Friday's LLL meeting here was a classic, and a potent reminder of why LCs
need to have ties to their local LLL, and encourage their clients to
attend.

A recent client came with her 18 day old.  He's thriving, but she (a
professional woman with a specialty in *swallowing*) was still worried
about every sound her baby makes, because he sounds so much like the things
she warns her nursing home students to watch for.  When she described his
sounds, half the room nodded vigorously, and decided that babies do that
because they can't clear their throats yet.  His "vomiting"?  They casually
labelled it spitting up and described their own adventures with it.
Burping?  Gee, it turns out no one really bothered much with it.  She told
me afterwards she'd been planning to go right from the meeting to the dr,
but instead went home filled with new confidence.

A woman who is brand new in town was shown by another woman some of the
many ways to wear and use a sling.  She asked about night nursing and
dental caries, and is being sent the recent lead article from LLL's member
magazine.  She commented that one side seems to flow faster than the other,
and got more nods of recognition from the circle.

A working woman who supplements with formula got support for continuing to
pump once at work, and got a hint on how to make it easier (she'd been
going home to pump, and will look into a car adapter).  She said she had
finally decided her baby *preferred* sleeping alone, and got gentle support
for her choice.

Nights, of course, were discussed at length, along with umpteen different
arrangements.  A mom whose baby had skull surgery a few months ago
demonstrated "nursing from the top breast", and showed off the kind of bra
she's finally settled on.

The issue of whether it's okay to nurse even if you don't think the baby's
really hungry was gone over thoroughly, including possible ways of dealing
with criticism from relatives.

A Leader's 3 year old was nursing when she introduced herself.  She
explained that she had never dreamed she'd be doing this when she started,
but... here she was.  That didn't mean anyone else had to feel a need to
follow her example.

The new AAP guidelines were passed around and discussed.

One mom came, glowing, with her new baby after having come to a few
meetings while pregnant.  Her baby had been jaundiced.  The doctor told her
to stop bfing for 48 hours, but after talking with LLL, she had decided to
continue and, of course, was glad she had.

A mom with a ring in her nose borrowed a copy of "The Fussy Baby" from the
library, and was reassured to learn about other babies' nursing patterns.

At the end of the meeting, moms without playgroups got together and
exchanged phone numbers, or were welcomed into existing playgroups.

I could have given most of this to a client as an LC, but moms hearing it
from other moms, and from so many other moms, and in so many different
ways, is just an irreplaceable - and gloriously normal - way to learn and
enjoy and grow.  I think I left that meeting as "high" as my client did.

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL  Ithaca, NY