I am a bit confused by this thread. I thought babies weren't supposed to be
drinking gallons of liquid in the first few days after birth--I was under
the impression that babies received collostrum for the first few days after
birth, and that there was a range of normal amounts of time before milk
came in. Thus, some babies might go a few days before having large volumes
of intake--that is supposed to be why they had extra fluid stores in them
at birth.

Now, maybe c-sections do cause milk to come in late--I endured two cesarean
sections after long unmedicated labors myself, and both times my milk
didn't come in until day 5. Both infants received no fluids other than
collostrum, however (whenever they awoke, they fed), and although they had
begun to show signs of needing fluid just before the milk showed up (those
crystals in their urine), neither was diagnosed as dehydrated, and the
pediatrician was not concerned about either. (Note that I *did* check to be
sure.) But that is just two data points, or one mother's experience.

Certainly if a baby is dehydrated by day two (earlier than many, many
mothers get their milk in), I would suspect other factors are involved. I
have seen many, many healthy babies who did not receive mature breastmilk
until 3-5 days after birth. Of course, mothers need to carefully monitor
their babies for signs of dehydration, but the normal range for
lactogenesis does not end at 48 hours, I hope! Let me know if I am wrong
here or misread something.

Sue Ann

Sue Ann Kendall, Kynan and Declan's mother, LLL Leader, Austin, Texas USA
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