Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Oct
12
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“You Cannot Successfully Breastfeed More Than Once Every 3 Hours…”
“You cannot successfully breastfeed more than once every 3 hours. That would be like you or I eating a piece of toast and then an hour later coming back for half a bagel.” -Pediatrician to mother of a 2 week old.
There are 54 comments to this post.
road2vba2c had this to say,
Oct 12, 2011 @ 6:54 pm (Quote)
Information: fail. Defnine “successfully”. Also, has this man never heard of cluster feeding??
Analogy: fail. If I ate a single piece of toast I would be starving an hour later.
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Jewels Reply:
October 13th, 2011 at 1:24 am (Quote)
Right? What breastfeeding mother could eat ONE piece of toast & then not want to eat again an hour later??? I don’t know ANYONE who could be full for over an hour on a single piece of toast, let alone a breastfeeding mother!
Actually, come to think of it… that’s a pretty good analogy! “You can’t expect a baby to go 3-4 hours between breastfeeds! That would be like eating a single piece of toast & expecting to stay full for several hours!”
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Heather P Reply:
October 13th, 2011 at 3:28 am (Quote)
Just what I was thinking. Especially when I was nursing I’d need the bagel, the toast, some OJ, and eggs.
Damn, I wish we had some bagels in the house now. Yum.
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jenni Reply:
October 13th, 2011 at 5:53 am (Quote)
i want a bagel too! The Dr doesn’t understand that babies have small stomachs and can’t fill it up with 2 eggs, a pile of hashbrowns, two peices of toast, an orange and a coffee…. or maybe he things that moms just puree that in their boobs and shoot out liquid toast… THAT must be what he’s thinking..
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I call bullshit on both points. Doc, haven’t you ever eaten Chinese food?
I remember the night we came home from the hospital and my milk came in. That child slept attached to my breast was was suckling every 20 minutes. I have notes to prove it. lol
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What a ridiculous comment! Actually, I would say this man has *not* heard of cluster feeding. I don’t think every pediatrician is necessarily well-educated about breastfeeding. If he’s going with a textbook definition, it should probably be “every TWO to three hours,” but cluster feeding defies that.
When my FIL asked me why my baby was eating every hour, I said, “She’s cluster feeding now, in the afternoon, and will hopefully sleep a longer stretch at night.” That was all I had to say!
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Hmmmm… tell that to my 2 week old who was nursing almost non-stop yesterday and was still getting alot of milk.
I seriously think everyone who may treat a nursing mother or a baby should be required to take a class on nursing. Or at least browse a few websites on the subject.
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first time mommy had this to say,
Oct 12, 2011 @ 7:16 pm (Quote)
Isn’t that how milk supply is established? Lots and lots of suckling at the breast? If you limit baby and schedule feedings, chances are your milk supply will plummet. Oh, but that’s ok, bc then the ped can be the hero, offer formula samples and save the day!!!
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Really? Huh. Tell that to my exclusively breastfed baby who nursed every 45 minutes to an hour for the first three months after coming home, and now, at 8 months old (5.5 months corrected) nurses every 1.5 to 2 hours during the day. And that’s when NOT in a growth spurt. You should see him nurse when he IS in a growth spurt!
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Everyone repeat after me:
Watch the baby, not the clock!
Keep saying it until it sinks in.
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Sarah Reply:
October 15th, 2011 at 5:14 am (Quote)
My OB’s office had a poster on the wall of every exam room that said exactly this! I wish our ped’s office had the same thing, though she’s been fully supportive of ebf, even seemingly constant bf. The first couple of visits she asked how often dd fed, and I told her it would be easier to say how often she *stops* 
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The Nerdy Nurse had this to say,
Oct 12, 2011 @ 7:20 pm (Quote)
Doesn’t seem like they thought that one through.
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Noira Celestia had this to say,
Oct 12, 2011 @ 7:27 pm (Quote)
The first ped we saw after my daughter was born told me she wasn’t gaining weight because I was feeding her too much and not to feed her more than once an hour. We switched peds to one with my experience with breastfeeding.
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Stacie Reply:
October 12th, 2011 at 7:40 pm (Quote)
since that made sense…. that is the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard. Im glad you were smart enough to change peds.
and in regards to the op, um doc, I eat like that all the time. Im not gonna limit my baby when i’m not limiting myself.
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jenni Reply:
October 13th, 2011 at 5:56 am (Quote)
i ALMOST see what that ped was getting at… babies with poor latch burn so much energy trying to nurse that they don’t gain much. but then again… making them stop won’t fix it because they still won’t be getting enough to make up for what they burn. but that isnt why all smaller babies are small, there are other reasons, DUH…
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Noira Celestia Reply:
October 16th, 2011 at 11:20 am (Quote)
She did have a latch problem because my breasts were so engorged but it was unrelated to the advice she was giving. Right before our appointment I heard another mom with a crying baby in the waiting room. The dad handed her the baby and said “Feed him he’s hunrgy.” She said “I can’t it hasn’t been an hour yet.” So she sounded like she was telling EVERYONE this. She should have refered me to a lactation consultant, instead she told me my nipples were flat (they are not) and recomended a nipple sheild.
I’m glad I went in to the appointment knowledgable enough to know to feed my baby on demand, to find an IBCLC and not to use a nipple sheild. Thank goodness my OB was wonderful enough to suggest our current ped because he is just awesome.
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For pity’s sake, this doesn’t even make sense! What, do the mother’s breasts have a timer built into them? Will the milk stop flowing if she feeds her baby 2 hours and 55 minutes after the last feed?
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Jane Reply:
October 13th, 2011 at 3:57 am (Quote)
Yeah, after you swipe your credit card and add three quarters, the breast dispenses milk for exactly twenty minutes, at which point it locks you out for two hours and 40 minutes. Repeated attempts to access before the three hours are up will result in your account being suspended, and you’ll need to get a new password.
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Details Reply:
October 13th, 2011 at 5:55 am (Quote)
Bahwahah
Doctor’s comment is so stupid that it has generated a new round of inside jokes!
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Jane Reply:
October 13th, 2011 at 6:33 am (Quote)
Have you ever read the End-User License Agreement for a pair of boobs!? 
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Heather Reply:
October 13th, 2011 at 9:10 am (Quote)
But no one ever does read the EULA do they? They just click okay, without realizing that in actuality they have just signed away any and all rights to the production of chocolate milk. Which is why our kids are stuck with the plain white stuff, while Nestle has Nesquik.
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Jane Reply:
October 13th, 2011 at 9:11 am (Quote)
I thought chocolate milk was a violation of the TOS.
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Emily Greenhalge Reply:
October 13th, 2011 at 11:23 am (Quote)
So this totally made me recall my mother telling me to give my eight month old a bottle of chocolate milk so he would go to sleep.
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Allison had this to say,
Oct 13, 2011 @ 2:23 am (Quote)
And they wonder why breastfeeding rates are so low!
One of my friends was pumping pretty much exclusively for no reason other than to let other people feed her, which her doc said was a good idea. Then she magically dried up and the doc didn’t know why. She told her it just happens some times. So her baby has now been ff since week 4.
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Lil had this to say,
Oct 13, 2011 @ 3:19 am (Quote)
When I was in TCU after SCBU, they forced BF mums to feed every 3 hours without fail, if baby seemed not to feed for long enough (as far as the staff were concerned) or was small, then we had to feed our babies every 2 hours…this, they informed us, was the only sure fire way of getting baby to have the correct nutrition. Personally, I demand fed in secret (strict routines and tick charts as pushed by the prison wardens mascrading as midwives prevented such liberal ideals as demand feeding), so I fed as baby demanded *and* put him to the breast on the three hour point too.
My son did lose weight, but it was due to an acute milk allergy/intolerance, aggravated by me being forced to drink more and more cows milk. That said, once the extent of his allergy was discovered, paediatricians were amazed his weight didn’t plummet faster and lower than it did…I believe it was me allowing *him* to decide when feedtimes were, that kept some goodness going in. He even slept through the night consistently from 6 weeks (nearly 3 months before we figured out the problem and rectified it), admittedly I spent most of my days breastfeeding…but I can think of far worst things to do with my day than spend it snuggled up with my gorgeous baby having one-on-one time with him!
I have to admit to being confused by the analogy…is the paediatrician saying baby will only snack each time (ie toast and half a bagel an hour later is small amounts often) or that it’s like trying to force feed baby (ie eating and then eating again only an hour later). Either way, I really can’t see the problem…either the baby eats little and often, or you fill baby to falling asleep contented stage each time…but breastfed babies don’t get ‘bad’ fat, unlike if you overfed a formula fed baby.
The only thing I can think of, is the paediatrician meant the amounts were decreasing – which is true to start with…then your body realises it needs to make more and then you have enough each feed.
My 3rd child was a super hungry baby, and fed 2 hourly right up until she was 10 months old. I couldn’t keep up feeding her myself, but it was nothing to do with not having enough good quality milk (as proved by the fact I leaked so much when I cut back to four hourly and her healthy weight!), it was purely because I was so very tired after months of feeding my baby 2 hourly for the 24 hours (yep-12 feeds a day!). I reduced it to bf every 4 hours and formula feeds four hourly between my bf feeds (so 2 hourly as far as she was concerned!). I was useless at the manual hand pump to express and got no help from medical personnel (in fact they tried to talk me into complete formula feeding). The bottle feeds allowed me a little break to sleep, but it was short-lived as my husband was sent out to Bosnia for an emergency tour of duty that lasted 9 months…I quickly resorted to completely bf at night as I was too tired to get out of bed and make or heat up a bottle!
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I think I was more amused than anything by the fact that I was in fact eating a bagel while reading this post. The post itself just made me roll my eyes. You’d think a doctor would be more informed than us laypeople :eyeroll:
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Um, not only did my second need to eat every 45-120 minutes, but yeah, ditto on all the previous comments about needing to eat again after toast! I mean, WTF? Is this idiot saying that breastmilk is 100% carbs? Or is s/he just anorexic with a very distorted view on food/eating?
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My ten month old still eats like this. She is a lot faster than she used to be, but still nurses very frequently. She is still going strong and so am I.
And at two weeks old she was at the breast almost constantly because she ate frequently AND took forever. It’s pretty normal!
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Mama Wrench had this to say,
Oct 13, 2011 @ 5:56 am (Quote)
My first and I both had BF issues at the beginning (inverted nipples, tongue tie, prematurity, etc) — feeding constantly was the only way to make sure he got anything at all!
What a moron — I’m sure s/he goes home and complains about all the fat, lazy, poor mothers who don’t breastfeed beyond 3 months because they think it’s too hard, even though those mothers are just trying to follow his/her own bad advise.
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Wait…got a question…
My 3rd couldn’t latch well due to a funny shaped palate so I pumped for her. Pumping has never messed up my supply. I could have nursed triplets…LOL! She had frozen breastmilk for a full 5 months after I stopped pumping…
But I digress…she ate every 1.5-2 hours, and the doc told me that even if she had formula that it was OK to feed her that often. (Not that I would have done things differently if he hadn’t…a hungry baby gets fed in my book…)
So according to the OPs doc, feed the formula whenever the baby needs it, but ONLY breastfeed every 3-4 hours even though we all know breastmilk gets digested faster?
Run…run far away…
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Except that bagels and toast are pretty much the opposite of breastmilk….
It’s more like going and getting and egg, and then eating half an avocado. Wait a minute…that sounds healthy!!
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lilmrsmchenry had this to say,
Oct 13, 2011 @ 10:23 am (Quote)
My question is, who the hell only eats half a bagel?!?!
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Emily Greenhalge had this to say,
Oct 13, 2011 @ 11:28 am (Quote)
I had a friend who fed her baby like this. The ped told her to feed every three hours, fifteen minutes on each breast, and give pumped milk or formula if he wanted anything after that. NEVER EVER let your baby fall asleep while nursing. They’ll DIE!
She believed him. I haven’t seen her since her baby was four weeks old, but I highly doubt she nursed very long.
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My daughter is nearly 4 months old and still is a grazer. I pump every 2 hours because I’m at work full time and she has a nibble here and a nibble there as she pleases. I’m close to home so I could nurse her every two hours but that’s just not how she works!
My milk supply stays steady and actually when I breast feed only on weekends it drops down a notch…
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Jespren had this to say,
Oct 13, 2011 @ 4:34 pm (Quote)
I *think* it sounds like the doctor meant if they feed that frequently they are *just* snacking, as opposed to eating a meal (toast then bagel as opposed to eggs, oatmeal, toast, and fruit). Still stupid, but that sounds like what he was trying to say.
Bunk either way!
My 1st (who was 90% hieght and 60% weight) nursed every single hour 24 hours a day for the 1st 7 months, more when he had a growth spurt. And, judging by how much I could pump when I needed to (and how much he would drink in a bottle when necessary) I produced 6-8 oz 23 out of 24 hours (I was *always* dry for the 2 or 3am feeding so we had to supplement with 1 bottle of formula). 6oz every hour sounds like successful breastfeeding to me!
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Thankfully it was my second baby, and i knew better. I can just imagine how many first time mothers actually listen and follow his breastfeeding instruction even though they make no sense.
After that, every time we went in for checkups he’d say “you’re doing great. keep doing whatever it is you’re doing” and i would smile and nod,knowing that i would do just that.
Moral of the story: follow your baby. He can’t tell time, but he can tell when he is hungry.
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Guess this guy have never heard of growth spurts or cluster feeding. Or you know, normal breastfeeding. My kids have all had periods where they were nursing every hour or less.
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