Hi  Stephanie Pearl,

I have encountered this same philosophy in my own community and found it
very disconcerting and struggled with a way to deal with the fall-out of
such practices.  This philosophy of "child discipline" tends to come from
a fundamentalist type of Christianity.   Being what you might call a
"non-denominational" Christian myself that believes in the Bible as the
inspired Word of God this type of "discipline" in a new baby concerned
me.   You might say it did not set well with my spirit or my
professional practice.

I ordered a similar  course titled "Growing Kids God's Way" by Ezzo and
reviewed all the information.  It was basically good parenting advice
with the exception of discipline in the first year of life.  Advice on
restriction of infant feeding gave only 2 examples from the bible that
were vague.  During the review one thing kept coming up in my mind "I
doubt that Mother Mary would have restricted Jesus at the breast".  This
prompted me to develop and  implement a parenting course in my area that
I named  "In Mary's footsteps".

During my counseling of parents interested in what I call restrictive
parenting I counsel them on normal infant behavior and development.  The
emphasis on the first three months of development where baby has no idea
he is a separate entity and why he needs the immediate response to his
needs.  I also refer them to other parents who have reaped the benefits
of BF on cue.  So they can see examples of babies who are generally
happy campers because their primary needs have been met.  Also, with
parents who tend to need control in their lives I try to show them that
after they learn their babies cues they then have control because they
have predictability.  Also, because I happen to be in their religious
milieu I can also say "Do you think that Mother Mary restricted Jesus at
the breast?"  The answer is always "I don't think so!"

FYI: a good resource for reliable Christian Parenting courses; prenatal
and BF courses come from "The Apple Tree Ministries" in Fresno,
California.

And, lastly you have done all that you can do as you say by "making
information available to back you up and to be supportive while they
find their way".  Isn't that what we always do?  No matter what the
conflict in infant feeding tends to be we gently offer the information
to all concerned and then support their informed decision.

Good Luck,
Trina Ammar, RNC, IBCLC
Monterey, California