I did breastfeed one child who desired it for more than two years. Other ones weaned on their own more quickly. My ob/gyn did question whether it was healthy for me to go past one year (because of how difficult it is to maintain a certain level of nutrition). This was because I had a private office and enough time on my schedule to pump at work. I know I was not the norm - even at my workplace and I think the AAP, while setting forth new guidelines that are aligned with WHO guidelines and attempting to encourage better work/family policies missed the point. Long-term breastfeeding is not practical for a lot of women in this country. Women have access to clean water and until recently, readily-available formula.

There needs to be 12 weeks of combined paid maternity or paternity leave irrespective of whether breastfeeding is a part of the equation. There is simply very little childcare available for infants at that age and it is healthy for the parents to have the time to bond with their child in the early months.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really all about the culture of safety-ism for children. Because we live in a society with a lacking social safety net, lawsuits are typically how damages are handled. The AAP is just recommending doctors to say the safest thing so they can’t be sued. In reality, this is not what it looks like on the ground.

I had a baby in 2017 and in 2020. Both times. I brought my own formula to the hospital just in case. With my youngest, I offered some because his latch was a little funky. The nurse was like “you didn’t need to bring that.” Also, both babies went to the nursery for a few hours. It was offered to me. On the website, it says that they room in. But in reality they don’t want you falling asleep holding the baby.

My pediatrician recommended supplementing with no hesitation. When the pediatrician asks where the baby slept, I just didn’t mention that it was mostly in my arms. No doctor is going to recommend cosleeping but moms do what works.

I wish there was some way to reach out to pregnant women and urge them to ignore the culture of safetyism from their first child. It would save so many women from immense mental suffering. I went through it with my first. He wanted nothing to do with the bassinet, so I just didn’t sleep. Raging postpartum anxiety that lasted for years impacted us both.

Parents do drop babies more often in baby-friendly hospitals. It is a thing that happens. Babies get injured because of this.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-newborns-falls-idUSKCN1OX1WF

yes but it isnt solely dropped from breastfeeding. Also if they would make sidecar cribs to the bed, it would be easier. If there was more nursing staff so the ratio was 1:4, meaning if its 1 baby plus 1 mother then they only have two rooms. Or having a separate nurse for mom and baby, with mother ratio being 1:4 mothers and infants being 1:2.

The nursery option wasnt great either. In 2008 ratios of nurses to infants in the nursery was 1:8. 8 infants....newborns who need feeding, burping, rocking, diaper changes, temp checks, bilirubin checks, etc. No thank you.

It does not matter if the specific mother was breastfeeding. The policies are justified based on increasing breastfeeding. In reality it is a cost cutting measure and the victims are new mothers and babies. The AAP should get seriously slammed for this. Sorry you don't like the nursery but to me it is worth babies not getting skull fractures and developing seizures. Our country really, really hates women and babies, JFC.

Just because a hospital cuts costs and blames breastfeeding support doesn’t make actual breastfeeding support the problem. They could increase nursing staff, upgrade the equipment, add home-visits and “blame” breastfeeding support for that.

It's a breastfeeding support initiative. Make all the excuses you want, lactivism has become a cultist, misogynist religion. I think breastfeeding is a great choice when it is a choice, not when women are harangued into doing it for benefits that continue to be exaggerated by organizations like the AAP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really all about the culture of safety-ism for children. Because we live in a society with a lacking social safety net, lawsuits are typically how damages are handled. The AAP is just recommending doctors to say the safest thing so they can’t be sued. In reality, this is not what it looks like on the ground.

I had a baby in 2017 and in 2020. Both times. I brought my own formula to the hospital just in case. With my youngest, I offered some because his latch was a little funky. The nurse was like “you didn’t need to bring that.” Also, both babies went to the nursery for a few hours. It was offered to me. On the website, it says that they room in. But in reality they don’t want you falling asleep holding the baby.

My pediatrician recommended supplementing with no hesitation. When the pediatrician asks where the baby slept, I just didn’t mention that it was mostly in my arms. No doctor is going to recommend cosleeping but moms do what works.

I wish there was some way to reach out to pregnant women and urge them to ignore the culture of safetyism from their first child. It would save so many women from immense mental suffering. I went through it with my first. He wanted nothing to do with the bassinet, so I just didn’t sleep. Raging postpartum anxiety that lasted for years impacted us both.

Parents do drop babies more often in baby-friendly hospitals. It is a thing that happens. Babies get injured because of this.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-newborns-falls-idUSKCN1OX1WF

yes but it isnt solely dropped from breastfeeding. Also if they would make sidecar cribs to the bed, it would be easier. If there was more nursing staff so the ratio was 1:4, meaning if its 1 baby plus 1 mother then they only have two rooms. Or having a separate nurse for mom and baby, with mother ratio being 1:4 mothers and infants being 1:2.

The nursery option wasnt great either. In 2008 ratios of nurses to infants in the nursery was 1:8. 8 infants....newborns who need feeding, burping, rocking, diaper changes, temp checks, bilirubin checks, etc. No thank you.

It does not matter if the specific mother was breastfeeding. The policies are justified based on increasing breastfeeding. In reality it is a cost cutting measure and the victims are new mothers and babies. The AAP should get seriously slammed for this. Sorry you don't like the nursery but to me it is worth babies not getting skull fractures and developing seizures. Our country really, really hates women and babies, JFC.

Just because a hospital cuts costs and blames breastfeeding support doesn’t make actual breastfeeding support the problem. They could increase nursing staff, upgrade the equipment, add home-visits and “blame” breastfeeding support for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really all about the culture of safety-ism for children. Because we live in a society with a lacking social safety net, lawsuits are typically how damages are handled. The AAP is just recommending doctors to say the safest thing so they can’t be sued. In reality, this is not what it looks like on the ground.

I had a baby in 2017 and in 2020. Both times. I brought my own formula to the hospital just in case. With my youngest, I offered some because his latch was a little funky. The nurse was like “you didn’t need to bring that.” Also, both babies went to the nursery for a few hours. It was offered to me. On the website, it says that they room in. But in reality they don’t want you falling asleep holding the baby.

My pediatrician recommended supplementing with no hesitation. When the pediatrician asks where the baby slept, I just didn’t mention that it was mostly in my arms. No doctor is going to recommend cosleeping but moms do what works.

I wish there was some way to reach out to pregnant women and urge them to ignore the culture of safetyism from their first child. It would save so many women from immense mental suffering. I went through it with my first. He wanted nothing to do with the bassinet, so I just didn’t sleep. Raging postpartum anxiety that lasted for years impacted us both.

Parents do drop babies more often in baby-friendly hospitals. It is a thing that happens. Babies get injured because of this.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-newborns-falls-idUSKCN1OX1WF

yes but it isnt solely dropped from breastfeeding. Also if they would make sidecar cribs to the bed, it would be easier. If there was more nursing staff so the ratio was 1:4, meaning if its 1 baby plus 1 mother then they only have two rooms. Or having a separate nurse for mom and baby, with mother ratio being 1:4 mothers and infants being 1:2.

The nursery option wasnt great either. In 2008 ratios of nurses to infants in the nursery was 1:8. 8 infants....newborns who need feeding, burping, rocking, diaper changes, temp checks, bilirubin checks, etc. No thank you.

It does not matter if the specific mother was breastfeeding. The policies are justified based on increasing breastfeeding. In reality it is a cost cutting measure and the victims are new mothers and babies. The AAP should get seriously slammed for this. Sorry you don't like the nursery but to me it is worth babies not getting skull fractures and developing seizures. Our country really, really hates women and babies, JFC.

Well floor beds would solve that too! I'm really sorry that you think that breastfeeding is the scapegoat for all of this. It's biologically normal mother infant dyad.

It isn't about not liking the nursery. It isn't good care. I wonder how many accidents happened when care was nursery based? Do you have comparisons for that?

That is the whole point of the article above. There was a surge in accidents when the hospital shifted from nursery to rooming in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really all about the culture of safety-ism for children. Because we live in a society with a lacking social safety net, lawsuits are typically how damages are handled. The AAP is just recommending doctors to say the safest thing so they can’t be sued. In reality, this is not what it looks like on the ground.

I had a baby in 2017 and in 2020. Both times. I brought my own formula to the hospital just in case. With my youngest, I offered some because his latch was a little funky. The nurse was like “you didn’t need to bring that.” Also, both babies went to the nursery for a few hours. It was offered to me. On the website, it says that they room in. But in reality they don’t want you falling asleep holding the baby.

My pediatrician recommended supplementing with no hesitation. When the pediatrician asks where the baby slept, I just didn’t mention that it was mostly in my arms. No doctor is going to recommend cosleeping but moms do what works.

I wish there was some way to reach out to pregnant women and urge them to ignore the culture of safetyism from their first child. It would save so many women from immense mental suffering. I went through it with my first. He wanted nothing to do with the bassinet, so I just didn’t sleep. Raging postpartum anxiety that lasted for years impacted us both.

Parents do drop babies more often in baby-friendly hospitals. It is a thing that happens. Babies get injured because of this.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-newborns-falls-idUSKCN1OX1WF

yes but it isnt solely dropped from breastfeeding. Also if they would make sidecar cribs to the bed, it would be easier. If there was more nursing staff so the ratio was 1:4, meaning if its 1 baby plus 1 mother then they only have two rooms. Or having a separate nurse for mom and baby, with mother ratio being 1:4 mothers and infants being 1:2.

The nursery option wasnt great either. In 2008 ratios of nurses to infants in the nursery was 1:8. 8 infants....newborns who need feeding, burping, rocking, diaper changes, temp checks, bilirubin checks, etc. No thank you.

It does not matter if the specific mother was breastfeeding. The policies are justified based on increasing breastfeeding. In reality it is a cost cutting measure and the victims are new mothers and babies. The AAP should get seriously slammed for this. Sorry you don't like the nursery but to me it is worth babies not getting skull fractures and developing seizures. Our country really, really hates women and babies, JFC.

Well floor beds would solve that too! I'm really sorry that you think that breastfeeding is the scapegoat for all of this. It's biologically normal mother infant dyad.

It isn't about not liking the nursery. It isn't good care. I wonder how many accidents happened when care was nursery based? Do you have comparisons for that?

The nursery is 2-3 hours of sleeping swaddled (and damn those nurses can swaddle like a boss) before returning to mom, who hopefully has gotten some sleep. You are being ridiculous. It’s not prolonged separation.

I breastfed all my kids and coslept with my youngest from the start. Still loved the nursery.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really all about the culture of safety-ism for children. Because we live in a society with a lacking social safety net, lawsuits are typically how damages are handled. The AAP is just recommending doctors to say the safest thing so they can’t be sued. In reality, this is not what it looks like on the ground.

I had a baby in 2017 and in 2020. Both times. I brought my own formula to the hospital just in case. With my youngest, I offered some because his latch was a little funky. The nurse was like “you didn’t need to bring that.” Also, both babies went to the nursery for a few hours. It was offered to me. On the website, it says that they room in. But in reality they don’t want you falling asleep holding the baby.

My pediatrician recommended supplementing with no hesitation. When the pediatrician asks where the baby slept, I just didn’t mention that it was mostly in my arms. No doctor is going to recommend cosleeping but moms do what works.

I wish there was some way to reach out to pregnant women and urge them to ignore the culture of safetyism from their first child. It would save so many women from immense mental suffering. I went through it with my first. He wanted nothing to do with the bassinet, so I just didn’t sleep. Raging postpartum anxiety that lasted for years impacted us both.

Parents do drop babies more often in baby-friendly hospitals. It is a thing that happens. Babies get injured because of this.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-newborns-falls-idUSKCN1OX1WF

yes but it isnt solely dropped from breastfeeding. Also if they would make sidecar cribs to the bed, it would be easier. If there was more nursing staff so the ratio was 1:4, meaning if its 1 baby plus 1 mother then they only have two rooms. Or having a separate nurse for mom and baby, with mother ratio being 1:4 mothers and infants being 1:2.

The nursery option wasnt great either. In 2008 ratios of nurses to infants in the nursery was 1:8. 8 infants....newborns who need feeding, burping, rocking, diaper changes, temp checks, bilirubin checks, etc. No thank you.

It does not matter if the specific mother was breastfeeding. The policies are justified based on increasing breastfeeding. In reality it is a cost cutting measure and the victims are new mothers and babies. The AAP should get seriously slammed for this. Sorry you don't like the nursery but to me it is worth babies not getting skull fractures and developing seizures. Our country really, really hates women and babies, JFC.

Well floor beds would solve that too! I'm really sorry that you think that breastfeeding is the scapegoat for all of this. It's biologically normal mother infant dyad.

It isn't about not liking the nursery. It isn't good care. I wonder how many accidents happened when care was nursery based? Do you have comparisons for that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really all about the culture of safety-ism for children. Because we live in a society with a lacking social safety net, lawsuits are typically how damages are handled. The AAP is just recommending doctors to say the safest thing so they can’t be sued. In reality, this is not what it looks like on the ground.

I had a baby in 2017 and in 2020. Both times. I brought my own formula to the hospital just in case. With my youngest, I offered some because his latch was a little funky. The nurse was like “you didn’t need to bring that.” Also, both babies went to the nursery for a few hours. It was offered to me. On the website, it says that they room in. But in reality they don’t want you falling asleep holding the baby.

My pediatrician recommended supplementing with no hesitation. When the pediatrician asks where the baby slept, I just didn’t mention that it was mostly in my arms. No doctor is going to recommend cosleeping but moms do what works.

I wish there was some way to reach out to pregnant women and urge them to ignore the culture of safetyism from their first child. It would save so many women from immense mental suffering. I went through it with my first. He wanted nothing to do with the bassinet, so I just didn’t sleep. Raging postpartum anxiety that lasted for years impacted us both.

Parents do drop babies more often in baby-friendly hospitals. It is a thing that happens. Babies get injured because of this.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-newborns-falls-idUSKCN1OX1WF

yes but it isnt solely dropped from breastfeeding. Also if they would make sidecar cribs to the bed, it would be easier. If there was more nursing staff so the ratio was 1:4, meaning if its 1 baby plus 1 mother then they only have two rooms. Or having a separate nurse for mom and baby, with mother ratio being 1:4 mothers and infants being 1:2.

The nursery option wasnt great either. In 2008 ratios of nurses to infants in the nursery was 1:8. 8 infants....newborns who need feeding, burping, rocking, diaper changes, temp checks, bilirubin checks, etc. No thank you.

It does not matter if the specific mother was breastfeeding. The policies are justified based on increasing breastfeeding. In reality it is a cost cutting measure and the victims are new mothers and babies. The AAP should get seriously slammed for this. Sorry you don't like the nursery but to me it is worth babies not getting skull fractures and developing seizures. Our country really, really hates women and babies, JFC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really all about the culture of safety-ism for children. Because we live in a society with a lacking social safety net, lawsuits are typically how damages are handled. The AAP is just recommending doctors to say the safest thing so they can’t be sued. In reality, this is not what it looks like on the ground.

I had a baby in 2017 and in 2020. Both times. I brought my own formula to the hospital just in case. With my youngest, I offered some because his latch was a little funky. The nurse was like “you didn’t need to bring that.” Also, both babies went to the nursery for a few hours. It was offered to me. On the website, it says that they room in. But in reality they don’t want you falling asleep holding the baby.

My pediatrician recommended supplementing with no hesitation. When the pediatrician asks where the baby slept, I just didn’t mention that it was mostly in my arms. No doctor is going to recommend cosleeping but moms do what works.

I wish there was some way to reach out to pregnant women and urge them to ignore the culture of safetyism from their first child. It would save so many women from immense mental suffering. I went through it with my first. He wanted nothing to do with the bassinet, so I just didn’t sleep. Raging postpartum anxiety that lasted for years impacted us both.

Parents do drop babies more often in baby-friendly hospitals. It is a thing that happens. Babies get injured because of this.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-newborns-falls-idUSKCN1OX1WF

yes but it isnt solely dropped from breastfeeding. Also if they would make sidecar cribs to the bed, it would be easier. If there was more nursing staff so the ratio was 1:4, meaning if its 1 baby plus 1 mother then they only have two rooms. Or having a separate nurse for mom and baby, with mother ratio being 1:4 mothers and infants being 1:2.

The nursery option wasnt great either. In 2008 ratios of nurses to infants in the nursery was 1:8. 8 infants....newborns who need feeding, burping, rocking, diaper changes, temp checks, bilirubin checks, etc. No thank you.

+1

Bad postpartum care masquerading as supporting breastfeeding is just bad postpartum care.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really all about the culture of safety-ism for children. Because we live in a society with a lacking social safety net, lawsuits are typically how damages are handled. The AAP is just recommending doctors to say the safest thing so they can’t be sued. In reality, this is not what it looks like on the ground.

I had a baby in 2017 and in 2020. Both times. I brought my own formula to the hospital just in case. With my youngest, I offered some because his latch was a little funky. The nurse was like “you didn’t need to bring that.” Also, both babies went to the nursery for a few hours. It was offered to me. On the website, it says that they room in. But in reality they don’t want you falling asleep holding the baby.

My pediatrician recommended supplementing with no hesitation. When the pediatrician asks where the baby slept, I just didn’t mention that it was mostly in my arms. No doctor is going to recommend cosleeping but moms do what works.

I wish there was some way to reach out to pregnant women and urge them to ignore the culture of safetyism from their first child. It would save so many women from immense mental suffering. I went through it with my first. He wanted nothing to do with the bassinet, so I just didn’t sleep. Raging postpartum anxiety that lasted for years impacted us both.

Parents do drop babies more often in baby-friendly hospitals. It is a thing that happens. Babies get injured because of this.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-newborns-falls-idUSKCN1OX1WF

yes but it isnt solely dropped from breastfeeding. Also if they would make sidecar cribs to the bed, it would be easier. If there was more nursing staff so the ratio was 1:4, meaning if its 1 baby plus 1 mother then they only have two rooms. Or having a separate nurse for mom and baby, with mother ratio being 1:4 mothers and infants being 1:2.

The nursery option wasnt great either. In 2008 ratios of nurses to infants in the nursery was 1:8. 8 infants....newborns who need feeding, burping, rocking, diaper changes, temp checks, bilirubin checks, etc. No thank you.

Anonymous wrote:It’s really all about the culture of safety-ism for children. Because we live in a society with a lacking social safety net, lawsuits are typically how damages are handled. The AAP is just recommending doctors to say the safest thing so they can’t be sued. In reality, this is not what it looks like on the ground.

I had a baby in 2017 and in 2020. Both times. I brought my own formula to the hospital just in case. With my youngest, I offered some because his latch was a little funky. The nurse was like “you didn’t need to bring that.” Also, both babies went to the nursery for a few hours. It was offered to me. On the website, it says that they room in. But in reality they don’t want you falling asleep holding the baby.

My pediatrician recommended supplementing with no hesitation. When the pediatrician asks where the baby slept, I just didn’t mention that it was mostly in my arms. No doctor is going to recommend cosleeping but moms do what works.

I wish there was some way to reach out to pregnant women and urge them to ignore the culture of safetyism from their first child. It would save so many women from immense mental suffering. I went through it with my first. He wanted nothing to do with the bassinet, so I just didn’t sleep. Raging postpartum anxiety that lasted for years impacted us both.

Parents do drop babies more often in baby-friendly hospitals. It is a thing that happens. Babies get injured because of this.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-newborns-falls-idUSKCN1OX1WF

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is psychopathic. AAP says that even if your baby is so jaundiced *they need phototherapy*, they STILL should not get formula unless they are literally on the verge of needing a blood transfusion:

“ The need for phototherapy in an otherwise healthy infant without signs of dehydration and/or insufficient intake is not an indication for supplementation with formula, unless bilirubin concentrations are approaching exchange transfusion levels.”

JFC. They are literally advocating that babies go just to the line of severe jaundice and brain damage, just to avoid a bottle of formula.

At this point, I truly feel like there is a cultish devotion to “exclusive breast feeding” at the AAP and other public health organizations that has nothing to do with the wellbeing of infants and mothers. It’s about exerting moral control over women and their bodies… what women may want and need is irrelevant; they have to do what AAP dictates is the way to use their bodies. Yes there is a “health exception” (sound familiar?) but it only kicks in if the infant is one step away from serious harm … and the mental state and preference of the mother are irrelevant.

Because phototherapy is the treatment for jaundice, and formula is not? The line you quoted specifically says if the baby needs formula for *food* (that’s what “insufficient intake” means) it is indicated.

When you are the only person in a thread calling everything psycho, bonkers, insane etc. have you considered the possibility that the call is coming from inside the house?

Absolutely wrong - increased intake is therapy for jaundice. And whereas the CDC says supplementation should be on a case by case basis, AAP says “no supplementing until baby is so sick they almost need a blood transfusion.” That is an absolutely horrifying approach. And it also ignores the agency of parents. This should be a matter of shared decisionmaking, not a paternalistic decision of doctors to decide the parents’ priorities.

Imagine if a doctor told you this: “Your baby has jaundice and needs phototherapy. Supplementation with formula could help, but the AAP recommends that we wait until just before your baby needs a blood transfusion. This is to prioritize breastfeeding. However you could also pump during that time to maintain your supply. Would you like to wait until your baby almost needs a blood transfusion because you want to prioritize breastfeeding, or give a bottle earlier?”

Increased intake is therapy for jaundice. Formula is not inherently required to increase intake. A doctor could say (and many do) “your baby has jaundice. We will be giving them phototherapy to help. It’s very important they get a lot to eat in this time, so we suggest you start pumping between feeds to encourage your milk supply/syringe feed between nursing sessions/ make sure you are hydrated enough and resting enough to produce milk. We will monitor to see if your baby needs anything additional such as formula or donor milk”

Formula is not a magical substance. Formula is not the only answer to increased intake unless you come at the discussion from a perspective they more formula is an inherent good. Like, for example, if you work for a formula company.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is psychopathic. AAP says that even if your baby is so jaundiced *they need phototherapy*, they STILL should not get formula unless they are literally on the verge of needing a blood transfusion:

“ The need for phototherapy in an otherwise healthy infant without signs of dehydration and/or insufficient intake is not an indication for supplementation with formula, unless bilirubin concentrations are approaching exchange transfusion levels.”

JFC. They are literally advocating that babies go just to the line of severe jaundice and brain damage, just to avoid a bottle of formula.

At this point, I truly feel like there is a cultish devotion to “exclusive breast feeding” at the AAP and other public health organizations that has nothing to do with the wellbeing of infants and mothers. It’s about exerting moral control over women and their bodies… what women may want and need is irrelevant; they have to do what AAP dictates is the way to use their bodies. Yes there is a “health exception” (sound familiar?) but it only kicks in if the infant is one step away from serious harm … and the mental state and preference of the mother are irrelevant.

Because phototherapy is the treatment for jaundice, and formula is not? The line you quoted specifically says if the baby needs formula for *food* (that’s what “insufficient intake” means) it is indicated.

When you are the only person in a thread calling everything psycho, bonkers, insane etc. have you considered the possibility that the call is coming from inside the house?

Absolutely wrong - increased intake is therapy for jaundice. And whereas the CDC says supplementation should be on a case by case basis, AAP says “no supplementing until baby is so sick they almost need a blood transfusion.” That is an absolutely horrifying approach. And it also ignores the agency of parents. This should be a matter of shared decisionmaking, not a paternalistic decision of doctors to decide the parents’ priorities.

Imagine if a doctor told you this: “Your baby has jaundice and needs phototherapy. Supplementation with formula could help, but the AAP recommends that we wait until just before your baby needs a blood transfusion. This is to prioritize breastfeeding. However you could also pump during that time to maintain your supply. Would you like to wait until your baby almost needs a blood transfusion because you want to prioritize breastfeeding, or give a bottle earlier?”

Anonymous wrote:this is psychopathic. AAP says that even if your baby is so jaundiced *they need phototherapy*, they STILL should not get formula unless they are literally on the verge of needing a blood transfusion:

“ The need for phototherapy in an otherwise healthy infant without signs of dehydration and/or insufficient intake is not an indication for supplementation with formula, unless bilirubin concentrations are approaching exchange transfusion levels.”

JFC. They are literally advocating that babies go just to the line of severe jaundice and brain damage, just to avoid a bottle of formula.

At this point, I truly feel like there is a cultish devotion to “exclusive breast feeding” at the AAP and other public health organizations that has nothing to do with the wellbeing of infants and mothers. It’s about exerting moral control over women and their bodies… what women may want and need is irrelevant; they have to do what AAP dictates is the way to use their bodies. Yes there is a “health exception” (sound familiar?) but it only kicks in if the infant is one step away from serious harm … and the mental state and preference of the mother are irrelevant.

Because phototherapy is the treatment for jaundice, and formula is not? The line you quoted specifically says if the baby needs formula for *food* (that’s what “insufficient intake” means) it is indicated.

When you are the only person in a thread calling everything psycho, bonkers, insane etc. have you considered the possibility that the call is coming from inside the house?

It’s really all about the culture of safety-ism for children. Because we live in a society with a lacking social safety net, lawsuits are typically how damages are handled. The AAP is just recommending doctors to say the safest thing so they can’t be sued. In reality, this is not what it looks like on the ground.

I had a baby in 2017 and in 2020. Both times. I brought my own formula to the hospital just in case. With my youngest, I offered some because his latch was a little funky. The nurse was like “you didn’t need to bring that.” Also, both babies went to the nursery for a few hours. It was offered to me. On the website, it says that they room in. But in reality they don’t want you falling asleep holding the baby.

My pediatrician recommended supplementing with no hesitation. When the pediatrician asks where the baby slept, I just didn’t mention that it was mostly in my arms. No doctor is going to recommend cosleeping but moms do what works.

I wish there was some way to reach out to pregnant women and urge them to ignore the culture of safetyism from their first child. It would save so many women from immense mental suffering. I went through it with my first. He wanted nothing to do with the bassinet, so I just didn’t sleep. Raging postpartum anxiety that lasted for years impacted us both.

this is psychopathic. AAP says that even if your baby is so jaundiced *they need phototherapy*, they STILL should not get formula unless they are literally on the verge of needing a blood transfusion:

“ The need for phototherapy in an otherwise healthy infant without signs of dehydration and/or insufficient intake is not an indication for supplementation with formula, unless bilirubin concentrations are approaching exchange transfusion levels.”

JFC. They are literally advocating that babies go just to the line of severe jaundice and brain damage, just to avoid a bottle of formula.

At this point, I truly feel like there is a cultish devotion to “exclusive breast feeding” at the AAP and other public health organizations that has nothing to do with the wellbeing of infants and mothers. It’s about exerting moral control over women and their bodies… what women may want and need is irrelevant; they have to do what AAP dictates is the way to use their bodies. Yes there is a “health exception” (sound familiar?) but it only kicks in if the infant is one step away from serious harm … and the mental state and preference of the mother are irrelevant.