Margo, enlightened paediatric hospitals do not require babies to fast
overnight before surgery.  In fact, places like Philadelphia Children's and
Boston Children's only require a 3 hour period before anaesthesia.  There is
no reason at all it needs to be longer, and some argue that 2 hours are
enough.

And the baby can breastfeed as soon as he is awake and able, because if he
is awake enough to breastfeed, his gag reflex is fine.

Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC

Cavell B. Gastric emptying in infants fed human milk or infant formula. Acta
Paediatr Scand 1981;70:639-41

Litman RS, Wu CL, Quinlivan JK. Gastric volume and pH in infants fed clear
liquids and breastmilk prior to surgery. Anesth Analg 1994;79:482-5

Schreiner MS. Preoperative and postoperative fasting in children. Pediatric
Clinics of North America 1994;41:111-20

Nicolson SC, Schreiner MS. Feed the babies. (editorial) Anesth Analg
1994;79:407-9

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