This has been a curiosity of mine for years as I have had some large babies. 
My third, dd, was 10 lbs at birth and I was an LLLL by then so I just nursed 
her along with tantem nursing the previous child.  If the peds in house, had 
an opinion, I just ignored it. ;) She lost some weight. VBAC w/ epidural an 
hour before birth. Hx of Group B strep (first ds was sepsis) so IV w/ 
antibiotics from first moment in hospital. The hospital "threatened" heel 
sticks, of which I said go ahead cause she's not getting formula. They 
backed down. Never left my side as I refused to send her to the nursery for 
anything. 39 weeks gestation. This dd turns 13 next week, weighs all of 75 
lbs and is just hitting puberty. She gained very well as a baby. The next 
baby, ds, was Bradley baby, i.e., no drugs other than "required" 
IV/antibiotics. Weighed less than sister, 9lbs 13 oz, left hospital 24hrs 
later at 10lb 1oz. Never had formula, or any intervention. Stayed with me 
constantly and grew to a very big baby. Tandem nursed. 38 weeks gestation. 
He's 10 now and is bigger than his sister at about 90lbs. The next dd was a 
trial. 12 lbs at birth (38 weeks gestation, induction tried 2 times without 
success), shoulder dystocia, epidural at the last moment (thank goodness or 
it would have been a mess). Stayed in nursery with dh until I could get to 
her. Thankfully, she was fine, no damage. Nursed exclusively, never having 
any supplementation. Lost weight first few days then took 3-4 weeks to 
regain. She just turned 9 yesterday, is a slender 65lbs. Next ds was 11lbs, 
1 oz.(39 weeks gestation)Three weeks previous MD tried inductions on three 
seperate occasions. Didn't work.  Epidural at 6 cm after 12 hours labor and 
usual IV/antibiotics from the time entering hospital. . At 8 cm, with an 
epidural that wasn't taking on one side, I opted for c/sec having been in 
labor 24 hrs. Posterior baby which wasn't turning. Again, nursed from the 
get go, never left my side, never got supplements. Lost weight first few 
days and took 3-4 weeks to regain to birth weight. He just turned 6 and is 
one of the chuckiest of  my children, which I attribute to lack of exercise 
here in MI (we moved from VA right before 3 year old was born). No diabetes, 
gestational or otherwise, in me or children. Weight gain with each baby, 
20-30lbs. The last baby was small, 8lbs 13 oz and we had the worse time with 
milk transfer. Mag sulfate, lots of fluids and "emergency" c/sec. Born 
preterm at 37 weeks. Lost weight and slow to regain. Took 2 months to get 
off of supplementation (donor breast milk of which we only bought a two week 
supply and were able to suppl what I was pumping 8x/day). He's 3.5 now, a 
slender 30 lbs and really doesn't like solid food-other than chocolate!

For us the difference was the OB(the one deliverying the last was NOT good) 
who ran interference in the hospital and the pediatrician was a friend of 
ours. She, beyond anyone else, trusted that I knew what I was doing. In 
fact, she was able to loosen up about some of her patients who were slow 
gainers "thanks" to us. At the time we had a diffuclt time coming up with 
references that IV fluids caused an abnormal weight gain before birth. All 
the babies were weighed within 24 hours after birth and other than the one 
with minimum IV/drugs, all lost alot by then. All were stooling yellow 
breastmilk stool and urinated many, many times by day 3-5. So the only 
explaination we could come up with was the IV fluids.We co-slept, nursed on 
demand (at least 12 times/day although all 7 of my children nursed way more 
than that), carried in a sling and basically did nothing but nurse yet we 
had weight loss. There has to be a reason other than lack of milk transfer 
as the output proved otherwise. I am thankful for having the support of a 
good pediatrician at that time and being an experienced LLLL and mother. 
Otherwise, I am sure we would have gone the path of supplementation when it 
wasn't needed.

~Lorij , LLLL 13 years
In snowy MI
Mom to 7 breastfed children



>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date:    Tue, 15 Jan 2008 07:31:41 +0200,
> From:    "Esther Grunis, IBCLC" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: small babies and large babies needing supplements
>
> Apropos the thread about larger babies and smaller babies ( supposedly)
> unable to survive on colostrum alone:
>
>  Moms here are also told this.  I once read a study which showed that
> babies born under 2.5 k and over 4 k  have a greater tendency to obesity
> later in life.  What do these two groups have in common? They are
> supplemented, and probably unnecessarily.  I cannot locate the study at 
> this
> moment.  Anyone remember it?

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome