This thread is from several days ago but as I read all the back post I still 
want to add something. The idea that babies are bloated from mom's IV fluids 
has not been proven through research (please correct me if I am wrong).

10% weight loss is more than what La Leche League recommends as normal. LLLI 
also recommends that a baby be back to birth weight by day 10-14. The idea 
is that baby starts gaining weight when mom's milk comes in, around day 3-4. 
When they hit 10-12% weight loss, they almost always stop waking up to 
demand to feed, or will latch on but do little sucking and stop in 3-5 
minutes before going back to sleep.

The pattern of poor sucking does not teach them to breastfeed well -- rather 
active sucking with good transfer will teach them how to breastfeed. Also a 
pattern of poor sucking does not stimulate mom's milk supply to become 
abundant. We see much more jaundice with these high weight losses.

Like Laurie, I also see many women whose milk supplies down regulate very 
very quickly when baby isn't actively sucking or mom isn't pumping enough. I 
have had women with premies who do not get started pumping until day five 
down regulate so much that their maximum output on a rental quality breast 
pump is only 8 ounces a day (pumping 8 times a day on a pump that has been 
tested to be working correctly).

Also, please remember that Mary's baby took in only 31 ml at the test 
weight. THIS IS NOT ENOUGH for a five week old baby. While one test weighing 
may not show the entire picture, in this case it does point to probable 
cause.

The other problem I commonly see is that pedi's in our area weigh new babies 
with clothing on. I often get told weights that look marginally ok, only to 
find out that baby was weighed with clothing and a diaper on -- so are not 
accurate.

Just my two more cents. Kathy Eng, BSW, IBCLC 

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