I think that all of this discussion emanated from a "thinking out loud" comment I made about babies whose mothers have an oversupply and gain weight very fast. Often oversupply is problematic for the mother due to discomfort, increased incidence of plugged ducts, mastitis, leaking, etc. Often it is problematic for babies due to a fat/lactose imabalance causing gastric disturbances, colic, breast refusal (also a problem for mom--actually all of the baby' problems are mom's problems), inability to control flow leading to poor latch and possible loss of supply over time, reflux, an inability to comfort at the breast, possibly leading to overuse of artificial nipples and early weaning, and the loss of the joy and pleasure of the breastfeeding relationship for both mom and babe. I suppose there may be couples where oversupply doesn't seem to pose any of these problems, but I haven't seen that happen (not that moms w/o problems are so likely to see us). So, I was wondering if the very rapid weight gain often associated with oversupply might in some way be symptomatic of a problem for the baby now or in later life. I was not suggesting that rapid growth in bf babies is inherently a problem. I actually see it as normal, but wonder if under the particular circumstances associated with oversupply that would still be true. In other words, is the rapid growth simply b/c the baby eats so much (and why would we not call this over-feeding?) or that there is an imbalance in the infant's diet overall in some way? Again, I am not saying that I even think this is the case, only wondering about it.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

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