>
>I don't do any diagnosing.  I just tell stories! You're welcome to 
>use this simple
>story, too.  And the mustard on toast at breakfast seems to be the clincher
>where the moms get it or say that's not them.


Oh my goodness.....this is me. I *often* have mustard on toast at 
breakfast! Yum :) But I am normal weight...I can't really think it's 
a clincher for an eating disorder. Most mothers with eating disorders 
will not have breakfast at all, surely?

I think the biological evidence that an eating disorder *per se* will 
affect the breastmilk is pretty small. We know adequate breastmilk is 
produced by mothers in extraordinarily deprived circumstances.  It's 
far more likely to be a behavioural effect, as discussed here, with 
mothers deliberately restricting access to the breast because of 
wanting to control the baby's intake.

Occasionally, I have come across babies not thriving because of 
deliberate withholding of breastfeeding - I am not in a position to 
judge whether the mother has an eating disorder on these occasions, 
but I can understand when it is a 'control' thing, with the mother 
believing (for whatever reason - not necessarily pathalogical, just 
reflecting our culture's crazy ideas) that the baby should not feed 
more often than x times a day, or for x minutes at a time. This is 
when mothers say, scarily, 'but I don't want him to be spoilt' or 'I 
don't want him to become too dependent on me'.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc tutor, UK

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