To Jane, w/miserable mom & baby -

Sounds to me like the baby may be allergic/sensitive to something in mom's
diet or environment. Smoking affects the flavor of the milk, and can cut
down its volume and flow rate. Has she recently increased her smoking, maybe
as a result of increased tension about this miserable baby? Or increased the
amount of caffein she's taking in - drinking a lot of iced tea/coffee in the
heat wave, for example? Have you & she looked really closely at her diet for
the "most likely suspects", & maybe tried elim. diet? I really hate having
women try an elimination diet, esp. when they're already super-stressed, but
dairy really does seem to be a frequent cause of problems for babe. And this
kid is telling you that something is not right.

Does the baby have that "worried" look, even though output & wt. gain are
satisfactory? I've seen a lot of babies like this (look/act like they "hate
to nurse"), and most often they are baby #4 or more of an older mother (over
37 or so - just an estimate, don't jump on me!) who smokes, drinks a lot of
coffee, and in general seems tense or overburdened by her life situation.
(Please don't all get on my case - I'm NOT saying women can't/don't nurse
happily in this scenario, just that *in my experience* this is the set-up
for the majority of babies I've seen who act like this!)

Cathy Bargar, RN, IBCLC Ithaca NY

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