Nikki says, > However, it bothers me that babies who latch on well ( as demonstrated in > all the self-attachment videos) would be considered to be doing less than > excellent. Why isn't doing the best that one can not good enough in this > system? Gulping is not approriate at 20 minutes or 20 hours of life, as you > said, because volumes are low. > I understand your point, Nikki -- well taken. However, this isn't to be used for just the first couple of days. And I would be concerned, perhaps, if a baby consistently, after the first 48 to 72 hours did not move up to "excellent." It gives us (and the moms) a basis to go by. And we didn't want it complicated. The more complicated you make it (OK, if your baby is under 72 hours old, and if you hear occasional swallows, that's an excellent for that age baby, but if he is over 72 hours old and your milk is supposed to be in, but isn't, well then....on the other hand, if.....). Trying to make it simple. You can relate it, I suppose, to APGAR scoring. It's based on 10 points, but most hospitals/nurses/physicians refuse to give 10s because baby's hands and feet are bluish. Of course, that is NORMAL during the first few minutes of life, but since the "rules" of APGARING call for completely pink, top to bottom by 1 minute or you get a point taken off, then all babies get a 9. Which is the top score even though the top score is 10. And yes, before you all get huffy, I do know there are quite a few folks that fudge on that and give 10s for bluish hands and feet. But that is NOT the way the guidelines are written. Jan -- who hesitated before posting the descriptors, but... *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html