This is the kind of case that I find a digital scale accurate to a few
grams to be very useful.  If pre and post feed weights show that the
baby takes a lot of food in a short period of time, and especially if
the baby was coordinating swallowing poorly, I would be suspicious that
the baby could not handle the speed of milk flow.  I'd look for a
posterior tongue tie, or any other anatomical issue that might make a
normal milk flow hard for the baby to handle, and I'd look at mom's milk
ejection (I've seen moms who sprayed milk forcefully from 8-10 nipple
pores at once, and their babies were miserable and refusing to feed
until we got the milk supply under control).  Reclining is helpful if
flow control is an issue.

If the baby takes just an ounce or two, yet the mother can express a few
ounces immediately after the feeding, then the baby probably is self
limiting intake due to gi discomfort, often reflux.  I'd want this baby
to be seen by a physician.

If the baby takes just an ounce or two, and mom cannot express much
milk, then the supply is probably lower than the baby's need, and I'd
want to supplement, at breast if possible, while working on milk supply.

Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

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