The current discussion about advice circulating to mothers to ensure the
'correct' amount of 'fore' and 'hind' milks makes me so grateful that nobody
advising me knew anything about this when I learned to breastfeed.  I had to
follow my baby's signals, as there was nothing else to go by.  I offered her
a breast in response to pretty much all of her signals, and I didn't think
about which one to offer beyond checking to see which one felt fuller - and
then I would offer that one first.  
I never had any idea how long it had been since she last fed nor how long
she was on one side because it didn't occur to me to keep track of such
things.  It was never hard to tell whether she was content and she was
content most of the time.
There was no reason at all to make things any more complicated than that and
I'm guessing that contributed to the smooth course of breastfeeding I
enjoyed with my firstborn.

In my experience inappropriate use of pumping to express milk is a frequent
factor in imbalance between a baby's needs and a mother's production - both
too much and not enough milk may result.

Chris Mulford posted about words used to denote milk removal from the
breast, and the problem of finding a word that doesn't imply complete and
total evacuation of all milk.  I'm not sure which of the English words I
prefer.  In Norwegian I find I use the word 'to tap' because to my mind it
most clearly describes removal of just enough liquid to meet the current
need. I kind of like the idea of mothers always having milk 'on tap' too.

'Look at the baby' is the most important thing I want new parents to take in
when they are learning about breastfeeding.  Don't look at the clock or the
scales or the crazy book that tells you to rely on either or both of those
instruments when trying to figure out whether your baby needs your breast. 
The baby needs exactly what she wants, and wants exactly what she needs, so
you will never go wrong if you take your cue from her.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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