hello all,

i work on a postnatal ward as midwife and would like to talk to the
staff about babies that feed constantly in the first few days before
the milk comes in.
i decided on this topic today after helping a first time dad to solve
the problem of his baby screaming his head off all the way up the
other end of the ward away from mum........so that she could get some
sleep!!!

i found him rocking his baby in the nursery looking totally
bewilldered.........so off we went back to the room to mum who was *on
the phone* and fed the baby, who went on like a dream and relaxed and
finally went off to sleep next to mum.

we took the phone *off the hook* and all talked together about what
she had learnt about breastfeeding so far and of course there is still
alot of conflicting information. one of the classics is "not letting
the baby use you as a dummy!". my reply was.......that by putting him
to the breast, he not only gets the suckling times he needs (that he
might/might not have got from the dummy) but that also, he is able to
choose to have a top up or the huge meal that he didn't get or want
the last time he was at the breast.

i would love to read your repsonses to this classic so that i can
formulate a great discussion/lecture about a misconception that in
this busy world, we can't teach the midwives then the mothers that
there is time to sit or lie with the baby and give him what he wants.
that mums could possibly save time by feeding the baby instead of
putting the dummy back in...putting the dummy back in ......putting
the ................oh well lets feed you then!

thank you in advance
sally elmes
RN CM IBCLC
[log in to unmask]
Springwood Blue Mountains
Australia.

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