In a message dated 6/4/00 8:34:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<<
 I'm new to Lactnet. My question is basic and simple.  What are other LC's,
 hospital based or private practice, advising new moms about length of
 feedings.

 Thanks,

 Barbara
  >>
Hi Barbara,
Welcome to a great place!! I am a hospital-based LC. I teach the moms to let
the baby nurse until finished. Now, in the first day or two the baby may not
come off the breast spontaneously, but the sucking will certainly slow down.
I have them look for the rhythmic sucking & swallowing--the baby gets to
stay. Once the rhythm has slowed to a couple of sucks & mostly pausing, the
baby is finished. I also tell them that it is OK to let the baby stay on the
breast at this point unless there is nipple pain. Babies enjoy the comfort of
sucking at the breast. But if baby is in need of food, gently take the baby
off the breast & offer the other breast. When pressed for a time limit, I
will say that sometimes they may only nurse for 5 minutes & other times they
may nurse for an hour. As long as latch on is good & regular swallowing is
heard, it is an adequate feeding.

Then of course, we need to watch diaper output to really gauge if baby is
getting enough to eat. And that is a whole other discussion which we had
recently on Lactnet. I you would like a resource for void & stool patterns in
the newborn, send me a private email or check the archives. I did give the
reference online recently.

Laura Hart
Central Florida


Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
-- Theodore Roosevelt

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html