Doctor has no idea about extended breastfeeding benefits?
We recently changed doctors and we really like the one we have now except for the fact that he is clueless when it comes to nursing. He asked if I still nurse my son at his one year check up and I told him yes and that I probably will continue until he self weans. My doctor said at this point nursing isn’t beneficial and is really just for comfort. I didn’t really respond and we moved on to something else, but I was wondering if there is a nice way to clue him into the facts. Should I print something out about all of the benefits of nursing into the second year? Should I let him know that the AAP’s MINIMUM age recommendation is 1 year and the WHO’s is 2? How can I mention these things to him without sounding rude? I would just not bother mentioning it but like my husband said, he could discourage other women from continuing to nurse their children past a year because maybe they haven’t done the research.
All doctors have their own ways of running their medical practice. They each have their own ideas based on their own experience and training. I doubt very much that anything you say to your doctor or any print outs you give him are going to be news to him nor are they going to sway his own opinions. Recommendations are just that, they aren’t law. I think it would mostly be a frustrating attempt on your part to try to educate your doctor. At best he may initially listen to your opinion, but he’ll continue to run his practice the way he wants to. You will have to decide if you like this doctor well enough to “agree to disagree” on this issue or if you feel strongly about it you may want to interview a new doctor. Pediatricians are not always well trained in lactation nor are they always interested in keeping up with the current recommendations. I have heard of several instances where breast feeding moms have been encouraged by their pediatricians to supplement or wean when it wasn’t necessary. In all matters of breast feeding, it is fine to consider a doctor’s viewpoint, but to get the best advice, a lactation consultant is the best resource for nursing moms.
Encouraging and Supporting Breastfeeding
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