Nursing before the bris

amother

Thu, Mar 19 2015, 3:14 am

I am expecting a boy and am already thinking about the bris (dreading it? My previous was a boy and I was so excited. Now I just want to stay home and cuddle with my little one. Who needs all the publicity?)

So We used to have a different mohelim for our other boys, and the one we will use now says we should not nurse 2 hours prior to the bris.
Has anyone ever heard about it before? Seriously I cannot imagine myself sticking to it, especially if the baby is hungry! My other boys nursed before the bris just fine!
What's the point of this rule?

devash1

Thu, Mar 19 2015, 4:16 am

I was told 45 minutes before, but if that was too hard to go ahead and nurse.

chouli

Thu, Mar 19 2015, 4:46 am

I have a bunch of boys and was always told not to nurse 1 hour before the bris. We had different mohelim. Never was a problem. I nursed 1 hour before the bris, and then again after.

NotInNJMommy

Thu, Mar 19 2015, 5:06 am

The point of waiting a bit is to have the baby hungry so it will want to suckle right after the Bris for soothing. It is probably a bigger issue for exclusively bottle fed babies than babies who breastfeed.

amother

Thu, Mar 19 2015, 5:20 am

NotInNJMommy wrote:

OP here
Now that I thought of it, it occured to me that baby might want to burp during the bris and get wiggly and even more uncomfy.
But what you say also makes sense.

groovy1224

Thu, Mar 19 2015, 7:45 am

amother wrote:

OP here
Now that I thought of it, it occured to me that baby might want to burp during the bris and get wiggly and even more uncomfy.p
But what you say also makes sense.

Both the mohellim we used had this rule..they said it was to avoid lots of spit up when the baby starts to cry. They did also ask for a small bottle, though, to feed the baby immediately after and then I nursed right away as well.

morah

Thu, Mar 19 2015, 7:59 am

Both times I was told an hour. This is to avoid spitting up during the procedure. I nursed immediately after.

chanab

Thu, Mar 19 2015, 9:43 am

I had a mohel (very expert and experienced) who waited to do the bris until I had nursed the baby. I would not starve the baby for two hours.

STovah

Thu, Mar 19 2015, 12:20 pm

The mohel I used for my boys had no restrictions on nursing/feeding before the bris.

smss

Thu, Mar 19 2015, 6:01 pm

NotInNJMommy wrote:

huh? babies who want to nurse for comfort will nurse for comfort even if they aren't hungry. my newborns needed to eat much more often than every 2 hours, FTR.

is that seriously the reason?!

LittleDucky

Thu, Mar 19 2015, 7:13 pm

I was told a few hours (2? Don't recall). I assumed it was due to the diaper being off and not wanting to be sprayed.

NotInNJMommy

Thu, Mar 19 2015, 10:31 pm

smss wrote:

huh? babies who want to nurse for comfort will nurse for comfort even if they aren't hungry. my newborns needed to eat much more often than every 2 hours, FTR.

is that seriously the reason?!

I've only had one boy so far, and he was bottled fed formula and only ate every 2-3 hours at the time of his bris. The mohel suggested that he be hungry or nearly due for another feeding at th time of the bris. I didn't have a breast to offer him....and a pacifier wouldn't have cut it either. In the end, the bit of wine they gave him chilled him out so much he slept for five hours straight. Lol

amother

Fri, Mar 20 2015, 12:34 am

Our mohel recommended the same for the reason notinnjmommy wrote. I listened to the recommendation. My baby was so hungry that he was crying so hard already as they were taking him in to do the bris. I felt so bad. Next time, I would feed him before so he shouldn't go in there starving.

amother

Fri, Mar 20 2015, 1:41 am

Dh is a mohel and I have many boys myself. He specifically advises a well-fed baby. He says that spit up and baby's urinating are part of the hazards of the job!
Reason for feeding first is that studies (in hospital on babies having heel pricks) have shown that babies with a higher blood sugar level (ie after eating, jn the study they gave sugar water) feel less pain and cry less.
I have always nursed on demand and would not make a baby wait to eat.
As someone already mentioned, babies will suckle for comfort if needed, no need to make them hungry too.

amother

Fri, Mar 20 2015, 4:20 am

LittleDucky wrote:

I was told a few hours (2? Don't recall). I assumed it was due to the diaper being off and not wanting to be sprayed.

Really? My baby should be hungry because he doesn't want to be sprayed?
Who's being the baby here?? Exploding anger

smss

Fri, Mar 20 2015, 9:37 am

LittleDucky wrote:

I was told a few hours (2? Don't recall). I assumed it was due to the diaper being off and not wanting to be sprayed.

well, that's an even dumber reason.
thankfully my mohel didn't ask me to do this, so I guess he was mature enough to take that risk rather than let a 8-day-old baby go into a painful procedure hungry...

kollel wife

Fri, Mar 20 2015, 10:48 am

Funny I always thought it's similar to an adult going to have surgery where they don't want you to eat before - no truth to that in this case, just I somehow assumed that.

LittleDucky

Fri, Mar 20 2015, 10:51 am

I had said that was my assumption. Not what was said. It could be because of squirming or gas. No reason was given and I was too tired to ask why.
I didn't want my guy hungry- I round the clock nursed! On demand!

amother

Fri, Mar 20 2015, 5:34 pm

I was told to nurse an hour before. I did not attend the bris. I calculated backwards: My mother was going to leave 30 minutes before the time they said, 15 minutes travel time and 15 minutes to be on time. Dressing the baby takes another few minutes. So I nurse, then dress the baby and then he leaves. I figure that until the actual bris it will be about an hour.