>I have noticed many of the babies in my practice start to have problems >gaining weight at four months. I think it may have to do with 2 >factors: > >1. Many mothers start to go back to work after 3 months. >2. The mothers become lax after a few months taking care of themselves. > They start running around too much, don't rest as much as they > should, don't spend as much nursing time with the baby... Susan, How often do these mothers routinely breastfeed? I've seen this problem all too often among mothers who schedule feed and/or feed their babies less than normally demand-fed babies-- classically around 4 mos. There is a study that was done tracking mothers who breastfed less than 8 times a day, and those feeding 8 or more times a day. The former group had a high rate of weaning and supplementation at the 3-4 mos mark, while the latter group had a high rate of breastfeeding still going strong. This seems to correlate with deCarvalho's theory on the development of prolactin receptors during the first 3 mos postpartum being dependent upon frequency of feeds. Yes, we can pump up some of their supplies with galactogogues, but not always. Lisa Marasco, BA, IBCLC