Jannette asks about feeding only 4-5 times per day.  Actually there is a lot of information in the International Nutrition world about feeding frequency and feeding at the breast only 4-5 times per 24 hours is completely abnormal and uncommon in most of the rest of the world.  It is so bizarre that this first few times I heard it my jaw dropped to the floor.  Now I am accustomed to this bizarre feeding routine and have had the misfortune of actually finding the books that recommend this.  

I'll say what all the infant and young child feeding programs recommend.  Toddlers need at least 5 small meals of solids AND breast milk.  If toddlers with much larger stomachs than a 5 month old need to eat 5 times per 24 hours, why for goodness sakes, would anyone force a baby to eat only 4 times in 24 hours.  Really, we are creating a nation of infants trained to be able to compete in Nathan's hotdog eating contest by overstretching their stomachs way too soon.  Basically this is the overstuff and starve mode and I think it is a huge factor in the eating disorders we see in our culture.  Now that women are breastfeeding like they were told to formula feed for so many years, we may actually discover that the problem of obesity has less to do with the substance than with the ridiculously infrequent feeding plan that too many babies are forced into.

And I must say that the 4 times a day feeding mode is right up there with only feeding from one breast for iatrogenically-induced supply problems among infants who are older than 3 months. This absolutely can tamp down a supply.  I usually try to encourage such mothers to bump up the number of feeds to at least 5 times a day and if the baby is still fussy and/or not gaining weight well, even more frequently than that.

Best, Susan Burger 

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