Why do people worry that breastfed babies don't get enough milk? That's why b*****s are there?!?

Question

I see plenty of people on here that say they don't think they are getting enough.....if you've got wet and poopy diapers and they are gaining weight then they are getting enough.

Answer 1

who worrys about that?? My 3 had plenty of brestmilk as an when they wanted it :)

Answer 2

Because this may actually shock you but some women can not produce enough or any milk.  Sometimes the pain from breastfeeding can be so great that the mother can't keep feeding the baby.  Or perhaps the baby didn't grasp the whole concept of breastfeeding and doesn't take in enough milk.  It's not black and white.

To clarify what you said, in my case, my son starved for 4 days because the breastfeeding n***s said to just keep on trying.  I finally gave him formula.  Most women don't get their babies weighed more than once a week.  7 days is a long time to wait to see if your baby is getting enough food.  Hence the worrying about the amount the baby gets.

I take great offense to your know-it-allism.  I am not a 'moron' as you put it because I didn't watch for poopy diapers and the like.  I was too busy trying to get my son to eat.  I also spent weeks going back and forth from the health station and hospital trying to get help.  It took a nurse, my husband, my mother in law and sister in law to convince me that I needed to feed my son formula.

Answer 3

I, too, definitely think it comes down to education.

A lot of women don't know that milk doesn't come in for a few days. They don't know to count diapers. They don't know that the baby will "seem" hungry most of the time.

I know I about went nuts during my son's first growth spurt. He was eating every hour for a half an hour! It was intense! Luckily, I have an extremely supportive husband. And even my mom, who breastfed her children, and my MIL, who didn't, were very supportive of me breastfeeding my son.

Answer 4

I supppose it's because we are somewhat out of touch with our natural selves combined with the fact that we can't visibly "measure" the amount of milk the baby is taking in.

(If you or someone you know are in any need of support you can always turn to the La Leche league. Those people are die-hard breast feeding advocates!) :)

Answer 5

Maybe because there are some first time parents who are just nervous and want the best for their babies. Yes, you would be pretty stupid to not notice if your baby was starving to death, but maybe you're worried that they're not as satisfied as they could be.

I'm planning to pump so I'll know for sure how much the baby's getting (plus I have to go to work and can't take the baby with me).

Maybe everybody should just cut everyone else some slack. I'm sure we're all doing the best we can.  

Answer 6

I guess because you can't actually see or measure how much they are getting unless you pump only and then measure.. And some babies do want to be latched on all the time.. not just to get breastmilk, but to satisfy the sucking instinct they have.. and then they also go through growth spurts... and I dunno. I think a lot of people aren't completely educated about breastfeeding. I know when I nursed my son, I'm a first time mom.. so everything was new to me. All I kept hearing was about how it was better for my son, and he gets immunities, antibodies, and everything he needs from breastmilk.

Nobody bothered to explain to me anything else associated with nursing! I actually wrote a research paper on it my first year in college. My professor wanted us to pick something we didn't know about to research. She questioned my choice on breastfeeding b/c I had nursed my son. And I explained to her that I really didn't know anything about nursing, other than how to do it, and that it's good for baby.

Several weeks... hundreds of web pages... tons of books... and a lot of magazine articles later.. and I was absolutely stunned at how much there was to learn about breastfeeding. I think if people took the time to actually read about breastfeeding and educate themselves on it (since no one these days seems to want to talk much about it other than just how it's good for baby) ... then the questions would stop.

Answer 7

It's sad.

A myth perpetuated by formula companies.

Women should be confident in their abilities to feed, but unfortunately there is no education of this and health visitors and professionals normally worry parents by showing how their baby isnt following the (bottle fed baby)growth line, and advising formula supplements.

Every woman,, with very very few exceptions can make enough milk.

Answer 8

That's why my grandson was so hungry all the time, like every hour, right? Poor kid was half starved! You have no way of knowing how much they are getting to eat, and now that my daughter is bottle feeding, he is much more happy and sleeps all night. Breast feeding is not all that people make  it out to be.

Answer 9

I thinks its because you cant see how much baby has drank, though you can tell by feeling how full/empty your b*****s are after they are finished. And yes you are right, you can tell from how many wet nappies they have as to whether they are getting enough.

Answer 10

I realize it is a little late to be answering....but if all women had a natural labor, had the ability to nurse right away after delivery, and had no other options then breastfeeding would be simplier.  But today we have medicated births, c sections, babies being taken away to be checked by doctors, etc....I think that all plays a role in how quickly milk comes in.  I know for a fact that by day 5 (after an uneccessary induction and c section) my milk HAD NOT COME IN...I quit nursing then so I don't know when it would have come in if I had continued nursing.

Answer 11

The amount of women on earth who truely do not produce enough breast milk for their babies is minute, and likely has to do with her personal choices rather than her b*****s inability  - it is not normal, and there are far too many women who harp on about "couldn't make enough milk" when that is just not the case.

The problem is that too many pregnant women say they want to "try to breastfeed" and if they "can't" then it's okay because there is formula.

If a woman were to truly educate herself about breastfeeding before she had her baby, she would understand that she does not need to "try" to breastfeed, her b*****s are there specifically for that job - and they will not fail her baby.

Answer 12

At least partly it's because nobody explains to them that it's NORMAL for a newborn to get almost no milk for the first few days. Milk doesn't come in right away. What a newborn's system is set up to expect is the few drops of colostrum which are all you produce initially.

But nobody tells you that. They tell you about MILK, and engorged b*****s, and expressing several ounces at a time, and you look across the ward and see the bottlefeeding mum giving her baby a nice simple bottle with no need to be helped, you can feel your b*****s have almost no milk in, you know your baby's eaten almost nothing since birth...and you panic.

Even this question perpetuates the myth. A breastfed baby DOESN'T have plenty of wet nappies right away. Not until mum's milk comes in several DAYS later and he starts getting milk in larger quantities. So many people say, I had to formula feed because I had no milk - and they gave up at 3 days, nobody has any milk at that point!  

Answer 13

I think that new Mommies worry because we are truly MISINFORMED and very UNEDUCATED.  I had NO clue!  I had no idea that it was completely NORMAL for my baby to be attached to my breast literally 20 hours a day while my supply was being established.  Nobody told me that!  I took my baby to be weighed every other day and was amazed at how much he was gaining!  I think it is a normal response to be worried about your newborn!  However, I don't think that it is a normal response to stick a bottle in his/her mouth!  I think that is a CONDITIONED response!  I read peoples answers such as "breastfeeding is not all it's made out to be"  and it blows my mind!  Formula is such an inferior means of nutrition and should only be used in EXTREME cases where there is no other choice!  However, since everyone tells each other it's FINE ( Crackheads that sit around smoking crack all day tell each other it's "fine" too... It does not make it right, just easier to justify!), INCLUDING the medical community, most take the easy way out.  I can't tell you how many times I was told to put a bottle in my baby's mouth!  Even by doctors!  I had gotten very sick after my baby was born (first Mastitis, then infection in my jaw, then very high blood pressure then a MRSA infection).  Luckily, I was bound and determined to breastfeed and still do!

The thing is that I TOOK THE TIME AND MADE SURE TO GET EDUCATED!  The resources are out there, I just had to find them!  It's so sad that more doctors/healthcare professionals like Dr. Hale don't exist.  I believe these people are responsible for a whole lot of unecessary worry when it comes to breastfeeding baby!  They have gone so far from what is right they can't find thier way back and EVERYONE suffers because of it.

Very best wishes!

Answer 14

"I'm not talking about women who truly don't produce enough"

Those women don't really exist in other species or outside of contemporary Western society; the phenomenon of "not enough milk" didn't exist before formula.

Now that a lot of women labour under the belief that inability to produce enough milk is common, well...throw in some low self-esteem, lack of knowledge about biology, a baby who's slightly fussy, an "emergency" can of formula, and...presto! "Not enough milk."

I realise there're a lot of "X per cent of women can't make enough" figures bandied about, but those generally include women who were supplementing with formula, or scheduling feeds, or pumping rather than nursing, etc, and _then_ couldn't make enough.

re. "I have heard stories in the news where woman who only breastfed their babies and their babies starved to death because they were not getting enough milk" --

"In virtually all of the reported cases each year in which a breast-fed baby becomes seriously ill as a result of her mother's feeding choice, the problem is actually one of not breast-feeding -- meaning that, as in the Walrond and Cheeks cases, some uninformed and unsupported nursing mothers are not aware that they aren't effectively transferring milk from their b*****s to their babies. In sharp contrast, however, routine formula feeding -- even when done properly by parents -- is itself a contributor to overall rates of infant morbidity and mortality in the United States..."

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1999/07...

Answer 15

I guess it's just natural for a parent to worry about how much milk/food their baby is getting and with breastfed babies you obviously don't have a concrete measurement of this.  

Answer 16

THERE IS A GOOD REASON WHY THE BREAST ARE THERE, AND I THING THE BABY PROFFERS THE MUMS BREAST FED.

Answer 17

It is because we see many women using a bottle and many guidelines out there for using a bottle, but when it comes to breastfeeding people just say" Oh you will know when he/she has had enough" or "You will know if they are getting enough". In my experiences, there aren't any "guidelines" to help breastfeeding mothers and our mothers were told to formula feed so that is what they know, so the support out there is low for breastfeeding mothers. (although many would argue against that, but in my personal experience with doctors just giving my kids formula early on instead of informing me I could pump my breast milk with it or telling me jaundice requires formula feeding only etc etc, the support is low.) Even now, our friends often formula feed or bottle feed and know what they are doing and when they try to help, it is "So how many ounces is your child getting". Breastfeeding moms are always faced with the questions in their minds because of other people.

Some moms do have this support to let them know that the amount of wet and p**p diapers will let you know if your baby is eating right. But unless mom had a breastfeeding class or read breastfeeding books or breastfed another child, she leaves the hospital not knowing everything she needs to know. And the LC at the hospital does not help much. They always seem too busy to help someone who truly wants to breastfeed.

So, that is why I think women stress over these things. Women choose to breastfeed but are not given the right resources in order to continue with confidence.  

Answer 18

Because you cannot measure how much they are taking in like you can with a bottle.

(I have nothing against breastfeeding or bottlefeeding as i bottlefed my son and proud of it) Anyhow how do you actually know how much a baby is taking in when they are breastfeeding? There is no way of measuring....I have heard stories in the news where woman who only breastfed their babies and their babies starved to death because they were not getting enough milk.

Answer 19

Yes, but different people are capable of making differing amounts of milk. Sometimes lactation can be delayed after childbirth by various medical problems - in my personal case, it didn't kick in until a week after I gave birth - and sometimes certain medications can limit lactation. Even simple things like stress and hormone levels can inhibit milk production.

However, twice-weekly weight checks for newborns usually means that if milk production continues to be low, mothers can always supplement breastfeeding with additional top-up formula.