I am going to disagree with Patricia on this one.  The baby sounds like what I
have heard described as 'content to starve'.  Not recovering birth weight
after a full month would certainly concern me.  The initial weight loss was on
the large side, wasn't it?  It seems this is more often associated with babies
who then just don't push for more food until it starts being actively given to
them.  Mother reports better suckling by baby when using the supplementer,
which supports this theory.

Annie, I am using an on-line mail program which makes it impossible for me to
re-check your original post while writing this reply.  I can't remember seeing
any mention of how many feeds this baby is getting per 24 hours.  In such a
case I would want to make sure baby was not going unfed for more than 3 hours
at the very most, around the clock, and I would make it abundantly clear to
mother that I expect the baby to start showing hunger cues more often than
that once weight gain starts to pick up, and that these should be followed.

I would also want to make sure that her MER was functioning, that baby had a
good position, that there was nothing about the mechanics of feeding which
could cause reduced milk transfer.  Good that mother is pumping.  Even better
if she can just take to her bed with baby for a few days, and have the pump
brought to her along with refreshments as needed.

I'm assuming the baby's health care professional is not concerned about
cardiac disease or serious metabolic disorder, but it may be necessary to rule
out those things if baby doesn't start acting more like she is driven to
survive.

My hunch: that this case can be happily resolved with attention to the points
mentioned, and that use of artificial feeds can be avoided or kept to an
absolute minimum unless it turns out mother is not able to produce enough
milk.  Nothing in your post makes me suspect the latter.  Good luck.
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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