Re: can newborn babies burn too many calories breastfeeding?

[Guest guest]

if they're breastFEEDING no. But if they're breastNOTfeeding, absolutely! That's a word I made up to describe situations where a baby is at the breast for hours and not actually transferring much milk, losing weight, etc. Beebe, M.Ed., IBCLC Lactation Consultant/Postpartum Doula www.second9months.comwww.facebook.com/thesecond9months.--- Subject: can newborn babies burn too many calories breastfeeding?To: Date: Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 6:54 PM

I have heard IBCLCs say that when a newborn stays at the breast, sucking for "too long" the baby is burning too many calories on "non nutritive sucking".

I have heard this for newborns who breastfeed for longer than 30 minutes per side.

What do others think of this?

[Guest guest]

Personally, I think it's a red flag whenever a baby consistently spends more than 15 minutes per breast to finish a feeding, and I want to observe what's going on. If it's just a longer nursing at night to "stockpile" so he can sleep longer, or a longer nursing in the morning because he *did* sleep longer, I'm not worried. But if it's every feeding, that never seems right. Even if baby is gaining well, I worry that down the road, when mom's hormones drop, this baby really doesn't have an effective suck and things will fall apart then.

Even for those babies spending long times at breast and not gaining, I can't be sure if he just isn't getting enough milk to eat in the first place due to ineffective nursing, or if he really is burning too many calories with lots of poor sucking. I think it's quite possible to be either or both. The more important thing is, get the problem identified and fixed.

Dee Kassing

Subject: can newborn babies burn too many calories breastfeeding?To: Date: Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 8:54 PM

I have heard IBCLCs say that when a newborn stays at the breast, sucking for "too long" the baby is burning too many calories on "non nutritive sucking".I have heard this for newborns who breastfeed for longer than 30 minutes per side.What do others think of this?

[Guest guest]

Do they also burn too many calories if they have a pacifier or suck their thumbs?

Jan

I have heard IBCLCs say that when a newborn stays at the breast, sucking for "too long" the baby is burning too many calories on "non nutritive sucking".I have heard this for newborns who breastfeed for longer than 30 minutes per side.What do others think of this?

[Guest guest]

I do not believe babies are burning too many calories when they are at the breast doing non-nutritive sucking. I agree with Dee that it can be a red flag when they are spending a lot of time at the breast because a lot of times they are just hanging out, waiting for the miracle to occur and the gush to happen again. I've had very few times when longer = a lot more milk. Most often when I have babies nurse at least twice on each side, the vast majority of the milk is taken during the first time on each breast, and when mom puts him on for a second time on each side and we do the ac/pc weights, many times they don't take much more than 2 or 3 ml/breast.

Babies certainly burn calories when they are perfectly still and sleeping. We all do -- some of us would like to burn more than we do. Sigh. They burn *more* calories when they are awake and active, and even more when they are crying. But they aren't burning calories to their detriment when they are hanging out at the breast doing either ineffectual or non-nutritive sucking any more than they would in a quiet alert phase. What they ARE doing is fooling mom into thinking they are *eating* when they are not getting anything. I worry about those babies because those are the babies that breastfeed for an hour, whine when they come off, and aren't gaining. And if you have an ineffectual suck for very long, then mom's milk supply goes down. Then it's a chicken/egg thing -- is the crappy suck r/t to poor milk supply in the beginning, or is the poor milk supply r/t a crappy suck? And you have to work on both.

Jan

Personally, I think it's a red flag whenever a baby consistently spends more than 15 minutes per breast to finish a feeding, and I want to observe what's going on. If it's just a longer nursing at night to "stockpile" so he can sleep longer, or a longer nursing in the morning because he *did* sleep longer, I'm not worried. But if it's every feeding, that never seems right. Even if baby is gaining well, I worry that down the road, when mom's hormones drop, this baby really doesn't have an effective suck and things will fall apart then.

Even for those babies spending long times at breast and not gaining, I can't be sure if he just isn't getting enough milk to eat in the first place due to ineffective nursing, or if he really is burning too many calories with lots of poor sucking. I think it's quite possible to be either or both. The more important thing is, get the problem identified and fixed.

[Guest guest]

A baby who is struggling to breastfeed, over using and misusing muscles, can use up calories trying to feed

since energy expenditure uses calories. I remember Genna discussing this at some point and babies who are sweating with feeding are also showing a sign of too much "work." Not a direct quote but what I remember her saying and something I've seen. But this isn't non nutritive sucking per say but the struggling baby who isn't getting much milk despite lots of effort. These scenarios can even show weight loss of a few grams or zero gain despite seeing/hearing swallows when feeding weights done.

Not sure if this is what is being asked.

Barbara Latterner

[Guest guest]

That's different than the baby "hanging out" waiting for the miracle. But keep in mind that babies use calories in lots of other ways as well. I think in the original post, the person (sorry!) said that she had heard from an IBCLC that a baby who is "at the breast" for 30 minutes (or some time like that) is using a lot of calories without defining (as Barbara did) the "struggling" to breastfeed, sweating and so on. (Sweating is often a sign of cardiac issues).

But babies that are fussing because they aren't getting enough to eat are also using up calories.

Jan

A baby who is struggling to breastfeed, over using and misusing muscles, can use up calories trying to feed