Aileen - posted on 04/15/2011 ( 16 moms have responded )
61
22
Hi all,
My daughter is now 16 months, and we are still breastfeeding. She is weaning herself a little during the day, but is still nursing at sleep times and overnight. Last month she had a febrile seizure for the first time. 3 weeks later she had 2 more and at that time the ER had a pediatrician evaluate her, which did not happen the first time. She usually sees a family Dr. and he encourages me to breastfeed for as long as my daughter and I would both like. He's wonderful. This pediatrician in the emergency room looked at me when he heard me say I was nursing her and had the gall to look me straight in the eye and tell me "You need to stop. You have breastfed way too long, she looks well fed, you've done all you needed to do and it's time to stop" I couldn't believe it, and it took every ounce of self restraint to tell him where he could shove his outdated, ignorant, unsupported by facts, neanderthal ideas. Well, I'm sure the neanderthals did it the right way, and breastfed exclusively long-term, so maybe not the best description...=) I couldn't believe this guy was a board certified pediatrician and he was saying that to me. It was so frustrating to know that there are Dr.s out there who STILL don't follow suggested protocols that are derived from PROVEN research into the benefits of breastfeeding past the first year.
Anyway, I just had to get that off my chest because it's been eating at me. Even my Dr. couldn't believe this guy said that to me and asked for his name. It's unbelievable the things we hear because we choose to breastfeed past a year!
16 Comments
View replies by