Annoyed with doc's attitude to formula feeding

[missy1]

My LO has been unwell recently. She had gastroenteritis a couple of weeks ago then just this past weekend had a high temperature for a few days and just seemed under the weather. She is 6 months old and has been perfectly healthy up until now. I took her to the doctor yesterday because of her fever and he said he thought it was another bug like gastroenteritis but without the sickness & diarrhoea. I said I was upset she has a bug so quickly after getting over another one and he then asked if she was breast or bottle fed. I told him bottle and he said well that'll be why she picks these things up as breast fed babies have a better immune system. I was really surprised he said this and I didn't say anything at the time but was about to justify to him why I didn't breast feed. I'm glad i didn't but I've come home feeling really low about it and going through that whole 'mothers guilt' thing again. I obviously know that there are benefits to breast feeding. I don't think there was any need for him to remind me at that particular time. Have your bottle fed babies had loads of sickness? I'm so worried an I feel terrible, even though breast feeding wasn't possible for us

 

[LoraLoo]

He shouldnt have made you feel like that hun That was really bad of him in my opinion, what good could come from it, other than to upset you? I do Breastfeed, but I also Breastfed my 3rd baby and she died. Its not always a case of 'Breastfed babies are always healthier'

 

[missy1]

Thanks Loraloo for your reply. I'm so sorry about your daughter. She was beautiful x

 

[Every Rose]

Breastfeeding didn't work for us and my LO has always been very healthy.

The doctor shouldn't say things like that to you. It did nothing to help the situation and it's not like you can go back in time and start breastfeeding again is it?

 

[missy1]

I know Every Rose. Pointless. I should probably not take these things to heart so much but its difficult when its your baby

 

[bigbetty]

Fran has been FF from birth and had a tummy bug a week or so ago - but so had all of our family so I think it was inevitable! I mentioned it to the doctor at her 8wk check up last week and all he said was there was a bout of it doing the rounds.

My sister and I were both bottle fed from birth and neither of us were sickly children or sickly adults! I know there are benefits to BF but that doesn't automatically make FF children more at risk of catching things.

 

[Odd Socks]

i hate when people say things like that.
what's the doctor expect you to do? magically make your milk reappear?!
xx

 

[Peachypoo]

i wouldnt take no notice... breast is usually best.. but not always possible... my lo has been bf although she has no bugs etc.. she's been suffering from reflux...

@odd socks.. your lo is soo cute.. what camera do you use... i love the quality...

 

[bubbles123]

Utterly pointless thing to say. But docs say ridiculous things like that all of the time. I had one Doctor say to me that the reason I had a difficult birth was that I'm veggie so 'didn't have the energy to push him out myself!' WTF??!!! I do wonder what they teach them at medical school sometimes.
And some BF babies are healthy, some are sick, some FF babies are healthy, some are sick... there's no guarantees I'm afraid. If only health was that simple!

 

[bubbles123]

Utterly pointless thing to say. But docs say ridiculous things like that all of the time. I had one Doctor say to me that the reason I had a difficult birth was that I'm veggie so 'didn't have the energy to push him out myself!' WTF??!!! I do wonder what they teach them at medical school sometimes.
And some BF babies are healthy, some are sick, some FF babies are healthy, some are sick... there's no guarantees I'm afraid. If only health was that simple!

 

[bubbles123]

Sorry, double post... computer went mad.... X

 

[Jibber Jabber]

Ignore him, power happy twat.

You know that you are doing the best for your LO. You do not have to justify yourself to anyone.

 

[missy1]

Utterly pointless thing to say. But docs say ridiculous things like that all of the time. I had one Doctor say to me that the reason I had a difficult birth was that I'm veggie so 'didn't have the energy to push him out myself!' WTF??!!! I do wonder what they teach them at medical school sometimes.
And some BF babies are healthy, some are sick, some FF babies are healthy, some are sick... there's no guarantees I'm afraid. If only health was that simple!

Unbelievable!!! What a load of nonsense about you being a veggie having anything to do with a difficult birth!

 

[sjminimac]

i breastfeed charlie and he was hospitalised christmas eve through to boxing day with viral gastroenteritis. Horrible horrible time, he had to be fed through a tube through his nose. Your doctor is an idiot. Xx

 

[Nessicle]

Thats disgusting as a doctor he should be aware that breastfeeding isnt always possible. I would have gone mental!

We're not idiots we know breast is best and this is very hard for those of us who desperately wanted to breastfeed but couldnt. I didnt get a drop of milk. I got 2 tablespoons of colostrom in 2 weeks and of course Ava wouldnt have survived so I had to formula feed.

I was breastfeed for the first few months of life and I've got the shittiest immune system and have endless stomach problems so its not the miracle food they go on about!

 

[missy1]

i breastfeed charlie and he was hospitalised christmas eve through to boxing day with viral gastroenteritis. Horrible horrible time, he had to be fed through a tube through his nose. Your doctor is an idiot. Xx

That's awful Charlie was in hospital over Christmas with gastroenteritis. Must have been such a worry. Lucy was bad but thankfully not hospitalised. It's horrible to see them so ill. I hope he is much better now

 

[sjminimac]

i breastfeed charlie and he was hospitalised christmas eve through to boxing day with viral gastroenteritis. Horrible horrible time, he had to be fed through a tube through his nose. Your doctor is an idiot. Xx

That's awful Charlie was in hospital over Christmas with gastroenteritis. Must have been such a worry. Lucy was bad but thankfully not hospitalised. It's horrible to see them so ill. I hope he is much better now

he's absolutely fine now, thank you so much for asking it was traumatic, he doesn't have a bottle (won't entertain it, just doesn't know what to do) so the tube was the only way we could get fluids into him. It wasn't how we intended to spend our first christmas as a family thats for sure, and it just about broke my heart when father christmas came to see him in his hospital bed . We're fortunate though, it was a temporary illness, so many others in there long term So back to the topic at hand, if a baby is going to catch a virus they'll catch a virus regardless of how they're fed. As you can see by my sig i'm passionate about bf and am training to be a peer support worker so know as well as anyone the benefits to baby and mummy. But bf is not some kind of magic forcefield that prevents any and all illness, and equally formula is not an evil concoction which mummies feed to their children to invite illness into their lives. No mummy should be belittled and made to feel guilty for ff. Xx

 

[summer rain]

your doctor is an idiot; I have come across doctors who have the same thoughts towards BF as well so you really cannot win . My sisters babies were EBF from birth until at least 5 months they have had every illness under the sun and are constantly suffering from diarrhoea and sickness bugs, because thats just how they are. My son who was on formula from 3.5 months is now almost four and he has only had an actual tummy bug maybe twice in his entire life. xx

 

[ouchwithNo.2]

My friends LO has had gastroenteritis just recently, she is 17mths and was breastfed (expressed breast milk) for 3mths.
She had that for a week, couldn't keep anything down and was bringing up stomach lining. Temperature up and down all the time, ear infection, conjunctivitis......
In fact, not two months go by without her being ill with a cold, tummy bug or pink eye.
Doesn't always work out.

 

[flubdub]

Utterly pointless thing to say. But docs say ridiculous things like that all of the time. I had one Doctor say to me that the reason I had a difficult birth was that I'm veggie so 'didn't have the energy to push him out myself!' WTF??!!! I do wonder what they teach them at medical school sometimes.
And some BF babies are healthy, some are sick, some FF babies are healthy, some are sick... there's no guarantees I'm afraid. If only health was that simple!

How ridiculous! I've been veggie since I was 9, and have managed to push out all 3 of my kids in 9 minutes and under! What would he think of me?!?!