The end result is a hungry baby.
- Nature or lifestyle. Insufficient milk production can be a result of
nature (insufficient glandular tissue or hormones) or a mother’s lifestyle
(not getting enough rest or liquids). The mother simply doesn’t produce
enough milk, or in some cases, milk of high enough quality. If you
suspect this is the case, try a) using a breast pump to see what quantity of
milk is being produced and b) discovering if your baby will take any
formula after he or she has been at your breast for the proper amount of
time. Report your findings to your pediatrician. - Poor release of milk. This indicates a problem with the mother’s
let-down reflex. - Feeding too frequently. There is an irony here because one would
think that many feedings ensure adequate weight gain. Not necessarily! In
some cases a mother can be worn out by too many ineffective feedings.
When we first met Jeffrey, he was six weeks old and had gained only one
pound. His mom offered him the breast each time he cried, approximately
every 1 to 1½ hours. Jeffrey was properly latched on to his fatigued and
frustrated mother.
Although he was failing to thrive, the only counsel this mother
received was to feed more often. To further her exhaustion, she was told
to constantly carry Jeffrey in a sling. Immediately, we put Jeffrey’s
mother on a three-hour routine. To improve Jeffrey’s poor health, he was
given a formula supplement. Within a few days, the starving child started
to gain weight. After just a week, he was sleeping through the night.
Jeffrey’s mother successfully breast-fed his subsequent siblings on the
PDF plan with no weight-gain problems. - Feeding too infrequently. This problem can be attributed to either
hyperscheduling or demand-feeding. The mother who insists on watching
the clock to the minute lacks confidence in decision-making. The clock is
in control, not the parent. The hyperschedulist insists on a strict schedule,
often nursing her baby no more than every four hours. Enslavement to the
clock is almost as great an evil as a mother who is in bondage to
thoughtless emotions.
Another side to the problem of infrequency is that some demand-fed