"It's very unfortunate that you're breastfeeding"

[smallestangel]

WHAT?? That's what the ped said to me today. I need to vent.

Jacob projectile vomited three times last night so we took him in today. I'm thinking it's reflux because he's shown some mild symptoms before this (a "painful" cry & arching his back after nursing, spitting up). He's gaining weight like a champ and it dosen't happen at every feeding. So while I'm concerned because he's hurting, and I want to find a resolution as fast as possible, I'm not desperate about it.

So anyway, I'm telling all this to the ped and it goes like this:

Ped: How often do you feed him?
Me: I nurse on demand and he eats about every 2 1/2-3 hrs with a four hour stretch at night.
Ped: You're feeding him too much, that's why he's throwing up. It's very unfortunate that you're breastfeeding. Bottle feeding is much better for lots of reasons. One of which is that it's easier to control how much they take in. Stop nursing so often and start thinking about switching to formula.

After that I just tuned him out. Then Jacob started to fuss (it was time) so I started to feed him. That man looked SO uncomfortable that I was nursing in front of him, ha!


ARG!

I'm off to investigate finding another ped. Thanks for letting me vent.

Amanda & Jacob :)

[llcoddington]

Ridiculous! Wow! Lauren also had reflux and it certainly had nothing to do with how much I fed her! That man has issues!

Good luck in your search for a new ped!

Lana
mommy to Lauren 12/5/03

[mommd]

Run away from that Ped... FAR away...

[bluej]

I don't know how you continued to sit there! But then I got to the part about you nursing Jacob in front of the stupid ped! Good for you! Yeah, I would definitely say it's time for a new ped. And if you are comfortable w/ it, let your current ped know why you are leaving him.

[smallestangel]

I know! And the whole thing is, he'll only be six weeks old on Thursday. The frequency of feedings is just right for his age. My husband was with me and he wasn't happy either, to say the least. When we got out to the car he busted out laughing and told me way to go for nursing in front of that jerk. ;) He really did come off like it was my fault the baby's throwing up and I'm that doing something bad....WRONG!



Amanda

[COElizabeth]

Wow. That is completely unbelievable. It's a good thing you and your DH are well educated enough to understand that everything he said is completely against modern pediatric knowledge. Good luck finding a new ped, though frankly I would be surprised if you could find anyone else that bad! And I hope little Jacob's reflux (which it does sound like) improves soon.

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02
EDD #2, 10-30-04

[smallestangel]

Oh! The reason I say I'm not desperate about it is that after he says all that crap about nursing, he goes on to say that if we want he can order some tests. Even though he dosen't think it's neccessary, he'll do it for our piece of mind (I think he said that because we must have been looking at him like he had two heads).

And I'd like to try medicine (Zantac maybe). I don't like to jump to medication, but I'd rather try that first before subjecting him to anything invasive. I don't think it's severe enough where we can't wait a week or two to see if a med works.

I must say we met with him before Jacob was born and he didn't come across like the way he is now. *sigh*

Amanda

[Jacksonvol]

Hmm, sounds like it is very unfortunate that he is a pediatrician. Two thumbs up on feeding Jacob in the exam room. I knew we had a great ped. when she told me to feel free to feed at anytime we were there.

Good luck with the hunt.

Lisa

[etwahl]

it's actually unbelievable how hard it is to find a bfing friendly ped. amazing huh?

good for you for nursing in front of him! bravo!!! yes, i agree, run and find another ped. he is clearly clueless. and so glad your husband is supportive. good job you guy!!!

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[suribear]

A lot of pedis are clueless about nursing, but this really takes the cake. Good grief!!

I hope you find a great nursing friendly pedi :) You might want to contact LCs or LLL for recommendations.

Kris