So upset, pedi suggested I wean DS

[momm]

DS (16 months) has been eating SO less in the past few weeks/ months that I wrote down an entire list of things he eats every day and showed the pedi. She said that's not normal and it may be because he gets so much breastmilk and whole milk (2 cups a day)

She suggested to not breastfeed him for a few days to see if he eats better.

Ugh. Sorry if this post is not making sense, I'm just so upset. I always thought I'd let him self wean.

Anyone else faced this problem? Toddler not eating because of too much milk?

Gosh I am near tears right now - and I know I shouldn't be

[amldaley]

DS (16 months) has been eating SO less in the past few weeks/ months that I wrote down an entire list of things he eats every day and showed the pedi. She said that's not normal and it may be because he gets so much breastmilk and whole milk (2 cups a day)

She suggested to not breastfeed him for a few days to see if he eats better.

Ugh. Sorry if this post is not making sense, I'm just so upset. I always thought I'd let him self wean.

Anyone else faced this problem? Toddler not eating because of too much milk?

Gosh I am near tears right now - and I know I shouldn't be

This post does not make sense b/c your Ped is a breastfeeding idiot.

Cut back on the COWS MILK...not the breastmilk!!!!!!

How often is he nursing? Could you go to maybe 3 nursings a day instead of a full schedule?

The APA recommendation for cow's milk is to wait until a child is "at least one year old", not that our children MUST have it as soon as they turn one.

Ugh...yes...as you can tell...I have BTDT and I did a ton of research on extended BF and there are many mama's here who will support you in your endeavor.

I say GET A NEW PED.

[Clarity]

Why would you stop breastfeeding? Cut back on the amount of milk that he's drinking from a cup. Your milk was made for your baby. Cow's milk was not. :hug:

[wendibird22]

I agree with PP. Cut out the cow's milk before the breastmilk. If your DS is being picky about eating, at least the BM is giving him a balanced nutrition on a daily basis.

[elizabethkott]

:yeahthat:
That's just stupid to suggest that you wean.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I'd still be bf-ing Stevie if he hadn't self weaned a couple of months ago.

[Multimama]

Is there some reason your pedi is concerned about his weight gain or health?

If not, I'd say just cut out/reduce the cow's milk. There is no good reason to cut out breast milk. Even if your baby is having health issues, that will just mean he needs the breast milk *more*. :)

[Beth24]

Yes i agree your ped is not giving you the correct advice. A nursing toddler typically does not get enough BM to interfere with eating. I would definitely cut down the whole milk. My 18 month old nurses 3 or 4 times a day and does not get any whole milk at all. He gets his calcium from other foods. My ped is fine with that, but I'm lucky I guess because she nursed both her kids until they were almost three.

[calv]

Pedi gave you wrong/bad advice. Don't do it and follow your mommy gut. was told the same thing and we too cut back on other things but NOT nursing. {{{{{hugs}}}}}

[twowhat?]

Um, yeah I agree completely with PP. Cut the cow's milk totally out and keep nursing him. He doesn't need cow's milk until you DO want to wean him (and even then he probably doesn't really "need" it).

eta: of course this is assuming there isn't some other thing your ped is concerned about.

[Momit]

As PPs have said, cut back or eliminate the cows milk before you decide to give up BFing.

How is it that so many peds still seem to say "ok, DC is one - time to give up breastfeeding and turn the carseat facing forward! Yippee!" but I digress...

[PAfirsttimemom]

Cut back on the COWS MILK...not the breastmilk!!!!!!

How often is he nursing? Could you go to maybe 3 nursings a day instead of a full schedule?



This would be my suggestion, too. You could even consider cutting down to morning and bedtime nursing only, so your LO is more interested in taking in other types of nutrition throughout the day. That would also be easier on your body. I would think abrupt weaning could put you at risk for plugged ducts or mastitis.

[hellokitty]

Ugh, what an idiot. Yes, cut down on the cow's milk, not the breast milk, not only nutritionally, but it makes sense to keep nursing your child through flu season too. Plus, I think your doctor is an jerk if he is suggesting that you wean cold turkey, it will make both you (plugged ducts/mastitis) and baby miserable. You do what you think is best, doctors don't always know best, esp when it comes to breastfeeding.

[amldaley]

As PPs have said, cut back or eliminate the cows milk before you decide to give up BFing.

How is it that so many peds still seem to say "ok, DC is one - time to give up breastfeeding and turn the carseat facing forward! Yippee!" but I digress...

lol..RIGHT???????????????

[ast96]

One of my best friends is a pediatrician.

Guess how much education he received on breastfeeding in med school? ZERO.

Nutrition? Not so much.

I agree with everyone else -- cut out the cow milk. Aim for one well-rounded meal OVER THE COURSE OF THE DAY. That means spread out, added up together, it would equal one hearty, well-rounded, nutritious meal. Kids at that age have little attention span for sitting and eating. Allow eating on the run. Whatever works. But no, you don't have to wean.

Edited because my pregnant brain and fingers switched words on me!

[wellyes]

Yeah, peds aren't wild about breastfeeding because, I think, it is not easy to measure or control. Too bad for them.

[amldaley]

One of my best friends is a pediatrician.

Guess how much education he received on breastfeeding in med school? ZERO.

Nutrition? Not so much.

I agree with everyone else -- cut out the breastmilk. Aim for one well-rounded meal OVER THE COURSE OF THE DAY. That means spread out, added up together, it would equal one hearty, well-rounded, nutritious meal. Kids at that age have little attention span for sitting and eating. Allow eating on the run. Whatever works. But no, you don't have to wean.

I will assume you meant cut out the cows milk :)

DD's original Ped was very off hand and nasty about BF so we switched. The next was very candid with me that he received a total of 13 hours on nutrition and less than 30 minutes of that was on BF.

[Globetrotter]

UGH, a similar thing happened to me but my dd was considered failure to thrive due to low weight gain (which we later realized is just her growth pattern - she is tiny!). She did stop eating all solids around one and there was pressure for me to wean, but it turned out to be due to horrible teething pain (several teeth came in at once). I continued to nurse and also gave pediasure per doctor's orders, but I didn't want to stop nursing when that was the most nutritious thing she was eating! I would stop the cow's milk first, like PP said.

It is true that most docs aren't very knowledgable when it comes to nutrition, which is ridiculous when you consider how important that is to our health!

[ABO Mama]

Hang in there! Breastmilk is the best possible food for a growing baby!

[MamaMolly]

I thought the new APA guidelines were to nurse for 24 months if you can/ want to. I don't know what is up with your Ped but I'm with the others. I'd totally cut off the cow's milk before weaning. Plus the way it was presented would HURT!

[geochick]

The pedi has you switching all the wrong things. I agree with the others:



Cut the cow's milk
Cut the Pedi, and find one who follows your way of thinking...there are lots of them out there.

[DrSally]

Amother vote for cuttong cow's milk!

[citymama]

1. Get a new pediatrician! Her response makes me so mad.
2. Don't stop breastfeeding!
3. Cut back on cow's milk.
4. Try new foods?

Big hugs! I am SO sorry you are dealing with this awful ped.

[swissair81]

I agree with all the PPs. Don't stop breastfeeding.

[Roni]

IMO, pediatricians shouldn't get involved with telling you to wean or sleep-train your child. Those are personal decisions. Is there a concern about your child's weight? My 16 mo had her appt. yesterday and the pedi kind of alluded to the fact that dd might not be eating a lot because she's still bf-ing, but I think she knows better than to try to tell me to wean her. My dd is only 5% for weight, but she's my third, and our whole family is thin.

One caveat about cutting out whole milk, and maybe all of you BBB mothers know something I don't, but my understanding is that they need the fat in whole milk for brain development. Of course, there are other ways to get that.

Also, my dd is picky about textures at this age--so I'm trying to figure out what foods work best. She'll eat corn all day long, if I let her. Peas work, too. And, of course, Goldfish crackers. SOmetimes she's too busy to stop and eat, too. There are a lot of factors that come into play, not just the bf-ing.

Good luck!!!

[amldaley]

One caveat about cutting out whole milk, and maybe all of you BBB mothers know something I don't, but my understanding is that they need the fat in whole milk for brain development. Of course, there are other ways to get that.

Nope. Breastmilk is perfectly balanced. And, in fact, has slightly higher fat than whole cows milk, provided mother is allowing baby to nurse all the way through to the hindmilk and allowing baby to nurse until the breast is soft and drained. None of this switching sides after a certain number of minutes!

Check out this chart
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/milk/milkcalories.html

[amldaley]

I realize we may have overloaded you here with "cut out the cows milk" and "get a new Ped"...if you still have questions, it may be helpful to share with us the list that you shared with your Ped re: what your LO is eating on a daily basis.

If not, no worries! Just remember that at that age, much of what they should be eating is "suggested". There is a pretty wide range of what they will eat and how much!

[ast96]

I will assume you meant cut out the cows milk :)

DD's original Ped was very off hand and nasty about BF so we switched. The next was very candid with me that he received a total of 13 hours on nutrition and less than 30 minutes of that was on BF.

Argh! Yes, thank you! Pregnant brain posting here. ;)

[sntm]

LOL, chiming in with an agreement that cutting out the cow's milk is most appropriate. Breastmilk (besides all the other great stuff) is actually still very balanced, calorie appropriate nutrition for proper weight gain and development. Cow's milk has nutrients, but doesn't compare to breastmilk. Solid food is important at that age, but you will not improve DD's nutrition by replacing breastmilk with solid food.

FWIW, I'm a doc (though not a pediatrician) and agree that peds get poor education in breastfeeding. I'm of the opinion that they *should* be involved in discussing this with their patients, but from an educated background, not an off-the-cuff and often wrong position!

[Reader]

I"ll yeah, that to what everyone else said. I've known several toddlers who were not that interested in solids but very interested in nursing. They are all healthy children who eat solids with no issues now.

[daisymommy]

Here ya go!
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html



In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:

29% of energy requirements
43% of protein requirements
36% of calcium requirements
75% of vitamin A requirements
76% of folate requirements
94% of vitamin B12 requirements
60% of vitamin C requirements

-- Dewey 2001

[ha98ed14]

Why not just cut back on the whole milk? Reduce it to one cup/day and save BFng for before & after nap and bed. That seems less traumatic than sayng no more boobie for you!

[Jo..]

I would (and have) switched doctors over less.

Find a pediatrician whose values mesh with yours. You will be MUCH happier.

[mikala]

Another vote for cutting down the cow's milk and getting a referral to a pediatric dietician if there are weight gain issues. If weight is an issue you may also want to look at some of the old threads in the kid food section on ways to increase calorie intake.

FWIW that was a REALLY difficult age for us food-wise and it did get better. Is there any chance your child is anemic? Some of our food challenges were tied to anemia and a prescription iron supplement helped a lot.

Teething can also really affect solids consumption.

[mikala]

Here ya go!
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html

In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:


In case anyone else paused for a second at the 448 mL number here's the conversion to oz: 448 ml = 15.1486822 US fluid ounces
It's pretty amazing that two cups of breastmilk can provide all of those nutrients. We don't give our own bodies enough credit.

[mommytoC]

DS (16 months) has been eating SO less in the past few weeks/ months that I wrote down an entire list of things he eats every day and showed the pedi. She said that's not normal and it may be because he gets so much breastmilk and whole milk (2 cups a day)

She suggested to not breastfeed him for a few days to see if he eats better.

I didn't read all the other responses, but as a ped (a BBB one, who's learned a lot about breastfeeding along with the rest of you!), I'm sorry that yours suggested
you not breastfeed. Typical recommendations for that age are that milk (cow's milk if weaned, or breast milk plus cow's milk if not :)) intake not exceed 16-24 oz./day, to promote a balanced diet and avoid iron-deficiency anemia. Since your DS is nursing AND drinking 16 oz./day of cow's milk, I agree that he's getting too much "liquid nutrition". Like PPs, I would recommend that you either cut or eliminate his cow's milk (depending on how much he's nursing). What to do next will depend on his
growth and solid intake.

[lalasmama]

DD's original Ped was very off hand and nasty about BF so we switched. The next was very candid with me that he received a total of 13 hours on nutrition and less than 30 minutes of that was on BF.

:yeahthat: I used to work at a residency clinic for pediatricians. They had graduated medical school knowing the following: "After delivery, the mother's breasts should produce breast milk." In fact, during their residency, they learned "a lot". I was there for every BF-related class/rounding/etc in the years I worked there. There was one single 35 minute class, and whatever comments were made by the one faculty doctor that had nursed her 2 children. She also led that one 35 minute class, which was largely based on her textbook-perfect breastfeeding experience. No talking about common newborn nursing issues, no talking about common mama nursing issues, no real talk of nursing issues at all.

Just as shocking, after that, I worked at an OB/GYN office. A full-fledged (past residency by many years!) OB/GYN had me in the room while he did a breast exam. That was pretty standard. When we walked out of the room, he said to me, "Is that a plugged duct? I've never seen one, and had no training about it all." The mom had a fever, felt like she'd been hit by a Mack truck, and had a hot, red spot on one breast. When I asked about it maybe being mastitis, it was like a light went off, and he remembered some long ago class... then he asked, "Is there something I'm supposed to prescribe for that? An antibiotic, right? Any specific one?"

So, we're told that when we have breastfeeding issues, we need to call our OB/GYN, or our child's pediatrician. Uuuummmm... I've got more education on nursing than they have, and, at both of the points above, my only "education" on nursing was a 2-hour class I took with my sister before her baby was born.

So, my thought now is this: Pediatrician for general baby issues, OB/GYN for girly-part issues, and a lactation consultant for anything happening around my breasts while breastfeeding, or recently weaning.

I'm now in a family practice residency clinic. We have 1 IBCLC (Lactation Consultant) with 6 years of nursing experience, 1 peer counselor with 3 years of nursing experience, and one lactation consultant student with induced lactation experience. The residents we have now are getting better versed in breastfeeding, but it's only because they have 3 women harping on them about it at every prenatal visit, every new born visit, and every infant well-baby visit. And, unfortunately, that's 3 graduating doctors a year from our clinic, which is just a tiny drop in bucket when you look at trying to have new doctors (and older ones!) give good nursing information....

OP--Like the others have said, skip the cow's milk, not the mama's milk!

[trcy]

Yeah, peds aren't wild about breastfeeding because, I think, it is not easy to measure or control. Too bad for them.
Very good point. We are having issues with DD not drinking enough and that is causing her to have hard stools. She is still BF about 2x day. A newer ped in the practice suggested I skip a BF feeding and pump "to see how much I get" I agree with PP, I would cut back on cow's milk before your milk.

[m448]

Agree to cut out cow's milk but also realize that it's normal for babies to go back to almost newborn frequency nursing around 12-15 months then taper off to toddler frequency as they eat table foods. Which is why I think introducing table foods at meal levels before the age of 1 is just counterintuitive and fighting the tide.

[momm]

Oh my goodness ladies, I can't begin to thank everyone enough. I've read each response and I want to reach into the Internet and hug each and every one of you who took the time to respond, validate my upset-ness, and give me such solid advice and quote facts.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you so very much.

I completely agree on cutting back the whole milk. I see now that he is getting too much fluids so of course he's not hungry.

Thank you again so much. I was so upset yesterday that I was not thinking clearly.

As a PP suggested I will list out the list of foods he's eating, so that maybe you guys can help me out with that. I need to type it up, as it's handwritten right now.

Again, I can't even begin to thank you all enough, and to even tell you how much you have helped me.

[citymama]

Great update, momm! I was so worried we had scared you off with our overwhelming and unanimous conclusion that you fire the ped. and cut the cow's milk! Glad to hear you are feeling better and that we were helpful in some way. :)

[momm]

hi ladies, I posted a new thread here with the whole list. Any help would be so much appreciated

http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=3416005#post3416005