I think our apparent disagreements are just misunderstandings, Susan:



I totally agree that "Anyone who uses their eyeballs or ears to judge a
baby's intake for a SINGLE feeding falls prey to the same problem with
judging a baby's intake through any other [single] indicator of intake."
"Second, test weighing measures intake, not milk production." "What [an
isolated] test weighing measures is what a baby drinks at a particular
moment."



In my area, ISOLATED test weighing is used almost exclusively as a measure
milk production, and that's what I object to.   I've seen babies stripped
and weighed before anyone has even asked the mom what her questions are.
And then the crying baby is put to the breast and expected to get gobs of
milk, usually while mom is feeling stressed and pressured.



I didn't say anything is the mother's fault, and I too have seen women
overcome milk production issues against long odds and some continue to nurse
regardless of the level of milk supply, supplementing as necessary, enjoying
their nursing relationship with their baby.



Mothers who have 'failed' the test weigh take a huge blow to their
confidence, and it becomes very difficult for them to trust that they can
make enough milk.



No discussion about milk transfer issues or any other of the potential
issues you quite correctly list - the answer is "not enough milk, give
formula" every time I've been at the clinic.  If you do things differently,
that is great - I'd love to duplicate what you do here, but I have no power
over the local health authority, who insist they are doing just fine
supporting breastfeeding.



As for the usefulness of test weighing in general, I have read several
times, from several sources that anything from 'at least' 24 hours or '2-5
days' of weighing is needed for reliable intake information, because babies
take different amounts at different times of day (as do all human beings).
I think mothers are at least as interested as researchers in accurate
results.



Ingrid




             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome