IN my 36 years as a nurse-childbirth educator/breastfeeding advocate and almost 25 years as a lactation consultant/IBCLC, I have seen all of these situations. PLUS the baby referred for weight loss but the weighted scales were not calibrated. And we rent scales out to mothers to wean them off of supplementing with pumped milk or formula. One of the most delightful days was a few weeks ago when a mom called with tears of joy stating that her baby had taken 4 oz from the breast. This was a mom with a baby who had a bad posterior t-t that was released, a low supply with PCOS and had jumped through innumerable hoops including herbs, pumping, supplementing etc. It took 6 weeks to get the T-T treated and about another month for the baby to get on track with breastfeeding, building up the musculature to achieve an effective latch. The mother was persistent and committed, a pleasure to work with. I think that moms who have babies with real issues (not just nervous moms) need all the tools and support we can give them. The scale is just one.
-----Original Message-----
From: Lactation Information and Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Diane Wiessinger
Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2011 3:20 PM
Subject: quirky value of scales
I imagine all of us have stories about unusual ways weÂ've used the scales.
Here are some of my favorites:
*Spit up isnÂ't as much as it looks like. We weighed a baby before and after he threw up down his motherÂ's back. No change in the number on the scale.
(Obviously it weighed something, but it must have been within the scaleÂ's margin of error.)
*Gulped milk may not amount to much. We weighed a baby before and after her initial gulping, and decided her gulping involved aerosol milk. Very little change in weight; the real gain came after the gulping stopped.
*Dad said, Â"my daughter canÂ't be getting as much from the breast as she does from the bottle. She takes 3 ½ ounces in 10 minutes!Â" A dare I wouldnÂ't take againÂ. but by golly, it was 3 ½ ounces in 10 minutes!
*The accompanying aunt insisted, Â"ThereÂ's just no need for her to nurse him so much or so often.Â" The poor little baby, still mid-problems, showed his aunt that a whole half-hour gave him only an ounce.
*The receding-jaw baby and his mother came weekly, just for fun, so we could document the increase in intake as his jaw grew.
*The limp little premie who sat at the breast doing nothing at all astounded us all by slugging down 3 ounces (by siphoning?? osmosis??), presaging their oversupply issues.
One thing IÂ've learned to add to any pre/post weighing is a question to the mother before the second weighing: Â"How did this nursing go? About the way it usually does? Better than most? Not as good as most?Â" ItÂ's helpful to both of us to have that comparison of her perception and the number on the scale.
Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC Ithaca, NY 14850 USA
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