Heather in UK,
Scales has been discussed at length here on Lactnet, so I will be brief. A
scale is one of the tools I would not want to be without. I find it gives
me very valuable information, and I have NEVER had it "backfire" or make the
parents more upset or tense. Quite the opposite, they are always so happy
to have that tool as a one time thing with my consult. Just a few examples:
1. Like Diane said, with OALR- To see at what point the baby freaks out- I
had one case where at the freak-out point the baby had taken in a whole
feed- I think it was about 4 minutes- And that mother would never have
believed that that was *it* unless she saw those numbers. Or the opposite,
weighing gulps- and finding out it was a small amount and alot of choking.
2. Sometimes those moms who you tell to offer 3 and 4 sides, when they see
they are really eating more each time, and not just hanging out. I can show
them the difference in suck, swallowing, etc but it *clicks* when they see
it on the scale.
3. Premies- it is crucial. I would not trust my clinical judgment here at
all- I have been fooled both ways with these little ones.
4. Just making a mother feel really good. When we stick that baby on the
scale, when they see those numbers, they get the biggest smile and are so
proud.
I have never had it that it did the opposite, because usually we have
discussed all the signs of good feedings, and by this point they know there
is a problem.
5. Here is Israel, sometimes these moms are not weighing a baby until 4
weeks after birth! I certainly want to know how they are doing, besides
looking good. I need to then go back to the doctor with a concrete weight,
x over or under discharge weight, not just he looks good.
I guess I kind of feel like we live in a modernized society, this is what
the new mothers I work with are used to, and this is what talks their
language. Maybe it is also a generational gap type of thing also? I am
also younger than most LC's (I think!) at 33. Who knows.
Jessica Billowitz, IBCLC
Israel
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