"I wasn't making enough milk" (rant)

[jessikate]

I spoke with an old friend on the phone today. I asked if she was nursing her 9 month old, and she isn't. She said she stopped when she went back to work at 2 months. I asked if she'd had trouble pumping, and she said that she wasn't making enough milk because he wanted to nurse all the time.

Hello... that's what a 2 month old does! I am so sick of people being made to think that they're not making enough milk because their baby wants to nurse constantly.What the heck is wrong with our society that women don't trust their bodies to do what they were designed to do?

I am going to see her next week, along with another old friend who's an EBF'er. Hopefully we can convince her that she is perfectly capable of fulfilling her babe's nutritional needs and she'll BF the next one longer. I'm not sure I'll be able to contain myself, but I'll try not to launch into a tirade about this. If nothing else, I'll wait until she leaves and rant at the other friend, LOL.

Okay, I feel a bit better now.

[AnnaReilly]

I know what you mean...

I have a cousin (whom I NEVER see) that had a baby a few months ago. She ran into my mom in the grocery store and said that breastfeeding wasn't going too well because she didn't have enough milk. When my mom told me this I wanted to cry. I told my mom to call her and have her call me if she wants to talk about it.

A woman's choice to breastfeed or bottlefeed is her decision. And I respect a woman's right to make that decision, but when a woman is made to feel like she CAN'T breastfeed when she wants to it breaks my heart!!!

[Evergreen]

nak
someone convinced my mom when i was 3mos that she wasnt doing it right because i wanted to nurse all the time. grrr. i guess she smartened up, though, because my brother who is 2 yrs younger nursed for 15 mos.

[AmyG]

That bugs the socks off of me, too. There are so many people who think that it's a common problem. That's the reason my mom weaned me at 6 weeks, and she was always looking for signs that my baby was getting enough milk when he was first born. Wet diapers weren't proof enough for her. She preferred for my shirt to be soaking wet. :

My BIL told me the other day that the mother of his 1 year old couldn't nurse her because she didn't have any milk. (They live out-of-state, so I didn't know what was happening when it was going on.) He told me that her breasts got huge and painful a few days after the baby was born, but that there was no milk in them. : I really wanted to ask if he thought they were full of apple juice, but I bit my tongue.

[dentente]

I have heard that one and a jillion others. My SIL quit nursing at 4 days (!!!) because "nothing was coming out" and "it made my nipples raw". I advised her that her latch was incorrect, sent her photos and the number of her local LLL. She's angry at me now for questioning her ability. Hello? I needed help for the same reasons. It's a sad and uptight person who can't admit they need help. I am tired of hearing this kind of thing.

Denny

[megtell]

I have never ever understood this either. But then I produced milk for like 4 years after weaning. I think for most mom's it's easier than saying they were tired of being tied down.

Just makes me so sad. What do they think the point of having babies is?? To detach from them as fast as possible? I have never understood it, but I hear it a lot. I STILL give my breastfeeding tee shirts to everyone I know who has a baby. I guess they can take offense if they want, but I assume they'll bf their babies I guess!!!