Theresa writes: If we go by the birth
weight, he's lost around 14%, but by discharge weight (which seems to me to
be a more reliable indicator, since he'd been able to pass the excess fluids
by that point) it's only 7% or so.  Am I wrong in thinking that this pair
will be just fine by increasing nursings and that this "drastic" weight loss
isn't problematic?

I would not be comfortable with a 14 % wt. loss. I think this dyad needs a 
thorough assessment, including observation of breastfeeding and a test wt. to 
assess milk transfer. If baby is taking an adequate amount at a typical feeding 
and feeding frequently,  I would want to follow baby's wt. on a daily basis 
with very quick intervention if things don't immediately turn around.  Despite 
much annecdotal discussion on artificially inflated birth weights, I don't 
totally buy it. No matter how you cut it, a wt. drop of over a pound in that size 
baby is way too much. If someone can convince me of the physiology to explain 
these so called inflated birth weights I'd love to hear it. What I see, most 
of the time, at weight losses 10 % or greater are babies with low energy and 
poor milk transfer at breast.

Kathy Boggs, RN, IBCLC  

Kathy Boggs, RN, IBCLC  

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