For some nurses, baby is considered to be nursing well if its mouth
is in contact with mom's breast for about 10 minutes but no more
than 20, baby doesn't cry afterwards (or can be settled with a
pacifier) and baby not eating more than every 2-4 hours.  IMHO
"normal" in the first 24 hours should be baby latched with at least
1/2 inch of areola (beyond the nipple) in the mouth- more in the
area of the chin, deep jaw excursions for most of the feeding, on
the breast for varying lengths of time, but some at least 30 minutes
or so and feeding as frequently as about a half hour apart.  What
some have dubbed as a "marsupial baby" may be closer to the norm we
should see from a truly natural birth.  However, to too many HCPs,
it is seen automatically as a problem if baby wants to nurse longer
than 20 minutes or more frequently than a couple hours.  This may be
because we have come to believe the baby born by medicated birth is
the norm.  Certainly feedings should be observed and evaluated
before labeling it as "good" or "poor".  Some babies nurse long
periods because they are not doing so effectively while for others
it may be normal.  Some nurse frequently because it is normal, for
others it may be because the feedings aren't effective.  And, of
course, this all deals with only the nourishment aspect of nursing.
We know it is meeting so many more needs of the infant which have no
relevance to time.

Winnie

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

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html