Kathleen, I would add to your list the insensible fluid loss caused by
warming lights. It is so common to bake babies (when they could be next to
the warmest surface in the room: their mum!). Has a study ever been done of
fluid loss per minute under these warmers? I think that some babies are so
dried out by the warmers that it becomes impossible for them to rehydrate on
colostrum; then a cycle is started--because calorie intake falls, baby
nurses poorly...

How many babies nurse poorly because of sore palates from bulb syringes?
Have you watched how roughly babies are suctioned? I liken it to my own
mouth when I rashly bite into hot hot hot pizza--its a few days before I
enjoy eating. (And I probably lose a few ounces during those days--pity it
makes so little difference on my frame!) Why are babies routinely suctioned,
anyway? Are we humans not born with fully functional CNS? (barring heavy
meds, that is).

Margery Wilson, IBCLC
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Medical Department
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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