Hi Lactnetters,

The posts on test weighing sparked a memory of the anxiety that this produced
for me in the hospital after my second child was born. Test weighs were
routine then. After one feeding, my baby was brought back to me for topping
up because the scales showed he hadn't had "enough"  The nurse said to me:
"You're not much of a cow, are you ?" . I can hear her now and it's 26 years
ago.

Test weighing was also done at weekly visits to the infant welfare clinics
that Australian mothers attended in their community. It was extremely hard to
feed in front of the clinic sister, and I always had performance anxiety
which the scales reflected.

I believe this practice has been done away with. Not much can be inferred
from a single feeding. It's the 24 hour pattern that counts.

I don't have a scale in my office and never will.  I prefer to assess milk
supply by observation of the mother and baby breastfeeding plus a careful
history and good follow up. When I am concerned about weight, I do ask the
mother to have the baby weighed by the ped. so that we have a baseline, and
for a couple of consecutive weeks, so that the mother can see progress and
feel more confident.  But I also tell her you don't need a scale to know if
the baby is getting enough, and teach her the signs of sufficient output.

Hope all of you have happy holidays. What a wonderful year of Lactnet it's
been.

Beverley Rae in snowy New York




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