I'm sure you LC's have encountered this but Jan caught my attention so I thought
I'd share.

[log in to unmask] wrote:

> I would at least
> teach her that the baby needs to breastfeed (not just hang out, not just
> "nurse") at least 8 times a day in the first few weeks,

I have encountered moms in the hospital when asked how long the baby was at the
breast or nursing and be given a "good" number of minutes. It was thought all
was well. Then this one woman tells me she nursed but was concerned baby wasn't
nursing well. So I finally caught on and said how long is he sucking? Just a few
sucks, he falls asleep. Oh, ok something to work with. Glaringly easy but it
took me a while to catch on.

> And I'd give everyone a diary so they
> could note the above, along with some guidelines about "Breastfeeding is
> going well if...." and "Call me if....."   (snip)but while parents are
> in the "formal" acquisition of parenting, they all want numbers and
> guidelines.  These ladies haven't grown up w/ breastfeeding.  They haven't a
> clue as to what to look for or when.  Or they ask
> the mom how long the baby "breastfed."  Clueless mom, who doesn't realize
> there is a difference between hanging out and breastFEEDING, says, "15
> minutes on each side"

I can only remember what it was like to be a new mom the first and a little info
helped me. I needed the reassurance that all was well. I like when to call your
HCP info for pts., so pts. know what is a danger sign. It also helps them to
know it's ok for the baby to eat again even though she ate 1 hr. ago.  It's the
over all picture you're looking at. With my 1st I kept the log for 2 weeks. With
the 2nd I kept it for about 2 days. Pretty much stopped when I got home from the
hospital. Too busy with my new nursing machine and her 19 mo. old sister. I had
the confidence that I had successfully nursed her sister. I didn't have that the
first time even though I had been an OB nurse for years.

--
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