>we both do this guessing game.  We watch the baby and "guess" how much the baby takes.  Most of the time we are >pretty close.  Sometimes - perhaps 1 in 10 - we are really off.

A few months ago I watched a baby **guzzle** at breast.  Big gulps during a fast let-down - clearly a lot of milk transfer.  We took her off the breast immediately after the guzzling, just to measure.  Well, it turned out to be only 15 cc.  Which made me think:  During gulping, a lot of air gets swallowed along with milk.  The milk itself may be spraying - maybe hitting the back of the baby's throat in a mist.  It triggers swallowing, yes, but perhaps not based on bolus size.  The nice, smooth "laminar flow" of easy, quiet nursing is probably more likely to be bolus-based.  So now I'm looking for *smooth* swallowing as a quickie sign of good intake.  Sample size of one, but amazing to hear and then measure.  Have others seen the same?

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com

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