Hi Stacy!
I lived in VB growing up...

I know my posts where super long and you may have missed it, but I did  
say most mothers could tolerate one 4-6 hour stretch in a 24 hour  
period and still make plenty of milk if the other nursings of the day  
were frequent...

If you take 6 from 24 that leaves 18 hours to get in 8- 10  
nursings...which of course can be done....

I have been following cue fed babies a long time and have found that  
they follow the pattern of over seven ounces or more a week the first  
four weeks and double birth weight by four months of age...if you are  
seeing babies gaining just five ounces a week in the early weeks there  
is a problem.

The WHO growth charts show only a slightly under doubling by four  
months of age which of course includes babies who may not be cue-fed  
so it doesn't seem unrealistic
to expect about a doubling in populations of cue fed infants, but I'm  
not a stickler for the math I look at the baby and his/her happiness  
with the frequency.
Doubling of birth weight by six months of age, which the formula fed  
babies' charts show, should not be the yard stick used for the  
breastfed infant...

When I was an LLLL I was more apt to think most breastfeeding problems  
could be solved with stepping up the frequency, and I hated how RNs  
threw nipple shields at every latch problem...now that I've been a  
private practice LC I use nipple shields more often than I ever  
thought I would and I owe all those hospital based LCs an apology, and  
I see milk transfer as more of the problem in the early weeks rather  
than frequency, but I still benefit from having seen the same mothers  
month after month as an LLL Leader.

What I'm trying to say is that what you see depends on your perspective.

What looks like it is working very well in the early months, sitting  
at the cusp of lactation, does not look so good in the ensuing months.

Mothers are more discouraged by breastfeeding when their babies are  
hungry before the 3 hour mark has arrived and they think this means  
there is something wrong with them, or their breasts, that they can't  
satisfy the baby nursing 8 times a day...and as far as lifestyle,  
nursing more frequently does not necessarily mean spending more time  
doing it...and smaller more frequent nursings help alleviate reflux  
which is a common problem and really painful for the baby...

If a mother nurses 10 times a day for 20 minutes thats 200 minutes or   
3 and 1/3 hours spent feeding the baby...heck how long does it take to  
buy formula, prepare it, heat it, feed it and clean up after it? It  
takes me at least 3 1/3 hours to feed my big kids everyday.

I believe in mothers, I believe they can handle the truth that for the  
average mother-baby pair 8 nursings a day is the cusp of lactation,  
and that they would be well served to aim for more breast emptyings  
than 8 a day, especially the first six months postpartum. The unusual  
mother who would give up breastfeeding because she learns nine or ten  
nursings are better than 8 breast emptyings for most dyads, probably  
would find another reason to quit breastfeeding even if you withheld  
this information from her.

Sorry I didn't sign my posts,

Jen O'Quinn IBCLC




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