I wish hospital staff would see normally born babies with no drugs so 
they would see alert babies who actively suck as "NORMAL" instead of 
thinking these sleepy, drugged babies are why breastfed babies "need" 
supplements of formula by bottle. One of the things we teach in our 
Babies R Us breastfeeding class is active sucking to transfer milk. We 
talk about sucking in spurts of 10 or more jaw movements up and down 
before taking a short break of 3-5 seconds and getting going again. And 
actively sucking for at least 10 minutes before moving into "comfort" 
sucking. Baby opens eyes, fists open and arms relax and baby is 
participating. So many babies just latch on and don't suck and everyone 
thinks that is normal. So of course they don't gain weight, get 
jaundiced, mom's milk supply down regulates, etc.

What I have found with starving babies is that it takes about 48 hours 
of increasing the feeds before you get a baby who begins to participate 
and wake and cry more. After 2-3 days of increasing feeding amounts, 
these babies often get very hungry and ask to eat more frequently than 
normal. They will no longer tolerate low or poor feedings, which is a 
good thing, but scares mothers as they had a quiet baby before and now 
they have a hungry and demanding baby.

Kathy Eng, BSW, IBCLC

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