Kathy, We know that pumping, instead of direct bf, makes it harder to adjust supply to baby's needs, because the schedule the mother has for pumping is usually arbitrary, and pumpings sometimes get missed, delayed etc. However, this mom seems very committed and "on the program" and has a baby with adequate gain. We all know that feeding a baby w/ cleft(s) is more difficult and time consuming (for mom and baby) by any method than feeding a baby w/ normal anatomy. If the baby has had some illness, which is more likely d/t the cleft, this can affect growth too. If the baby does not seem hungry and the mother has extra stores of ebm on the side, then this seems to "prove" that the baby is getting all the milk he needs. I suggest the mom discuss these issues with the docs, bring all this up, and also the infection/immunity issues, and hopefully they can all agree on a plan. The surgery is not so far away. Sometimes the docs want a specific weight criteria before performing the surgery, so that may be a factor too, to get the baby there before the surg. date. Best wishes to them. Laurie Wheeler, RN, MN, IBCLC Violet Louisiana, s.e. USA _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. *********************************************** 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