Hi Cynthia, I think the scenario you bring up is an important one...I think it is important to be a team...the physician and the lactation consultant. When a child is quite ill, it can be hard for parents to believe it, especially when they desperately want to nurse the child and nursing is not going well. I personally feel that the last thing the parents need to hear when their child is sick in the hospital is two different opinions!! I think getting a second opinion is reasonable when the parents seek it out when they are unhappy about a practitioners advice. But this situation would be very frustrating for the parents, and can lead to delays in decision-making, which is dangerous for an ill child. I very much see hospital medicine and outpatient medicine as being different for the very reason that everything gets really confusing for the family in the hospital when events happen so fast. As a ring leader for patients in the hospital setting, I try to make sure that communication is clear between myself, consultants and the family/patient. Therefore, I feel the lactation consultant should have spoken to the attending physician ahead of time.-Anne Eglash MD