I had only been reading LN on my Blackberry b/c I am away from home. I 
have been chomping at the bit to reply to Linda Hill, but alas, if I 
delay long enough, Jaye will almost always post for me!!

Jaye wrote:
“Ok - while I agree I don't care for the suggestion of a stubborn baby 
- I don't like labeling babies any more than I like labeling any other 
human - there is some concern here that has been overlooked.  The baby 
HAS a problem.  She gags too easily, chokes too easily - what is THIS 
problem all about?  Is this a posterior TT causing problems?  Is this a 
tight muscle issue?  Is this 'baby got suctioned like crazy at birth 
and is now orally defensive?  Is it a fast strong let down baby cannot 
manage? What is it?  I know I'm interested.”

Finally!! None of my babies ever had a bottle and I have always been a 
“working” mom, although self-employed or working as a consultant. That 
doesn’t mean I don’t watch what a baby is doing with a bottle just as 
much as I watch what the baby does at breast.

I had a call last year from a mom who had to return to work in 3 weeks 
and her baby, who was 9 weeks old, would not take a bottle. I watched 
the baby feed at breast and watched him refuse to feed on a bottle.

Of course, there is a part of me that delights in the brilliance of the 
baby who only wants his momma. But,=2
0the baby had a posterior tongue-tie 
and the only reason that he was apparently feeding well at breast was 
because he was passively getting by on mom’s immense oversupply and 
OAMER. He was not an active feeder in any way and mom was a set-up to 
lose her supply, as baby was extremely inefficient at breast.

After the clipping, it took about a month for baby to feed well at 
breast and manage the bottle (that is how I always see 
bottle-feeding—the baby must compensate in some way to manage it). I 
would not encourage a referral to an OT—I would refer baby for 
CST/chiropractic, which IMO is essential in treating such cases.

Linda, one other comment, though:

You wrote:
“TODAY, tho, dad was present for the first time, and would come over to 
me and touch his baby every time she would start to fuss.  He would 
always look at me when she would start to fuss, so I know he resisted 
actually coming over and touching her many times.  He works as an 
"energy healer", tho I'm not quite sure what that is, I was having to 
maintain my own calmness, which usually comes very naturally when I am 
around babies.”

IMO, what we ought to be doing as LCs—although not necessarily what we 
actually do—is far closer to energy healing than to allopathy. I am 
certified in The Reconnection and Reconnective Healing—energy healing. 
Everything is energy and that natural ca
lm that you have around babies 
is just the way you manage energy when you are with them.

I cringe every time I see an LC making reference to a holistic practice 
as if it is voodoo. Birthing and mothering babies is about as 
“unscientific” as you can get (in spite of all of the attempts to 
medicalize them) and I would venture a guess that many of our own 
personal successes have been built upon very “unscientific” practices 
such as intuition, instinct and even energy healing, whether we called 
it that or not.

Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA
Intuitive Parenting Network LLC

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