I also agree that test weighings are undesirable.  Always have.  They are
not done frequently in the area where I work.  Perhaps with premature babies
because of Paul Meier's teachings.

But I believe you *can* watch a baby and know the baby is getting milk.
Whether he gets 100 ml at a feeding or 120 ml at a feeding seems to me
beyond the point.  Feedings will vary, and a test weighing done at 9 a.m.
might show a very different result than a feeding done at 9 p.m.  Would the
fact that mothers have less milk at night require that baby to get a
supplement?  We have this problem, especially in premature nurseries that
the baby should get, say, 30 ml/feeding.  Why?  Why can a baby not get 30 ml
one feeding 20 ml another and 40 another?  What is the use of test weighings
exactly.  I do not believe this reassuring mother story.  I think mothers
are more frequently *not* reassured.  Because *we* have no confidence.  Show
the mother the open-pause-close type of sucking and let her know the baby is
getting a mouthful which each "pause".  True whether the baby is 1 day old
or 1 year old.

Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC