Ah, we have so little faith in ourselves as competent, survival-oriented
mammals!

No one doubts that a baby will fight to breathe.  If there's something about
breathing that is really painful, he'll struggle for a way to do it that
works reasonably well without causing excessive pain, but whatever that way
is, it *may* leave him with too little oxygen to carry out other less
important functions.

Why do we doubt that a baby would fight to eat - the second most important
thing he does?  If there's something about it that isn't working right for
him, whatever that might be, he'll find a way that works reasonably well,
though it *may* leave him with too few calories to carry out other less
important functions.

The notion that a human infant, unlike any other mammal infant on earth,
would need adult instruction to take in calories the "right" way - that is,
not to be fooled by low-cal pacification at breast - is amazing to me.  *No
one* enjoys eating a bowl of rice one grain at a time... unless that's the
only way he can manage to get rice at all.

Peter Hartmann's work just reinforces what we've all seen: the inefficient
nurser who spends all day at breast, eyes closed, using what Kittie Frantz
calls the "IV drip method" - a grain of rice at a time - causes mom's supply
to drop.  Inefficient removal - even if it's continuous - leads to low
supply.

But a baby who's capable of nursing well *doesn't* "pacify at breast" until
he's met his "nice wad of milk" needs first, unless he's unable to feed any
other way.  Have you ever seen a healthy baby *start out* a nursing by
"pacifying at breast"?  No, first he *eats*, then if that's his nature he
hangs around picking a few last delicious grains out of the bowl.

Anh, it sounds as if your daughter is fully capable of pulling in a hefty
quantity of milk - up to 6 oz at a feed, my goodness! - but something keeps
her from tolerating the process in a normal way all the time.  If it were
your supply that was the primary issue, she'd be diving into solids with
shouts of relief.

As a first step, you might want to express some milk on days or times when
your daughter doesn't seem as hungry, just to protect your end of the
bargain and make sure that supply doesn't drop just because demand is low.
Sounds to me as if nursing is her lifeline, not her roadblock.

Without a medical background, I have no idea what could be *wrong*, but I
certainly know what's *right* - that babies, like adults, would never be
fooled into thinking a grain of rice at a time is more desirable than a
tummy-filling bowl, unless it's the only way they've found to manage any
rice at all.  No, she's not "using you as a pacifier".  She's making full
use of the most tolerable way of taking in calories that she's been able to
come up with.
--
Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY
www.wiessinger.baka.com

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