Contemplating this thread, I think it is really related to Diane's wise
advice that is at the root of the habit we all call Weissingerizing, and that
is that bf is not special -- it is normal, plain and simple.

When we talk about the benefits of bf, the miracle of bf, breastmilk the
perfect food, etc, we set up an expectation that if you breastfed baby has
any learning troubles, or allergies, or ear infections, the claims of
perfection must be wrong.   But naturally, if sadly, some babies in a normal
-- ie, breastfed -- population are going to have all those troubles.
Because breastfeeding isn't a magic trick, it's simply a minimum.

When we spin it that way we see that artificially fed children are getting
*subminimum* nutrition, that they have *even more* of all kinds of badness
from learning deficit and ear infections to leukemia and diabetes.

Sometimes we are in cultural contexts were breastfeeding is so surprising
that we don't feel we can be persuasive about it as simply normal.   We want
to bring in all the hoopla and exclamation points.  "What if there were a
miracle medicine..."  etc.

 But we should aspire to make the point to the people we teach, in any
context where it can possibly be heard.   Because otherwise we are always
going to have the Dr. S's among us, pointing out that bf kids are only normal.

Well, yes.  They are.  Normal, thank god.

Elisheva Urbas, in NYC
on the diction soapbox, where I live, actually

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