FREQUENCY of feeding were the problem why, point blank, say that breastfeeding was wrong and unhealthy?

[crazyangel06]

My column was not a critique of breastfeeding. I am a strong supporter, but I do feel that mothers who cannot breast feed their babies should not be made to feel that they are bad mothers and inadequate. Feeding infants should be an experience of emotional closeness and caring whether breast or bottle feeding.



ok now what did that have to with what her column was about !!

[velcromom]

Feeding infants should be an experience of emotional closeness and caring whether breast or bottle feeding.

Ok, while I am all for the wonderful misty rainbow moments we get sometimes due to the motherlove and bf hormones, I hate this statement. Feeding is an everyday parenting task, not a love-in. This statement is too often used as a stealthy way to say, so quit nursing so you can get out and socialize because you know you can't "do that" - feed properly i.e. intimately - IN PUBLIC!!! And what the heck does that have to do with not letting your kids watch too much tv or not socializing???? Good grief. She really is backpedaling and bringing in all kinds of other topics as a red herring hoping you'd get off track from your original question, so you don't notice she didn't really answer it. Good for you for insisting on an actual answer. But I bet you a million dollars she won't admit she was wrong.

yes, but... you SAID that the child should not be breastfeeding, that it was unhealthy, and implied that it was frowned upon by the AAP. If the isolation, TV watching, and FREQUENCY of feeding were the problem why, point blank, say that breastfeeding was wrong and unhealthy?

And, why did her answer to the father say to wean the child instead of to reduce the feeding frequency?

[bri276]

not to mention that there is no evidence that on demand feeding is unhealthy for a toddler. it's a lot healthier than force feeding, or pushing them away from your breast, no? is THAT what she recommends?

talk about backpedalling.

[homewithtwinsmama]

"feeding"

And quite frankly my toddler very rarely is "feeding" when she nurses. She gets all the great health benefits and all, but usually its just check in or comfort nursing. Now my 18 month old former 2lb preemie nurses for nourishment and comfort both. She nurses many times day and night and I wouldn't wean her for all the tea in China! She needs those extra antibodies and mamajuice goodies to make up for losing 9 weeks of gestation!!!!! I hate when psychologists make pronouncements on natural parenting of any kind. If you don't parent like they do then you are sick, bad, harmful parent. :

Lorrie

[lissabob]

IMO the "clarification" just makes it worse. :