In response to Rachel's post on the fact that adults and older children need
to eat more frequently, but babies are still dealt 3 (if they are lucky
enough to be born under 3K) and 4 hour breaks between meals, I have to share
something funny with you.
I am running in-service courses for the nurses of our hospital. Most have
never had even a basic course in breastfeeding, and many are stuck in the 3
and 4 hour mode. I purposely scheduled the lectures so that there were
coffee breaks every 3-4 hours. The big complaint on the first day was that
they really couldn't sit for so long without a break, and it was jointly
decided that they needed a break every 1 1/2 hours. It is hot and the
air-conditioning is dry and makes them thirsty. It is not healthy to go so
long without refreshments, especially if you are sitting still, etc, etc. I
wrote down all those arguments. I agreed that every 1 1/2 hours there
would be a 10 minute break, but they said that 10 minutes was really too
short!!
I kept my mouth shut.
The topic of the session the following week was milk transfer,first the
technical aspects, ie position, latch and MER, and then management, ie,
hunger cues, and how often, how long, etc.
Of course I got major objection to baby led feeding, and the whole idea that
a baby might want to eat every 1 1/2 - 2 hours was absolutely appalling.
They all agreed that babies over 4 K and less than 2.5 could eat every 3
hours and anything in between had to wait 4 hours.
I gave them back all the reasons they had given me the previous week why
they needed a break every 1 1/2 hours......I think I made my point!!
I figured the average weight of the group and based on that I decided that
they should have a drink or meal about every second week. The discussion
was lively and I think the point got across.....how could we expect a tiny
baby to wait 4 hours when we adults couldn't last even 2 without a cup of
coffee or a drink of water.
And of course the number of minutes on each side issue was also settled,
when I started taking everyone's coffee cup out of their hands after 7
minutes!!
Next week, when the students start talking in the middle of class,or get
fidgety, I will be ready with all sorts of pacifiers, and some will have to
have a pacifier instead of a coffee break if they weigh over 6 K, which is
the weight that babies should be able to wait longer between feeds, right!!
How can so many people have so little understanding of human babies?
Have a nice peaceful week-end everyone.
Esther Grunis, IBCLC
Lis Maternity Hospital
Tel Aviv, Israel
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://community.walla.co.il/ts.cgi?tsscript=f/index&forum_id=1453&cat_id=31
5
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