I think you make a lot of important points, Susan and I appreciate your thoughtful responses. My response was rather off the cuff and I apologize for that. I did not mean to suggest "because my baby was OK, your baby must be OK." 

I completely agree with you about looking at the bigger picture, and that is kind of what I was trying to suggest in sharing my daughter's story. While her numbers may have been low, in all other ways she was clearly thriving. I was fortunate that my doctor looked at the big picture. I share that story NOT to say that all babies who gain at that rate are fine, but that some babies can be, and that we need to look at more factors. 

And I think it absolutely makes sense to look at the potential for breastfeeding (or other) issues in a baby who is gaining weight slowly, as you say. My concern is that this message, in practice, often becomes "give the baby formula" if it is not meeting whatever guidelines are set. It's what I see with the "babies who lose more than 7% of birthweight may be experiencing breastfeeding difficulties and should be provided with extra help." Yes, good advice. But I can tell you what happens in practice here (having just witnessed it with my three-week-old grandson): if the baby loses 7% or more, the mother is given a bottle of formula and told to supplement the baby with it. 

I apologize for my not-well-thought-out response and appreciate your insights. 

Teresa

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