In Which We Are Proved Right!

A year and a half ago, we took our second baby to see a pediatric gastroenterologist for some reflux issues, as the request of our geneticist. We will be forever grateful to that doctor (the GI doctor) for getting us out of a very unpleasant test that our geneticist wanted us to have performed - she was awesome about not doing unnecessary testing, and we really appreciated that.

However, after that was over, the doctor turned rather nasty - she freaked out about the fact that our baby (then 17 months old) was "too small for his age," and she tried to bully us into weaning him off of breastmilk and putting him on high-calorie weight-gain formula (because, you know, "you can't breastfeed him forever" - her words, not mine).

My response, in a word, was:

 ~ NO ~

I eventually compromised by agreeing to add goat milk to his diet - which we did in powder form, added to his food, NOT from a cup like she wanted us to do (anything to get him away from that horrible breastmilk). 

Our (late) pediatrician, when we saw him later, confirmed that her advice had been absolutely rotten - and he added that it is not an advantage to add extra weight to special needs kiddos who have low muscle tone, since the added pounds make moving about even harder (and he already has such a hard time with movement).

That we made the right decision was confirmed again this past month, when we had our little guy's three-year check-up. He is low on the height scale, yes, but he is fifty percentile points higher in weight than in height. In other words, far from "wasting away," he is quite a chubby little guy who, like most special-needs children who have hypotonia (low muscle tone), he will most likely have a lifelong struggle keeping his weight down to reasonable levels.

Had we followed this doctor's advice, we would have:

• Interrupted a thriving breastfeeding relationship
• Deprived our baby of the benefits of breastmilk
• Exposed him to all of the negative health effects of artificial milk (formula)
• Caused a weight-gain problem on top of what we will already be dealing with

I am so glad that we did not take this doctor's advice.

The moral of the story: Don't be afraid to say no when you disagree with your healthcare provider! I am usually a wet noodle in the hands of a doctor, but I am so glad I found the backbone to say NO.

Our Chublet in all his cuteness.