Thursday, March 10, 2011

Grr, darn Dr.

Yesterday, I took the kids for back-to-back check ups. Fuss had her 3 years one and Little Man, his 6 mos. Both kids were pronounced healthy and thriving and it was said that they "couldn't be doing any better."
Then the pediatrician told me I could start giving Little Man a sippy cup for "fun" to teach him to drink from a cup, etc., etc. And THEN she tells me to put formula in the cup. And I immediately said "no, we're not doing formula" because I've been there, and we're doing SO well with the BFing and I just don't want to go there. (I gave Fuss formula at 6 mos on her recommendation and that was the beginning of the end for us.) And then she argued. Basically told me that I SHOULD give him formula or he won't drink milk in the future, blah, blah, blah. I'm sitting there going "give me a freaking break!" And then when she left, I asked the nurse. The nurses in the office have always been SO supportive of EBFing (exclusively breast-feeding) and so I asked her what she thought. She told me not to do the formula if I didn't want to and she said that she's known plenty of kids who EBFed (even ones who didn't get any solids in the first 9-12 mos) who did fine drinking regular milk, etc. I told her I didn't want her to be disagreeing with the Dr if it would get her in trouble, but that I felt like I needed a 2nd opinion and that the nurses seemed to be so much more supportive of EBF. She said she wouldn't if it were her kid. (and this wasn't even either of my favorite nurses, though I like this one plenty)
So I'm obviously NOT going to give him formula, but I am PEEVED AGAIN about the Dr pushing formula on me and my VERY HEALTHY child. I obviously have plenty of milk and he is doing great on it. (I would have been fine with the suggestion if he wasn't growing/I was stressed over not enough milk, etc.)
So I don't know if I should look into another ped or not. I said that the next time they pushed me to feed my baby formula I was going to find another ped.

I think I'm leaning towards doing some more research before making my choice/leaving them. I'm talking it over w/ Daddy Fuss, of course, etc. I'm just really upset that despite the fact that I have plenty of milk, my children are healthy and growing, I'm not complaining about BFing (because I do think that stress should be a factor) - I feel like every time I turn around they are telling me to feed my kids formula. And they claimed to be pro-BF when I interviewed them before Fuss was born! I feel like on this issue (which I think in the early years is a big one - what to feed your child) I know WAY more than the Drs about it and what happens when/if I do ever really need help? My sister and a few other friends who have big families have mentioned that they feel like they have less milk with each child (a combination of age/hormones/stress, I'm sure) and so what happens if the next kid or 2 (I have no idea how many we'll ultimately have) and I really need more support - are they just going to throw up their hands and hand me Enfamil samples and say "here! feed them this!"?

(I apologize to the Luckies who have already read this nearly verbatim on the board. But since I already wrote it out once, i figured I could just do some updating/corrections and copy it here.)

3 comments:

  1. Ugh, I would be ticked at that doctor. I'm sure little man will drink milk just fine. I would WANT to switch doctors, but don't know if I'd actually do it, because its so hard to find a new one you like. Good luck making your decision and finding a new doctor, if that's what you decide.

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  2. I wish you lived further north county - my dr is awesome, and they are very pro-breastfeeding, but they are also very pro-what's best for you. They didn't give me crap when I couldn't BF, but they always encourage BFing.

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  3. ha ha, I was TOTALLY going to pick on you for "cheating" on your blog post! ;)

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