For any new mother, learning to breastfeed is an unusual and sometimes difficult process. Mums-to-be are often faced with much reading, many expert opinions and a whole heap of 'facts' when preparing to breastfeed.
But now parenting expert Pinky McKay has run the rule over the myths of breastfeeding.
From needing to drink more milk to it ruining your boobs, she's named the six biggest lies mums are often told about breastfeeding.
IT WILL RUIN YOUR THE SHAPE OF YOUR BOOBS
Was it a man who started this lie in an attempt to keep his wife's breasts in pristine condition?
According to Ms McKay it's actually as a result of pregnancy and not breastfeeding that a woman's breasts begin to drop.
'Breast development during pregnancy prepares your body to feed your baby and, this growth, along with relaxin - the hormone that helps loosen the ligaments and tendons in your pelvis to prepare for birthing - can do the dirty on your boobs,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
'As your breasts get heavier during pregnancy, this can stretch your breast tissue, creating the potential for saggy boobs as they return to their normal size again.'
However according to Ms McKay, whether you breastfeed or not will have no difference on what happens to your breasts.
'The best way to help your breasts shape up after having a baby is to breastfeed – you will have great looking boobs while you are breastfeeding,' she said.
'The best way to reduce boob sagginess is to breastfeed as long as possible and wean very gradually, so your breasts have a chance to slowly shrink and reabsorb the breast tissue and skin that stretched during pregnancy and early breastfeeding.'
YOU NEED TO SPACE FEEDS TO GIVE YOUR BREASTS TIME TO 'FILL UP'
Think you need to give your breasts time to fill up after a feed? Wrong.
According to Ms McKay, breastfeeding works on the age old theory of supply and demand.
'This is one of the biggest lies about breastfeeding,' Ms McKay wrote.
'Breastfeeding works on a theory of supply and demand – the more milk that is removed from your breasts, the more milk your body will produce.
'By spacing feeds, rather than feeding according to your baby’s huger cues, your body will receive the signal to slow milk production. This can result in a reduced milk supply.'
With your newborn varying the amount of milk they drink in each feed and even day-to-day, the best idea is to judge each feed separately.
THERE IS NO GOODNESS IN YOUR MILK AFTER THREE MONTHS, SIX MONTHS...
A common lie is that much like the variety that you pour on your cereal, breast milk has a 'use by' date.
However, according to Ms McKay, the belief that breast milk loses its goodness after a certain amount of time is ridiculous.
'Breastfeeding continues to be an important source of nutrition and health protection, however long your baby breastfeeds,' she said.
'In fact, immune factors in breast milk increase during the second year of your baby’s life just as your baby is becoming more mobile and mixing socially with more people.
'According to a well known study (Dewey 2001) "Breast milk continues to provide substantial amounts of key nutrients well beyond the first year of life, especially protein, fat, and most vitamins".'
BREASTFED BABIES ARE 'BAD SLEEPERS
If you breastfeed your baby you won't make it a bad sleeper, no matter what anyone says.
Considering that breast milk it digested more easily than baby formula, it will actually help your child sleep soundly.
'Hormones in breast milk calm babies and aid sleep,' Ms McKay said.
'Research suggests that your night time milk may even be more effective at helping your baby sleep: melatonin, a sleep inducing hormone is barely detectable in day time breast milk but peaks during the night.
'Dr Christina Sanchez, the lead researcher of this study, advises that breast milk should be fed fresh or if you are expressing, it’s best to note the time you express and feed it to your baby at the same time of day.'
THE AMOUNT OF MILK YOU CAN PUMP IS AN INDICATOR OF YOUR MILK SUPPLY
As mentioned earlier, the amount of milk you can produce is dependent on how often you produce it.
But the amount you pump out can also indicate your supply levels, Ms McKay said.
'However much milk you can express, even with the best hospital grade pump, a baby who is well attached and sucking effectively will almost always be able to get more milk than a pump,' she said.
'If you are not able to pump much milk, please don’t let this create doubts about your milk supply.
'A better way to affirm your milk supply is to watch your baby’s output – heavy wet nappies and bowel motions along with good weight gains are a much more reliable indicator that you are making plenty of milk and your baby is feeding effectively.'
YOU NEED TO DRINK MILK TO MAKE MILK
A common fable is that if new mums drink milk it will help them produce milk.
But, as Ms McKay said, 'Have you ever seen a cow drink milk?'
'No, you don’t need to drink or eat any specific foods to make milk,' she said.
'In fact, if you drink a lot of milk you could be displacing other nutritious foods that would be beneficial to your health.
'Also, some babies are sensitive to dairy protein passing through your breast milk, especially if you have a family history of allergies, asthma or eczema (your baby is never allergic to your breast milk).'
The key, Ms McKay said, is to maintain a healthy diet of natural foods which will enable you to breastfeed your child more.
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