Outdated information and guidance are still hanging around, making its way into many conversations to become modern breastfeeding myths. In order to help you differentiate between helpful advice and old wives tales – we have busted some of the most common breastfeeding myths for you!
1. Breastfeeding Myth: Stay away from spicy food....
We saw this on a facebook group recently and thought it was really honest and solid advice for a first time mum so asked the poster could I share it - she was delighted to share her story and tips with you too:
'Just wanted to start this post off with saying that I formula fed my first and breast fed my second for 16 months....I'm not on either side of the fence and rightly so because we're all doing our best as we see fit as new mothers!
The following however are a few things to bare in mind if you're interested in breast feeding or are in the early days where you might be finding things tough......
It's your first baby and you are probably super excited and super anxious in equal measure. Once you start baby shopping it can become a little overwhelming with so many cleverly marketed items telling you they are 'must have'l but will more likely be gathering dust in months time.So we've compiled a list of items available from Earthmother that we think are essential for a healthy and comfortable start for you and your baby. And we've also listed some items we don't stock but you can find easily elsewhere.
We recently had the pleasure of meeting lactation consultant and mum of 4, Mairead Murphy, so we asked her to write a little about what she does.
It’s National Breastfeeding Week in Ireland, a week to promote the wonder and joy of breastfeeding. So I thought I would share my own breastfeeding journey with you.
I have 3 children, all happily breastfed from birth to 12 + months. When I had my first baby, I was clueless. If it wasn’t for a beautiful, gentle, young Italian midwife who supported me in Holles St during my 5 day stay after a c section, I don’t know if I would have taken to it so well. She showed me the best positions to feed in (I liked lying on my side with him facing me best) and reassured me that he was feeding well. Thankfully Conall fed easily from day 1, he’d feed for ages, at least 40 minutes a go and would happily sleep, feed, sleep and feed. Until week 3 when he started screaming constantly and I didn’t know what to do – was he hungry, was he windy, was he tired? I was completely overwhelmed and it happened to coincide with my mother and father in law coming to stay with us and seeing way too many flashes of boob for my liking! It was a low point. But I went with it and let him feed all the time and we got through it and back into a bit of a routine within a few days. Looking back it was an obvious growth spurt which I hadn’t learnt about yet…there’s so much to learn! I never got mastitis or cracked nipples but I did get sore boobs sometimes and I found the best way to deal with that was massaging the lump towards the middle in a hot shower.