Valerie writes:
<I find that pretty remarkable because it means that the
normal working of the system based on infant demand has gone haywire.
How
common can that be?>
Valerie, I have one explanation. One thing I see a lot of among new
parents, even sometimes experienced parents and other relatives, through
WIC, is the parents' misinterpretation of baby's abdominal distress as
hunger. When I taught newborn care classes years ago, to reframe their
interpretation of the infant's response, I used the phrase "My tummy
hurts. Please put something in my mouth!"
Instead of actual hunger, itt is just as often probably due to
overdistending the stomach or from lactose imbalance, or cold stress,
which blanches the circulation in the gut. In response to their
misinterpretation they often then feed the baby too much, too soon and
too fast, even if fully breastfed.
Some get around the problem by using a pacifier, especially the
bottlefeeders, who can see the # of ounces and deduce that the baby
couldn't actually be hungry. We hear breastfeeding mothers who have tried
to solve the problem by giving formula supplements giving 3 or 4, or
sometimes 6 or even 8 ounces from a bottle.
I think some of the same things are going on when moms offer the other
full breast, and the baby eats again to comfort himself, and then soon
after, spits up what he needs to get rid of from an overdistended
stomach.
The breast doesn't know that the baby spits up, and so continues to try
to meet this "demand", perpetuating the cycle of producing more than this
particular baby can comfortably handle at this moment in time. I think
this can definitely put the supply and demand out of whack.
Jean
************
K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC
Dayton, Ohio USA
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