At our hospital, most mom's are outta there within 24 hours.  I notice
more and more of the physicians are doing circs a week or 2 later on an
outpatient basis.  All of the physicians use a dorsal penile block.  You
can definitely tell between an effective block and a not so good block.
I have worked with physicians previously that did not do anything for
pain for the neonates and there is a huge difference.  Almost all of the
babies I see are nursing well right after and seem to awaken easily
during the 2-3 hours they stay after the procedure.  I have a hard time
understanding why someone isn't providing pain relief.  In my childbirth
ed classes that seems to be a very frequent question - I always tell
them to check with their provider to ensure the baby will have something
for pain if that is important to them (and it is!).  Almost all male
babies are circumcised here - the decision seemingly made very early on
(very conservative community).  In those areas where the dorsal block
isn't being used - maybe discussing it in prenatal classes would be a
good idea.  Consumer demand is a powerful thing.  I, too, have been
telling parents to hold off doing a circ until the baby is a great
breastfeeder.   Pam R.  RNC, BSN, ICCE, IBCLC  (Soldotna, Alaska)