Hi friends;
 Thanks all who contributed information to help me deal with the situation
of the diabetic mother and her five week old still below birth weight.
Thanks Pat Young who called me early AM and got my thinking juices going.
 It appears that the conversation I had with the dad sunk in and he insisted
that the mother take the baby to the doctor. He told her not to switch
doctors because she had done it too much.
 When I spoke to the mother Friday morning, she said that the baby was sick
with a cold. She said she was taking the baby in to see the doctor, and
agreed to call me after her visit with him. I think I was holding my breath!
 It turned out the baby has thrush, diaper rash, a cold, and still at birth
weight. The doctor is treating baby with Amoxicillin and told mother that
because of the antibiotic, she couldn't bf him anymore. (Do doctors give
poppycock on purpose very often?) His orders are to feed four bottles of
formula a day, and two at night. She asked me if it was true she couldn't
nurse because of the medication. I told her it would be okay to bf if she
wanted to, but the additional bottles were important too. I asked how she
felt about doing that and she was disapointed that bf wasn't working well
for her, but agreed to feed him formula. She said, "maybe he won't cry so
much anymore". I asked her about signs of yeast on her nipples. None so far,
I told her what to watch out for and that nipples needed treatment also. The
family insurance will run out soon, new insurance will not be in place for a
month, mother said she won't see the dr again until it is renewed. I am
thinking of driving up to see her today, encourage her to use the WIC office
for weekly weight checks, information and support.
 I did call the mother's WIC RD and spoke with her about the situation. She
is new to the job, said baby was awake but lethargic when she saw him. She
did give the mother formula, would keep an eye on the couple, and asked that
I keep her posted as to anything new I discover. The inter-disciplinary team
that was suggested to me on Lactnet is in place. Department of Family
Services can still be called in. We'll see how the mother does this next week.
 I think what happened to this mother is that the C/Section, maternal
diabetes, the infant's low blood sugar that prompted bottles and isolation
from mother initially, the bottles and pacifiers at home even though we had
discussed a number of times the problems these feeding devices can cause on
supply and demand, not to mention the proverbial nipple preference/confusion
problem (which I clearly saw), my car being in and out of the shop during
these weeks, and she lives up a mountain almost an hour away from me, among
other circumstances, all contributed to the FTT problem. When I had
suggested an SNS early in the game, she did not have the $ to spend on one.
I did not have the equiptment on hand to make one, but will from here on
out. As you can imagine, I am feeling a bit guilty about my inability to
have more effectivily helped this mother succeed with bf, but at the same
time, I also understand there is so much one can do short of nurse the baby
myself! This mother had LLL meetings, books, pamphlets, friend's support,
many phone calls with me (on my dime). I wanted to teach her how to fish,
not feed her the fish. I also wonder what might have happened had this
mother not had my encouragement all along to properly care for her baby....
 Thanks again for your information and support (what we do best!) and I
count this experience as being very informative and instructive.

Joya Bezette
LLLL, WIC PC
Student LC
Southern Utah with red sandstone and black lava mountains