Nancy writes, << Breastfeeding IS much less stressful than bottle feeding, but each study comparing the two has noted that breastfed infants (and cup-fed, finger-fed, etc.) actually take in less at each feeding - a point that is of great concern to neonatologists - even me. >> The question then is -- is there a REASON why babies are taking less? Can we really compare volume taken of formula to volume taken of breastmilk? Are they the same? Of course not....we are comparing two entirely different fluids. So then the question is, are we basing our expectations of the amount the baby takes at bf on how much we think he "SHOULD" take of formula? Which is normal? At, say, 3 days of age, for a 7.5 pound infant, is taking 2 ounces of formula normal? then should we expect the baby to take in 2 ounces of breastmilk? Supposing we looked at all 3 day infants at 7.5 pounds who are breastfeeding and calculated how much they took in -- after all, breastfeeding FROM THE BREAST is normal -- not taking in a man-made, artificial substance from a bottle. The mothers will tell me, "Oh he takes 4 ounces of formula from the bottle." then we do a pre post weight and he takes in 3 ounces. Should I be concerned? Upon what guidelines should I base how much he SHOULD be taking? 120 kcal/kg/body weight/24 hours (or thereabouts?) Or is there a different measurement we should use for human milk? I know that if the baby takes 2 ounces of Sim w/iron he is taking in 40 calories. What I don't know is if the baby who breastfeeds, and takes in 2 ounces of breastmilk -- how many calories has that baby consumed. Don't have a clue. It may be more, it may be less. But it is HIS milk, designed by HIS mother for HIS body.... At some point the trust factor has to figure in, and we can't look at what we have designed for artificial feedings and assume the same for human milk feeds. I realize we don't have anything better at the moment, but.... Jan -- who had a mom of a preterm baby who had been burned, was in the burn unit at one of our hospitals -- her milk was tested 3 times. (At this point the baby was up to 36 weeks gestational age). Her milk the first time came out at 27 cal/ounce; the second time at 29 cal/ounce; the third time at 30 cal/ounce. The staff decided maybe the baby didn't need special 24 cal/ounce formula. *********************************************** 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