Coach Smith here again. Chris, what a brilliant response to "can you
overfeed a baby"  !!

I've been digging into the science of milk synthesis for some time. I think
the possibility of overfeeding an exclusively breastfed, cue-fed baby is
very slim, maybe nearly impossible. Babies nurse to get food, immunity,
comfort, warmth, mom, and so on. Sucking at the breast is also important
mechanically, to shape the oral cavity and probably a lot more. If the baby
needs the breast in his mouth for major mechanical reasons, I suppose it
would be theoretically possible to get too much milk - but the baby can
easily spit up the excess. So I'm weighing in on the "no" side of this
argument as of today.  My position is ONLY valid with the definition in the
second sentence of this paragraph - exclusively BF and cue-fed. No
pacifiers, no bottles, nursing ad lib around the clock, baby stays close to
mom (in arms or a sling, etc), co-sleeps, no suck problems, mom responds
promptly to the baby's cues.

Chris raises some very, very important issues on scheduled breastfeeds,
mixed feeds, and breastmilk fed with a device. Yes, MUCH MORE research is
needed in all of these areas!  And THAT is a message I plan to take back to
the US Breastfeeding Committee and every university or researcher I
encounter.

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre www.bflrc.com
6540 Cedarview Ct., Dayton, OH 45459-1214 USA
(937) 438-9458 email [log in to unmask]

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