Chris,
I have used your information about CCK and it's relaxing effects in my
breastfeeding support group since you posted this information a few months
back.  And the second item in your current "fact sheet list" is one I often
mention to working moms also, referring them to Jack Newman's article in the
December, 1995 Scientific American.  This is also a not-so-subtle attempt to
get them to visit their babies during the day to breastfeed, or at least to
spend time at the provider's home so they get a better feel for how their
baby is being cared for.

I was really interested in your third fact, i.e., that "The average
fully-nursing mother produces a little over three cupfuls of
milk a day---and her baby thrives."  I have been thinking about this in the
context of something else I read on Lactnet last summer I think.  Marsha
Walker wrote about the physiologic and anatomical capacity of the newborn's
stomach, saying the first is about 7 ml per feeding while the latter is
about 30 - 35 ml.  Your information about the 3 cupfuls of milk per day,
combined with what Marsha wrote is information so many new moms need,
especially those who pump.

I work with lots of moms who are starting to pump in preparation for
returning to work and are very anxious about the "small" amount of milk they
are producing.  I try to reassure them that this is normal given that they
are pumping ON TOP of feeding their baby and that they will pump more milk
when they are actually replacing a feed with a pumping session.  But many
mothers fret that they will not be able to provide enough milk for their
babies when they go back to work.

I think the root of some of these misconceptions about capacity and how much
a baby really needs, are, as Marsha has said, related to our bottle-feeding
culture and the images we all have ingrained in our minds about that 8
ounces of formula being chugged down every 3 - 4 hours, on schedule, whether
the baby is hungry or not.

I'm working with a mom now who is struggling because she seems incapable of
giving up the idea of scheduled feedings and has told me that it is good for
her baby to cry as all babies need to do this.  I have yet to find a
reference that says this!  Actually, I am searching for articles to give her
which may help her give up her need to "control" the baby.  I found a great
one entitled "Mother's Sensitivity to Infant Signals" by Lewis A. Leavitt,
MD in PEDIATRICS, Vol. 102, No. 5, November 1998.

Any other suggestions for helping these moms who seem to resist attending to
their babies cues would be appreciated.

Sara Dodder Furr, breastfeeding advocate and volunteer
Lincoln, Nebraska

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