When a mother mentions that she breastfeeds her baby, other mothers start giving advice that may not be all true. As a matter of fact, most of it might be wrong.
Despite the fact that speaking to other mothers with more experience in pregnancy and breastfeeding may help you predict certain things, it is important to be able to tell what is true and what is a common misconception.
1. If the baby needs frequent feedings, this means that it did not get enough the last few times.
Truth is that mother’s milk is easy to digest more than formula and so the baby needs to feed more frequently; every 2 to 3 hours.
2. You will produce more milk if you stop breastfeeding for a while.
Truth is that milk production is better the more regularly you breastfeed and not the opposite. So you can feed your baby 9 – 10 times a day.
3. Your baby will sleep better if you feed it formula.
Truth is that the baby will not sleep better if it was fed formula. It only sleeps longer. This is due to the length it takes to digest formula which helps the baby sleep longer without feeling hungry. In a few weeks after birth, the hours babies who are breastfed sleep will be similar to the hours babies who are formula-fed sleep.
4. If the baby gets used to the bottle, it will refuse to breastfeed.
This is a misconception. If you want to give your baby the bottle sometimes, during your work hours, but would like to keep it breastfed at home, you can do that between 2 to 6 weeks and your baby will get used to it.
5. Breastfeeding may change the size of the mother’s breast.
Truth is breastfeeding does not affect the breast size at all. Additionally, mothers who breastfeed there rarely get breast cancer.