Ranting Linda, you need to hear this.

The rather schedule-oriented mother of a desperately thin baby w/ 2 heart
defects (one corrected by surgery, the other minor one still leaving him
panting) came to see me 2 weeks ago.  Doctors had urged her to pump for
bottles following his surgery so they could measure his intake.  She tried,
but he *loathed* the bottles, her milk supply dropped, and his minimal
weight gain stopped altogether.  She came to me for an SNS.  Her let-down
was strong, his swallowing good, he was lively and social, and I suggested
she start just by resuming nursing, with lots of holding and co-sleeping to
reduce his calorie need.  Sure enough, he began to gain.  Seven ounces in 12
days.  Not enough to move up the chart (he was 6 lb 12 at birth, 7 lb 4 at
69 days) but a lot better than he'd been doing with bottles, and of course
her milk supply was only beginning to turn around.  Still, she wanted to try
the SNS.  He'd have none of it - not at breast, not on finger.  He wanted
his food from the source and only from the source.

She still had him in another room at night.  I went over again how
co-sleeping would reduce his calorie expenditure, and she's now had him in
bed with her for 2 nights.  In the past 4 days he's gained another 7 ounces.
His doctor is extremely pleased, Mama is ecstatic, and baby was grinning up
at her (saying "I told you so"?) as she told me over the phone.

Score one for the power of low-tech loving, and for a baby who Just Said No.

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY

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