My heart goes out to you, and to this whole family.  What a mess.

Get to the guardian ad litem (GAL), and offer to provide him/her with
background information and insight on extended BFg, and child attachment.

Your biggest "risk" right now -- please hear where I am coming from --  is
that you will overwhelm the GAL with too much information, delivered too
passionately.  We tend to do this as IBCLCs anyway, on a good day, and this
sad case, involving a friend, coming within days of a trial of another
horrendous case, means you may come off as way too biased (in the legal
sense) to be perceived of much use to the GAL.

Take something short sweet and authoritative about BF.  I love ILCA's
"Risks of Not BF" for that reason -- discussing short- and long-term health
effects of BF, for both  mom and baby of BF.

Try to take the focus off of "BF" as a "problem."  The focus should be on
the child's need for consistent attachment parenting, given his history --
and that is best provided at this age-and-stage by BF.  the GAL should know
this -- but reminders diplomatically offered will help keep the spotlight
where it should be.

Yes, BF is an issue -- but it tends to be used as a distracting wedge in
custody/visitation issues.  The comments from the attys here are an
indicator of either their unwillingness to learn, or their willingness to
use underhanded tactics.  So you can't ignore the issue, but don't let the
ill-informed folks frame the argument.  There is a **lifetime** of
co-parenting that has to go on here, long after the baby (self-) weans.

Sounds like the vaccination history is a red herring too, as far as the
custody issue goes: the parents and the ped all seem to agree that the baby
shall not be vacc'd right now.  Let the **ped** explain to the court why
this is/is not OK.

-- 
Liz Brooks JD IBCLC FILCA
Wyndmoor, PA, USA

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