Well said by Kathy Leeper and Pamela Morrison; I heartily agree with them. I have vast experience with late preterm and early term infants. Pamela describes quite well the feeding behaviors of these infants. Often parents come for their (very very important) early follow-up visit at about 4 or 5 days old. They will frequently say the baby is fussy, gassy, and constipated (lack of stooling a big red flag), when in fact the baby is hungry, or conversely say that the baby falls asleep while breastfeeding (often meaning to them "she's full."). You really must question them thoroughly (especially if you are taking a phone call) because mother may say he falls asleep in 3 or 4 minutes or that he is taking 60 minutes to feed. Both of these comments are red flags. (Even term babies who are feeding "all the time" or "using me as a pacifier" are generally giving cues that mom has a too low milk supply. It is also very common to hear "the baby is just using me as a pacifier" which I absolutely refute - the baby is trying to get milk! but just can't transfer it. This is dangerous when friends and even healthcare professionals tell mother not to feed the baby so much saying "don't let her use you for a pacifier." The good news is that I have seen many babies gain 4 to 10 ounces (120 to 300 grams) in one day! once they are being adequately fed by alternate route, to quickly make up for the lost weight and they then have the energy to ultimately breastfeed more effectively over time. Laurie Wheeler RN MN IBCLC MISSISSIPPI USA *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome