Hi All, Gee, it is so great to be back, as J. Simpson said, you guys help keep me motivated, excited and learning. On two threads recently about slow weight gain and plateau of breastmilk production - having suffered through two swg babies - I have learned more than I care to know. My personal recommendation beside the obvious of checking the actual nursing pattern for a 24 hour period, is for mom to do a personal history of her & baby's father's growth pattern as infants (be sure to indicate whether bf or formula fed and/or when switch occurred) and be very aware of health situations or problems. For us, my hubby & I both had serious health problems as infants and swg and both of us were formula fed. In reality, when compared to us, our two 'problem' children really had better, more stable growth and no health issues until weaned. Next avenue is allergies. As we all have allergies, food included, I am very sensitive to the problems, much of what America eats and calls 'food' causes, especially our most vulnerable members. I struggled with the supplementation issue, as my children were nursing well and growing - just very slowly. Fortunately for me, I had developed a very bad attitude and would ignore most of the comments and 'advice' given. Finally I was able to sit down with a couple of the MDs involved and completely express my feelings. After a check of the family history, the realization that we were working with serious allergy issues and realization that I was watching my childrens growth and behaviors, we came to a clearer understanding of the situation. While none of the MDs I've worked with, acknowledge my belief that people can be allergic to what they eat, we were able to avoid supplementing my 3rd child and #4 until after her 1st birthday. What I learned is that supplementing is like any tool we use for breastfeeding situations, it is a double edged sword and can cause more problems, rather than helping. I feel some HCPs are just too quick to supplement and some parents are too ready to rely on others for the care and responsibility of their children. Supplementing can be the cause of the milk production problems, just as scheduling, limiting breast time, pacifiers etc. can all affect milk production. My recommendation for moms when it comes to supplementing is to use as little as they can and only to ease worries of starvation or dehydration, not to use it to feed or fill up baby. For Jessica, the military hospital where I had my 3d child did indeed give me a package of sealed bottles of sugar water, done up just like the package of formula. They told me that this was the 'breastfeeding mothers' gift pack. I threw the whole thing away. As it came with literature about a certain formula brand and a can of powdered formula, I figured that they all came from the same place, and had the same intention in mind, to undermine breastfeeding. Leslie Ward Vine Grove, KY