Hi Lea,

When babies are cagey at the breast it's sometimes because their early hunger signals have been missed or because they've slept through being mildly interested in eating (from being overly dressed, swaddled, or just plain young) and instead woke up cantankerously hungry.  I would talk about hunger cues and encourage skin-to-skin with baby, not overdressing, not swaddling, and feeding as frequently as possible.  I would also play up and praise the good number of dirty diapers.  Is the baby within the normal range for a full-term?  If so then a 3 ounce loss on day 3 is likely reasonable.  I'd make sure to tell her this and anything else you can think of to build up her confidence.  Sounds like she's very anxious because of the past difficulties she experienced.  Tensing up could also cause a delay in her milk ejection and make baby fuss.  Whatever you could do to set her at ease might help the milk come down, and encouraging her to relax and take deep breaths doesn't hurt.  Some babies love to fuss and pull off and on while they're waiting for the milk to come down.

Has her milk come in yet?  At what point does the fussing start, and does it ever stop?  Is every feeding the same?

Hope I gave you a few useful ideas.

Best,
Erin Michaud, BA, LLLL, NMC, CLC     

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

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