I have a mom coming to my support group with baby #5.  He is about 4
weeks now.  She came 2 weeks ago because she wasn't sure he was gaining
based on the home visit nurse's scale.  We also assessed his intake at
breast using my BabyWeigh scale.  His weight was OK and he transferred
about 3 oz after nursing on both sides.  Mom is a hairdresser, going back
to work part-time.  She says with her other kids she won't have time to
breastfeed this baby exclusively (we've already talked about that, but
this is what she wants to do).  She has been supplementing the baby the
last week or so after feedings "because he's just not satisfied" and he's
"sometimes taken 5 oz of ABM"!!  Well, guess what?  We weighed baby today
to see how much milk he was transferring from mom (to see if he would
really need so much supplementation) and he only transferred about 0.5
oz.  Mom also said that one day she was too "busy" to nurse the baby and
fed him all ABM by bottle.  She didn't do any pumping, because she
doesn't have a pump.  But she still wants to give him "at least 2
breastfeedings a day" to help protect him from all the "winter germs"
that his siblings are spreading around.  Now the dilemma.  Can she
increase her supply to make enough for "at least 2 feedings at breast per
day" or does she need to work on increasing supply in general, get the
supply up, and then sort of wean down to the feedings she wants to keep?

Believe me, I've tried to help her realize that she can feed this baby at
breast, even with 4 siblings, but she wants to do what she wants to do.
What can I do to help her?

Warmly,
Pat Bucknell IBCLC
Avon Lake OH
where it's really winter--with temperatures in the single digits and snow
predicted for the next few days

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