I just received a phone call from the mother of an eight month old baby "crying inconsolably." He wouldn't nurse. I asked her to do what I have asked many moms to do: Put a few drops of room warm olive oil in his ear so the weight of the oil could equalize the pressure of an ear infection. (It's never an ear infection; Remember, these are all breastfeeding babies!) Then, sit in a nice warm bath together and nurse to see if this quiets stomach cramps. After drying off from the bath, walk around the house and then walk outside and then back inside and then outside and back in again. All the while trying to get the baby to nurse some more. Most babies this age will smile a little, nurse a lot, smile a little more cry, nurse and fall asleep in their mothers' arms. My impression is that the above routine (a little like the five S's) will help to differentiate between a baby who is uncomfortable or mildly ill and in need of more nursing and cuddling from a baby with a more significant problem requiring an exam by me. Jay Gordon *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html