It is such a treat to read C. Genna's posts for their clarity and their
understanding of infant feeding as a system.  I was esp. interested in her
experience with sets of twins where one twin fed normally, and the other
not.  Of course, as time passed, it was revealed in these circumstances that
the one with the feeding problem had other problems.  These were related to
(thankfully) mild neurological issues which contributed to low muscle tone,
etc.  I was interested in the fact that in the one case the dx wasn't
arrived at until twin was 12 mo.  I always look at babies who can't feed
robustly as infants manisfesting the FIRST SYMPTOM of a system problem  If
you can't eat, or don't want to eat, it means something. It may be something
which will manifest quickly, go away on its own over time, or be revealed
more fully as baby grows.  You may not know initially -- or maybe ever --
what is/was going on.  We have to be very careful managing our part of the
care of such babies, really working hard to observe what makes feeding
easier and less stressful, what keeps calories going in, and esp what keeps
these kids on exclusive human milk feeds.  Catherine is right, formula is a
poor second choice (or 3rd or 4th after donar milk) for the already
compromised infant -- even if no one as AS YET diagnosed the problem.  So
getting in there quickly with milk supply support for moms of babies who
can't feed is very impt.

Barbara

Barbara Wilson-Clay, BS, IBCLC
Private Practice, Austin, Texas
Owner, Lactnews On-Line Conference Page
http://moontower.com/bwc/lactnews.html