Hi All,

Renee wrote that she learned the following at a lactation educator course:

 

Feedings should be typically be 10-15/20 minutes.  Anything on either side
of the time table should be a red flag.  If a baby is feeding beyond the 20
minutes the babe should be taken off that side and placed onto the other
side.  But once the baby has been on both sides, then the baby is taken o ff
completely until next feed.  This is to promote better milk production
(volume) and  bm with  a higher fat content.  It was discouraged for mothers
to be feeding ad lib/demand.  It was taught not to let the babe feed from
one side till finished and then offer the other side.  It was watch the
clock for the red flags.

 

Jaye again.  What???  This sounds totally WRONG to me and is contrary to
everything I have been taught these past 11 ½ yrs.  I have been taught that
typical feeds last 20-40 min total – some longer some shorter.  Some babies
are the ‘baracuda’ babies – they latch-on, suck that milk down in 5 minutes
and are done until they are hungry again.  Others are the gourmets who take
their time and will happily spend an hour nursing to get his meal.  And then
there is every other baby in between those two – and just to add to the
confusion – some babies will change their nursing patterns from one day to
the next!  I was taught to let baby finish the first breast first and then
offer the 2nd side – what the BABY NOT the clock.  So, who is to determine
the when the next feeding is??  Apparently in this course the clock/parent –
NOT the baby.  When you feed on demand the baby decides when s/he is hungry
and there you have the ‘next’ feed.  The regimen above does not, in my
professional opinion, promote better milk volume – it promotes hungry babies
and lower milk supply over time.  More frequent feeding and feeding ad-lib
promotes higher fat content as the more empty the breast the higher the fat
content of the milk.  Couldn’t tell you what study backs that up right now
but I know it is true.  It sounds like this course is teaching completely
the opposite of what I have been taught, what I have learned from Lactnet
and what I have read in my BF texts…

 

Oh, and if the baby nurses too long the nipples get sore??  I thought that
if the nipples got sore it was because there was something going on with the
latch…funny – I nursed my boys for hours on end day after day, month after
month (actually it was year after year!) and never got sore nipples from
nursing them more than 10-15 minutes per side – was I doing something
wrong??

 

Hopefully I haven’t been giving out the wrong information all these years –
it made perfect sense to me…but…do I need to take a new course to relearn
something now??  Oh dear – maybe I need to call my client back in the
morning and tell her all the info I gave her is completely wrong and to stop
watching the baby (and the many wet and poopy diapers and the awesome weight
gain) and start watching the clock instead.  

 

Jaye 

 

Tired and somewhat sarcastic tonight…apologies to those who may take
offense…


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