question on nursing a high birthweight baby

[LucyG]

A friend of mine delivered a 10 lb. 6 oz. baby boy yesterday. I am in awe! The nurses are telling her that, because he is so big, she may need to supplement with formula. My bf instinct wants to say that as long as she nurses him frequently, her body will produce all the milk he needs. What do you think? I know that many of you are much more knowledgeable about bf than I am. My friend wants to nurse, but because she does not have a lot of bf knowledge and confidence, I can see her being easily convinced to give some bottles. Ultimately, I realize it is totally her choice, but I really want her to give bf a good try. Am I correct in thinking that she should be able to nurse him with no supplementing, despite his size?

[suribear]

UGH. That sort of thing drives me nuts!! Your instincts are right.

DS was 9.5 lb. at birth and did absolutely fine with just my milk. We had a bf friendly pedi, and that helped a lot.

Kris

[Dcclerk]

I can only speak as to second hand experience, but it is pretty dead-on... my mom only nursed my brother and he was born at 11 lbs, 7 oz. (In fact, he never did learn how to take a bottle and went straight to a sippy cup!) The doctors I have talked to have said that there is no need to even talk about supplementing unless the babe is losing a more-than-normal amount of weight. Please encourage her and give her our congratulations!

[kwc]

Absolutely!
This happened to a friend... she had a 10 lb 8 oz kiddo and she had tons of milk but as she was being discharged, one nurse remarked "That big baby will never be satisfied on breast milk alone!" Made my friend so paranoid that she pumped for EVERY feed (as if she wasn't tired enough) so she could watch how much he would take... until she saw her ped at 10 days who told her to stop pumping and just nurse! Fortunately, her son was a very eager feeder who had no trouble dropping the bottle and returning to the breast exclusively but it could have been a bad scene!
If she really feels like she is having supply issues, refer her to the other great suggestions people have given here previously (nursing more frequently, seeing an LC, fenugreek) but don't let her be discouraged before she's even gotten there!

[lisams]

Your instincts are right!! And wow, that's one big baby boy!

Lisa

[cdlamis]

My Ped. told me the same thing! (should say ex-Ped)
UGH! Where do they get this info?

Daniella
Mom to Julia 6-13-02
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=...21b32dc745c42b

[LucyG]

Thanks so much, everyone! The baby is nursing often and eagerly, so I think that's a good sign. I think he'll be more satisfied when her milk comes in. If my friend can make it through the early days of being exhausted and feeling totally bovine, I think she'll be fine. When I talk to her, I will find some way to work in my opinion that she should just nurse and not worry about supplementing. My peanut weighed 6 lb. at birth, so I am totally amazed by this "half-grown" newborn!

[Rachels]

Good for you for supporting your friend! It amazes me the number of ways health professionals sabotage breastfeeding. She'll make all the milk he needs unless she supplements. As long as she nurses when he asks, her breasts will respond. What if we all quit nursing when our babies reached eleven pounds? Ridiculous.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[pritchettzoo]

Gracie was 10 lbs 1.3 oz when she was born. They started testing her blood sugar immediately and did so for the next 36 hours. She was always fine. She had wet and dirty diapers. She was not dehydrated. Her bilirubin (sp?) levels were fine. She lost about 12 oz (which was less than 10% of her birthweight and therefore NORMAL), and the creeps at the hospital were strong-arming me into feeding her formula! Even the "lactation consultant" who three weeks before was all sunshine and happiness about breastmilk and death and destruction about formula in her breastfeeing class. My DH & I were threatened with crap like, "We're going to note this in her record that you are refusing medical advice." The day we were supposed to be discharged, they threatened not to discharge Gracie if we didn't feed her 2 oz of formula--we would have to sign her out against medical advice.

I told them (almost hysterically...hormones, etc...) that if they could give me ONE GOOD MEDICAL REASON why my baby needed formula, I would feed it to her until it oozed from her ears. Until then, they could kiss my substantial white behind. I would sign her out against medical advice and then bring on the Spanish Inquisition. They couldn't give me a medical reason and then backed off and discharged us.

They had us so afraid that I would not be able to produce enough milk for her and that my breasts were incompetent for breastfeeding at all that we hired a private LC. She met us at our house practically as soon as we walked through the door. She looked at my breasts and was like, "Um, what's the problem?" She said it might be a bit challenging at first but was nowhere near impossible. I pumped for about a week before feeding Gracie to relieve some engorgement so she could get a good latch and there have been no humongous problems since. Granted, I spend the greater portion of every day feeding my little monster, but she's gaining weight and thriving.

So, I was freaked out and I had been reading these boards for months, reading multiple books on the subject, and I had been interviewing pretty much anyone with a boob. Maybe it would have been easier if I hadn't been so prepared? (Or on drugs?). Anyway, tell your friend to go with her gut and not to worry until there is a medical reason to do so. Her baby will lose weight--all babies do, and don't be afraid so long as it's not more than 10% of his original birthweight. Call a private LC if the hospital one sucks. Tell her to be prepared to be a big, scary mama bear on this one. GRR!

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)

P.S. PM or email me if you need more!

[stillplayswithbarbies]

Anna, good for you! You are one courageous mama to stand up to the doctors and nurses like that. Kudos for following your instincts and for knowing you were right. Reading your post has put a smile on my face this morning. That is one group of doctors and nurses who are now better informed and may think twice before pulling that crap on another new mommy. Way to go!

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03