Jan Barger--Response to your sad baby.  This must be a shock and I look
forward to replies on dealing with this.  I have a similar case with a set
of boy/girl twins,  the boy has downs, the girl was discharged on day two.
She has never gained weight and parents finally got a pump.  Six days and
she is not latching.  FEED THE BABY.  Mom is getting drops, pumping
infrequently blah, blah.  We put the boy to breast (in NICU) and a few
sucks, suprisingly strong and not a hypotonic appearance..though that can
fool the observer-  No swallow, no milk transfer, shut down after a few
minutes.  There is a language problem, Polish, I think.  I certainly hope
that she gets her milk in and follows the instructions for feeding the baby
at home.  A NP gave them a cup. I do not know if that is appropriate here,
but supported the desire to get weight on rapidly.   I don't know how much
to do with devices here.  They will hopefully be pumping, cup feeding,
driving to the hospital...all terribly overwelming for them.

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Linda Stewart,RN, MSN,IBCLC
in SunnySanDiego
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