I'm sure some of you are going to want to string me up, but I really have to
question these weighings.  Even if you can tell that a baby is getting a
certain number of grams, you don't know what the baby got.  Could the baby
have gotten a small feed that was all high fat hind milk?  Maybe the baby
got a large feed that was all foremilk.  These are living breasts we are
working with, not bottles.  I think using too many "tools" can make the baby
"ours" not the mother"s.  We do learn a lot of valuable information from
many of the tools we use.  However, I feel that our most valuable tools are
our eyes and ears.   Listen really hard to what the mother is telling you.
Look at the baby.  We are not working only with tools, but with people.
Rememebr too, the mothers who we see are already concerned about a
breastfeeding problem.  We need to remember what "normal" is and strive to
help mothers acheive "normal" as much as possible.

Tell a mother you are going to weigh her baby before and after feeds and I'd
be willing to wager that she will have a less effective let down because she
has to perform for the machines. So, even if you can prove that a certain
amount of milk flowed, it probably doesn't have as much fat as if she wasn't
trying to produce.  I know I couldn't have a high fat really good letdown if
I was under that stress-could you?  Think about it!  Nancy Sherwood IBCLC,
LLLL- Perth, Australia