Pat asked,
<< Has anyone else used the "empty baby - fisted hand, full baby - relaxed
 hand" signals to help parents know when baby is full? >>

Yup!  Being the non-professional that I am, with no medical knowledge and
precious few mother-baby hours compared to most of y'all, I turf ALL tough
cases immediately to real LCs.   So the moms I help are mostly actually fine
but need to know how to tell, so that they can relax their insecurities.

So I tell them the real easy-peasy signs that any parent type can tell that
milk is getting into the baby and the baby feels fine.   Output, naturally,
and occasional "alert" times etc.   Breast fills and softens (these are
mostly first or second week primiparas -- that's why they need me;0 ).  And
-- as Pat was saying -- the "inside" arm that the baby wanted originally to
jam in between her body and your breast, and that you had to wrestle around
under your armpit, is now open-palmed and drooping onto your waist.

LLL folks out there, is it also your experience that these are good ones for
mom-to-mom support?

I think that almost all experienced parents CAN recognize these signs.   It's
the first timers who just don't know much about babies yet who miss them.

I well remember thinking on day 4 that my first born had my brother Avi's
dark complexion.  My doula (Ruth Callahan -- are you there, R?) said, no,
actually that was jaundice.

(And there was a baby saved from starvation by just a little intelligent
latch assistance, though I'm glad I didn't know it then.   Cathy, you asked
what they eat until day 3 -- sometimes I think the answer is: nothing :(.)

Elisheva, NYC

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