I understand that there is some disagreement oversupply, but I'd like to share what I 
experienced with my third child. 

My first two were very efficient nursers. #1 would take only one side at a feeding for 10 
minutes, at most. #2 usually only took one breast, never for more than 5 minutes. Neither 
would comfort nurse. Once settling into their growth pattern, the first two were both very 
small (10th and 5th percentile). #3 threw me for a loop - below were my observations. 

- extremely fussy, as though not satisfied/still hungry, but gained weight much quicker than 
older siblings. Very frequent, extremely watery, dark green stools - as many as 24 in a day. 
- between feedings he would choke, sputter and gag. Asked ped about silent reflux, she said 
there was no such thing, he choked because he was crying so hard, because he had colic. 
(brilliant....)
- also seemed hypertonic, would arch his back at the breast, and clamped onto my breast so 
hard it would be flat and white when he was done.
- he nursed very frequently, but rarely for longer than 2 minutes, would pop on and off the 
breast.  

So, what helped?  I began block feeding - first two hour blocks for a couple of days, then 3, 
4, 6, 8, hour blocks (giving a couple of days to see the effects. Finally, when I went to 12 
hour blocks, I saw drastic improvement. Suddenly, his stools were yellow and only coming 4 
times a day!  He was happier, nursing for longer stretches, going longer stretches between. 
The "not-reflux", as I termed it, became much less frequent, the "colic" and hypertonicity 
disappeared, and his weight gain leveled out (in fact, he's the smallest of the three)

so when ever I hear that block feeding "didn't work" my first question is how long were the 
blocks and how much time was given to allow the system to regulate?

Respectfully,

Rene Drake, LLL Germany

(please forgive typos and gramatical errors, as I'm working from my iPhone with now 1 year 
old #3 performs nursing acrobatics in my lap) 

   
 

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