I had found Dr. Linda Palmer‘s site quite a long time ago and had lost it and sadly forgotten about it… but I found it again and wanted to share…. there are quite a few really good articles there…. especially this one…
The Deadly Infuence of Formula
Shows how formula feeding doubles the US infant death rate.
I completely forgot to talk about my night out!
I left on Saturday just before 6 while the Kids were eating supper…. both of them came and said goodbye to me and both had big smiles on their faces…. no tears, no “I want go wit’ you!!”…. just kisses and waves….
I got to where I was meeting Isabelle at the same time as she was pulling in and our converstation started…
I was only able to get the reservations to the retaurant for 8pm so we had two hours to kill… No Prob!… we went to Cactus (a cool Resto-bar) and had two beers and talked, and talked and talked…. heading out just before 8 and into the restaurant a few doors down… the restaurant we went to was the same that we went to the last time (and first time) we went out together at my Birthday last July… A little thai place that is always full and the food (and price) is amazing…
Both of us ordered “Ã la carte” starting with soup , spring rolls, a main dish of shrimp, onions and green pepper in a sweet and spicy sauce served with rice, and jasmine tea and lychees for dessert…
We left the restaurant at 10:30… We pretty much had one converstation that lasted from 6pm to 10:30 pm interupted only by bathroom breaks and talking the the waitress to order and say thanks when she bought our food….
It really did feel good…
However, I did make one big mistake….
Getting ready for the niht I had the bright idea to put a non-nursing bra on… It is the right size but my body is just not used to it anymore… and by 10pm I was starting to be uncomfortable, by 10:30 it was reallly starting to hurt, by the time I got home I was knew I had a blocked duct…. Xavier was still awake when I got home…. I nursed him right away but was in pain the whole time… I put heat on it, massaged it, took something for the pain and went to get Colin and brought him into our bed and got him to nurse a few times… I had chills and was in a lot of pain during the night and I tried to nurse often and massage as much as I could stand…. in the morning the pain had shifted but was still very much there…. All day Sunday I repeated the massaging, the frequent nursings and the heat…. Sunday night it was better, Monday morning even better and by monday night the pain was gone…..
It will be a long time before I risk using one of those things again….
When Colin was at the hospital and I was anxious to get home I mentioned to the doctor that I had another nursling at home and she dared to comment on it!
She at first looked surprised and then asked how old he was and I told her that he was just about 3 and a half…
she then said it was time to wean him !!!!
OK… First I was already stressed and on edge cause I wanted them to get him of the Serum but that just hit me like a ton of bricks… but I am proud of myself… Everything came out perfectly and without a thought… every little reason she gave I responded without skipping a beat and I am actually happy that we did have the conversation in a way…
It went a bit like this….
Dr: You should wean him!
Me: Why?
Dr: He is 3.5… that’s too old?
Me: Actually 3.5 is young in my opinion…
Dr: But he is too old to be nursing still.
Me: Actually, the natural weaning age is between 2.5 and 7 years old, so he is still near the beginning… and I don’t believe in premature weaning.
Dr: But it must drain your energy.
Me: Why would that happen?
Dr: But he has teeth…
Me: So!… sometimes a 4 month old has teeth… would you advise the mom to wean because of that?
Dr: No… that’s true… you’re just the first person I have met that has nursed this long…
A bit later she heard me talking, saying that I have to go to Montreal to see our family doctor for the kids and she offered to be their ped (this is also after she found out that I am not vaxing)
Anyways…Even though I am OK with the conversation I can’t believe that a doctor would have the gall to actually comment on breastfeeding…. I know I hear others that rant about their awful, misinformed doctors but I am lucky that I never had experienced it until now…
The problem is that to be a breastfeeding counsellor we have to have to go through the Training that is put in place for Unicef’s “Baby-Friendly Initiative”
The nurses and Doctors at the hospitals that are working to become”Baby-Friendly” also have to go through the same training.
The Big problem is that that doctors are the ones that are most often not doing the training and hindering the hospitals. These know-it-alls actually know nothing about breastfeeding and they are the ones that have the most weight in the minds of most parents… and when they are given the chance to learn they don’t even want to do it!
How can people put all of their trust in these people?
Another thing that Irks me is parenting advice… Why the HECK do people take parenting advice from doctors! Why is the opinion of one person better then the instincts of a parent? Besides… in most cases with the hours that doctors are away from their homes and away from their children how can you expect them to know what they are talking about… I know there are some good docs out there that do have good parenting advice but I don’t think that a doctor’s office is the place to exchange that advice…
What I love about my Family Doc in Montreal is that he is always eager to learn. We don’t always agree but when it happens he rather exchange info then just try to convince me. He never gives advice that is out of the medical realm. He has never talked about sleep, feeding, potty-training etc… He doesn’t believe that parenting advice should be part of the doctor/ patient-parent relationship…
However, I find Montreal to be far away if I have a sick child to bring in… It’s a good hour drive, mostly highway, pretty rough stretches in the winter and about 30$ worth of gas… so I am debating whether to take this doc as a Ped. for the kids (not even 10 mins away)… even if she dared to say something about my nursing relationship, and I would keep the family doc anyways.
there is a great quicktime video avaiblible on Dr.Jay Gordon’s Webpage about the Breastfeeding adds that have never been able o see the light because of the formula companies…
It aired on 20/20 and it is a bit long but worth the watch… and of course the site is a great resource too!!
I gave a Pre-natal last night and I got home at 10pm!… The nurse asked me if I could present some wraps and slings at the end of the class and I of course gladly accepted… We did the whole class, there was about 10 couples one of the biggest groups that I have had to date and also the most talkative. One mom in particular was very off the idea of breastfeeding and really had a head full of outdated info and tons of myths… she is having her second child 20 years after her first and I think is still dealing with guilt issues of her first parenting experience… Anyways I suffered through the stupid breastfeeding video from the 80’s that they have to show (I have seen it at least a dozen times now and it is just getting old!!) and then at the end of the class I showed the wrap and sling… everyone thought it was great and they all took my card… just as I was packing up a mom came up to me, asked about price, when she could call, where I live etc… and then asked if I always have some at home… I had brought the slings that I have left with me so I showed her what I had and she bought one right away…
The nurse came back in the room at that point and we started talking… the girl that bought the wrap is a local police officer and she and the nurse our friends… we started talking and something she said really surprised me… she HATES giving the classes because she doesn’t like what she has to say… she has to stick by the rules and they are the rules that she herself doesn’t adhere to… We talked about how hard it was to have to recommend things, teach things that we just don’t agree with. We have to put our own feelings and experiences aside and give the ‘blanket recommendation’ (Vit D supplements, co-sleeping etc)
We talked about how hard it was to talk about breastfeeding, talk about how important it is, talk about how easy it can be, talk about it being the best when you know very well that you are wasting your breath….
We both wished that we could stop talking about the importance of breastfeeding and could just focus on the dangers of Formula….
If Breastfeeding reduces the risks of :
Cancer (breast, ovarian, and uterine for mom and baby girls), obesity, asthma, Crohn’s disease, diabetes (and insulin requirements in diabetic mothers), Allergies, Helps prevent post-partum hemorrhage, Ear infections, diarrheal infections, bacterial meningitis, respiratory infections, rheumatoid arthritis, Hodgkins disease, protects baby against some vision defects, osteoporosis etc…etc…etc….
AND Breastfeeding is the NORMAL way to feed our child…
Then it can be easily concluded that Formula is a CAUSE of many of these diseases…
Again… I am Tired of talking about the benefits of breastfeeding when it is the dangers of Formula that we should be focusing on… but that will never happen because we don’t want to make moms feel ‘guilty’ and there is no money to be made by breastfeeding….
Anyways… it felt good to talk with someone that is in the same situation and it makes me feel good to know that there are more and more with the same ideas as me, people that I can share with and have great conversations with….