Suck a finger with Tizzie Hall?

I've received a number of emails and Facebook comments following the blog entry examining Tizzie Hall's methods and SIDS, asking since breastfeeding is a topic I frequently cover - do I plan to address the inaccuracies in her breastfeeding information? So I looked at a few of the breastfeeding PDFs, I watched at a couple of clips of her on TV,  and I thumbed through my copy of the book (second hand natch).  The truth is even as a relatively prolific dedicated "mommy blogger", I'm simply not sure if it's a task even I can face!   The job of tackling it all is mind boggling, the man hours it would take overwhelming - maybe I need some £300 per pop forums to fund the process? ;).

So let's suck a finger with Tizzie!

Self styled "international baby expert" Tizzie Hall the "International Baby Whisperer," has decided that despite others training for numerous years to become lactation experts - a bit of self experience (two children is it?) and a good marketing team does her an expert make.

The most obvious place to start was Tizzie's Facebook group - and almost immediately I found this message posted by Tizzie.

"If following my breastfeeding guide before you milk comes in you will slowly get your nipples used to the baby sucking on them which will stop you getting sore cracked, bleeding nipples or engorged breast, which can happen if a baby is feed too often and for long periods of time before the nipple is conditioned for breastfeeding. You can test this theory by picking one finger and sucking on it for 20 minutes every 2.5 hours in a 24 hour time frame for 5 days and pick the same finger on the other hand and follow the sucking times in my routines and compare the difference in the fingers." 

No this wasn't a joke, yes she really was asking people to suck their finger for 20 mins, every 2 1/2 hours - both day and night for five days.  Some agreed to start it and I would love to know how many completed the challenge!

I had to reply:

Hi - so many flaws in this theory without testing it out. I'm slightly concerned that when lacking understanding of the very basics such as this, you've produced a "breastfeeding guide". What qualifies you to do this please?
Firstly, babies don't suck nipples to obtain milk, they milk the breast.

Fingers are not made for regular sucking, they do not become erect when rubbed nor stretch and give as a nipple does.  Fingers are not surrounded by sebaceous glands that secrete a waxy, lipoid fluid to lubricate, moisturise and protect the areola and the nipple - look at your nipple and your finger, do they look vaguely similar to you? 

When feeding the infant's tongue grooves to support the nipple, fat pads stabilise and the nipple is drawn back to the point just before the hard and soft palate meet.

This is NOTHING like sucking a finger!!

IF a mum is experiencing sore/cracked nipples, her baby is not for whatever reason attaching and feeding effectively at the breast, we know this because when the baby has the nipple in the correct place - there is nothing to rub/cause friction or indeed damage the nipple. (see image above)

Engorged breasts are a separate issue to nipple trauma and occurs after milk has "come in" when mum has a supply too large or baby is not effectively draining the breast - which they wouldn't be if  sucking on it like a finger!

IF a baby is wanting to suck constantly, for loooong periods and all the time - establishing WHY is essential, nipples no more need conditioning for breastfeeding than a penis does for intercourse or a mouth does for talking - it's their biological function.

Please if you have a problem and are experiencing engorgement, soreness or cracked nipples - understand this is NOT just something that happens when you start breastfeeding. Seek help from someone fully qualified to help - ensure they have the letters IBCLC after their name!

I should of course also have mentioned breastfeeding counsellors and so on, but generally that raises discussion from someone who thinks they've seen a breastfeeding counsellor, but have actually seen a peer counsellor (as this discusses) and it seems to easily end up messy, so I went for short n direct .  What happened next is rather a shame as a mum who had experienced difficulties asked a question, I linked her to some free relevant information that could help her understand why she had struggled so much - and that plus following responses were immediately deleted.

Journal of Human Lactation

It genuinely baffles me when it comes to breastfeeding advice how so much evidence can just be dismissed in favour of opinion.  If you are sick you see a doctor, if you have a psychological illness you might see a psychologist and so on - within those professions you will have great and not so great practitioners, but the qualifications identify a basic level of training.  Furthermore few people would consider them qualified to start writing books on either of those subjects, particularly if they had no qualifications whatsoever and their ideas flew in the face of decades of science; even fewer I suspect would follow that advice if their own health was in question, particularly if their GP was pointing out all the flaws in the theory.

Yet infant feeding, which can be hugely important both for mothers who want to do it and from a health perspective, seems a free for all.  Despite the fact that unlike many other areas of parenting it's not "opinion based", milk production and transfer is of sound scientific base (the formula companies have spent bucket loads in exploring breastfeeding and breastmilk in their attempts to mimic it - what has been learnt in just the past twenty years is staggering).

The problem is that as a new mum, many can't tell good advice from bad; because those who don't fully understand breastfeeding see certain people still succeed even following the advice; that reassures them it must be good and if it doesn't work for them put it down to "some people just can't breastfeed".

In reality the amount of people who really can't breastfeed biologically is tiny, in practise the amount of people who really can't breastfeed is huge - because for whatever reason nobody managed to identify their problem and resolve it.  I have met mums who really couldn't breastfeed, but we have always worked as hard as possible to establish why (involving other health professionals and doctors as required).  If there is a true physical explanation for what is happening, whilst a mother may feel grief at the loss of a desired nursing relationship - she can begin to understand and be supported through the rest.

Leaving mums who wanted to breastfeed with no answers, opens the door to them feeling bad when the subject of infant feeding comes up - that perhaps they should have put up with agony or constant feeding or crying baby for longer, or defensive because they know what they endured and that it really wasn't working!  It hurts to read about risks of something they felt they had no other option but to do - and that sucks...Bigtime.  The system that failed to support them soon forget the mum they didn't help - but the mum has that experience for life.

Sadly this creates a catch 22 situation - some experts sell the notion it doesn't really matter (appealing to the biggest chunk of their market in most cases) because otherwise they would risk making mothers feel guilty and thus their market and ultimately profits would fall.  Instead they sell what they think mothers want to hear.  And so the cycle of passive and frankly often "never going to work" support continues....

Telling a mum with cracked/damaged nipples that her baby is attached perfectly is akin to suggesting trainers that causes huge blisters fit brilliantly.  The suggestion of finger sucking beyond bizarre.

Whether you follow Tizzie Hall as her biggest fan or not, if you have breastfeeding problems and want to succeed, please contact an expert.

RELATED BLOG POST: 

Why I'm concerned about Tizzie Hall's Breastfeeding Advice - PART 1