Kaiser Pediatrician who supports extended breastfeeding?
Hi there, our current pediatrician at Kaiser Oakland has been concerned about my continued breastfeeding since my daughter reached a year. Anyone know a pediatrician in Oakland or Berkeley who supports extended breastfeeding? I've seen past posts on this but the pediatricians recommended (Tenney, Nelson-Munson, Sullivan) aren't taking new patients – I'd love a referral if possible. Thanks!
Feb 4, 2025
Parent Replies
My daughter is now 4, and we breastfed until 2.5. She has always seen Dr. Anabel Kim at Kaiser Oakland and it has never come up more than a question if we were still breastfeeding or not.
I have Dr. Phu in Oakland and like him a lot. I nursed my second child through around age 2 and he never said anything about discouraging it. Not sure if he is accepting new patients.
That's super surprising! One year is the minimum to stop breastfeeding. My experience at Kaiser has been supportive of breastfeeding well past 1 (unless it's, say, replacing learning to eat solids/getting enough iron through solids). We're at Richmond so maybe not helpful but we like our ped Jaygopal Nair and he's accepting patients. If you're interested, I could ask him specifically about breastfeeding (DM me).
That is troubling, sorry to hear it. I've never had a conversation with our pediatrician specifically about extended breastfeeding, but when it's come up that I'm still breastfeeding our son, she has definitely not had a problem with it or encouraged us to wean. She is Dr. Diana Ong at Berkeley Kaiser. My son is 14 months and an enthusiastic eater, the breastfeeding is just morning and evening bonding at this point rather than nutrition.
I breastfed until ~27 months and Dr. Daniel Junge at Kaiser Berkeley never said anything that I deemed unsupportive. Solid foods did become a primary source of nutrition somewhere between 1-1.5 years and I was no longer breastfeeding at night after 6 months. I share only to provide context not to judge your situation.
I'm sorry you're having that experience and if you feel comfortable I recommend filing a complaint with Kaiser.
My pediatrician is Junge at Kaiser Berkeley, and he was fine when I was breastfed both kids til 2 years. He was most concerned about tooth decay, especially at night, so he put flouride treatments on my youngest to help with that. His biggest concern was really the night feeding.
My kids teeth seem fine now, for the record :)
I apologize because I don't have a recommendation for you; I looked for our former pediatrician but she seems to have left. I just want to support your breastfeeding past a year. That is really disturbing, in this day and age, to have a pediatrician who doesn't approve. I assume your milk is supplementing your child's eating in which case, what is the doctor's concern? It's totally natural and for those of us who enjoyed breastfeeding, a wonderful connection with one's child. I breastfed for 2 1/2 years. You go, Mama!!!!
Hi there, that seems odd and not evidence-based (not in line with recommendations from American Academy of Pediatrics, WHO, etc who encourage continued breastfeeding beyond 1 year, as long as baby is getting the majority of their calories from solid food.) Has your pediatrician explained why they have these concerns specifically?
We see Dr. Berry-Millet at Kaiser Berkeley, who is awesome, but in general I think KP is supportive towards continued breastfeeding, so I would be surprised if you encounter other providers who discourage it.
Most importantly, as long as continued nursing is still working for both you and your baby, don’t let an uninformed care provider discourage you : )
I don't have a specific ped. to suggest, but I hope it's still ok for me to post this.
The official policies of both the AAP and the World Health Organization specify support for human milk feeding for two years —and beyond if desired, so any "concern" about following that guidance is itself concerning. This is NOT "extended" breastfeeding (is there such a thing?).
Unless the concern is that baby is only breastfeeding (little to no other food), your pediatrician needs to get up to date!
That is wild! Maybe consider looking for someone in the family medicine department? I take my (breastfed) one year old to Dr. Angelica Zen at the Berkeley office. She has three young ones of her own and is lovely. I just got myself added to her panel as well so we can handle both our medical to-dos in one visit. Im not sure if she’s taking new patients either but perhaps there are others in the dept? We had a couple appts with VanArsdell (sp?) while Dr zen was out on maternity leave earlier this year and she also seemed great.
Sorry you're dealing with that, a pediatrician shouldn't be discouraging continued breastfeeding! We see Sam Backus at Kaiser Berkeley, and he has been wonderful, and very supportive of ongoing breastfeeding. He was accepting new patients as of a couple months ago.
That is so strange - is your pediatrician aware that the AAP now recommends breastfeeding for 2 years and beyond, if mutually desired by mother and child? I am so surprised your pediatrician is so concerned! My daughter is just under a year so I don't know what her pediatrician will say when she is over a year, but Dr. Fort at Berkeley is very kind and we have been happy with her so far. So sorry to hear about what you're going through!
What!
All three of my kids see Dr. Fort in Berkeley. She’s great and “low intervention”. My eldest was booked by a random Dr after an ER visit for a tonsillectomy and she was like wait wait let’s try these things first. I could tell she cared not just going by Kaiser protocol. I’ve also nursed all my babies for 2 years and 2 of them through entire pregnancies and tandem nursed in the hospital. No judgement