Marie said:
 
 
<<I have NO idea where this "came from"...but, we (in  my hospital) do it 
EVERY day! We tell moms during our postpartum breastfeeding  teaching, "It is 
important to try to get babies to nurse on each breast for  15-20 minutes 
to stimulate milk production...every 2 1/2-3 hours." This is the  same 
information we teach moms who are pumping when their babies are in our  Special 
Care Nursery. Yikes...what *should* we be  teaching!>>

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How do you MAKE a baby breastfeed?  How do you MAKE a baby  breastfeed X 
number of minutes?  Babies are the one that are breastfeeding,  and just 
because he is AT the breast, doesn't mean he is BREASTFEEDING.  He  might FEED 
for 3 minutes and HANG OUT for 12 minutes.  Furthermore, it is  very very 
difficult to wake a baby and MAKE him breastfeed.  I'm a good  nursery nurse, 
and I can probably bottle feed a newborn rock.  But I'm also  a good lactation 
consultant, and I can't MAKE a baby breastfeed who isn't ready  to nurse.
 
What is the answer?  Keeping mom and baby together, skin to  skin as much 
as possible and allow the baby full access to the breast.  But  you can't 
MAKE him breastfeed every X number of hours for X number of  minutes.
 
Why to we persist on doing this?  
 
And, while I'm on the topic, why do we tell mothers to "wake your  baby and 
feed him every two hours."  We don't do that to tiny babies in the  NICU, 
for pity's sake.  Why are we trying to do that to full term or late  preterm 
infants?  When are they supposed to sleep???
 
And we wonder why mothers give up and go to pumping and bottle  feeding.  
 
Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC, FILCA
Wheaton, IL



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