I was teaching last night, and a couple who came to my working & bfg
class with their new baby were sharing afterwards how their baby became
"dehydrated" and *had* to be supplemented at two days of age until the
breastfeeding was established. They had been having latch-on problems but
had a pump; they were told to supplement with glucose water; no one
suggested pumping the colostrum and using that instead! (I did not assess
whether the baby was actually dehydrated or someone was panicking, which
may be more the case; it seemed too critical and invalidating to pursue at
the moment)

However, here is the more immediate problem that bothers me: we know that
babies are born with extra fluids in their bodies to help them until
mom's mature, more fluid milk comes in. And we have many anecdotes of
newborn babies surviving for days in a disaster, such as when the
hospital collapsed in Mexico City after the big earthquake. We marvelled
at the longevity of the infants over the moms, and noted that babies were
indeed prepared to survive. How is it, then, that we are seeing on
occasion some babies in grave trouble at 24 or 48 or 72 hours? I am
wondering if there are other factors involved that haven't been screened
for, such as maternal pregnancy/labor drugs that act as diuretics, etc.
In the course of nature, I just have to believe that a full-term baby is
prepared to wait out lactogenesis and shouldn't be getting into such
trouble.

Has anyone else given this some thought? Do those of you who work L&D
have more clues and facts to tie in with my musings?

-Lisa
Santa Maria, California

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Lisa A. Marasco, IBCLC                                /  [log in to unmask]
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant    /  [log in to unmask]

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