question on nursing a high birthweight baby

[cinrein]

Go Anna! Gracie is one lucky babe to have such a good mommy. :)


Cindy and Anna 2/11/03

[lizajane]

schuyler was born 9lbs 9.5 oz (8 days early!) and he did have low blood sugar. they gave him 2 oz of formula in the nursery WITHOUT TELLING ME. i had to just put it out of my mind or i would have just thrown up. i was pretty mad. but i just let it go.

he has not had a single drop of formula since those 2 "required" ounces. he regained his birth weight and exceeded it in 8 days, in spite of the fact that it took about 6 days for my milk to come in. i had to nurse him literally ALL night the second night, and i was cracked and bleeding before coming home from the hospital. but we made it. he gained weight like CRAZY.

so you are TOTALLY right. don't let anyone tell her differently. big babies are not necessarily more hungry. they are just bigger. and if they are hungrier, her body will make more milk.

ds is currently 7 months old and 20lbs. he can't tolerate solids, so he is STILL eating only breastmilk. my ped is NOT concerned that he can't eat solids yet. (we had to take him off after learning that they didn't work for him.) any baby can be healthy on breastmilk, barring any medical problems.

[heva]

Right on, Rachel! Sometimes doctors make statements that just don't make sense (spoken from experience as a physician) because they aren't thinking like rational human beings. It's amazing what a little training can do to people.

[heva]

I do hope that they have taken something from your experience - the best teachers are patients! Unfortunately, it has been my observation that a lot of OBs and nurses chalk such successes up to luck, and not because you've done the right and natural thing for your baby. And I am not surprised that they almost documented you as leaving AMA...in our litigious society, that is often the kneejerk reaction when patients challenge the "wisdom" of the status quo. I hope that when you've recovered from their trauma you have the guts to return to the OB floor where you delivered and nurse your healthy, growing baby for all to see (larger than at birth, as Rachel so deftly pointed out)!

[bluej]

I guess I don't get it. They don't think a 10 lb newborn can survive on breastmilk alone, but somehow a 10 lb 2 month old can? I mean if the mommy's milk is going to adjust for her 2 month old growing baby, won't it adjust for her big newborn baby? Duh, yes! It seems pretty simple and straightforward to me. I would have been extremely upset and would have played dumb and made the doctor/nurses explain to me how anyone can possibly provide proper nourishment for a growing baby by breastfeeding it for it's first year as it grows. And then after they explained how your milk adjusts to provide the proper amount for your growing baby as the baby feeds more frequently, I would ask how it is MY body isn't going to do this for MY baby, regardless of his/her size.

edited to add: Caden was 9 lb 8 oz at birth (2 weeks early), he was exclusively breastfed and was 22 lbs at 4 months. Clearly my breastmilk was not starving him!

[Rachels]

Anna, just wanted to add my three cheers! You're wonderful. You did a great thing for your baby by sticking up for her that way. Yay!!!!

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02