Breastfeeding Myths

I noticed that most of the reasons why a mother is not able to successfully breastfeed her baby is because of false beliefs. This really annoys me since it compromises the benefits the baby should get. I made a list and added some more from research:

If you have small breasts, you will not produce enough milk. All women are created by God with the capability to produce milk after giving birth. From cups AA to DD or whatever cup you're in, you will be able to produce milk. The production of milk would depend on the law of supply and demand. The more you nurse, the more milk will be produced. So nurse, nurse and nurse!

It is bad to nurse when you are hungry. This made a little common sense at first since breastfeeding is connected to your emotions as well. But really it doesn't matter if you are hungry or not. Nurse away! Just make sure you eat during/after nursing. Maybe multitasking is also your thing?

Do not eat/drink spicy, sour or cold drinks. They say your baby would taste the spiciness in your milk, the sour foods would lower your milk supply and the cold drinks - I don't know why... NOT! I did everything. I ate the spicy food gradually kasi pasaway ako just to make sure Julian would still take my milk. I also ate sinigang for it's soup. Strawberry ice cream is one of my cravings right after giving birth. If you are a little scared that it will affect the baby or your supply, take it gradually. But as long as it is nutritious, I believe you should be munching away... My goodness, we're eating for two!

The baby is treating you like a pacifier or is nursing more often. I sometimes do feel like a pacifier but it is probably that the baby is going through a growth spurt period. It's a normal phase and as your milk production increases and the baby becomes more efficient sucking milk, nursing sessions would be fewer.

Clean your nipples before each feeding. This dried my nipples which resulted to soring.

Babies should be given water. Breastfed babies do not need water. Breastmilk is 88% water. See this article.

Some more breastfeeding myths can be found here, here, here and here.