> Local ped. dentist told Bfing Mom that she MUST totally stop Bfing NOW!
>13 month old child has his first "caviety" and "it is caused by Bfing at this
> age.  We all know he doesn't need to Bf  -  It is just a HABIT."

The current issue of New Beginnings magazine, (Jan. Feb. 1997)  LLLI's
journal for parents, has two wonderful articles, one written by a mom,
the other by her dentist, about how they managed rampant decay in her
children.  The wonderful thing about these articles is that the dentist
was clearly respectful of this mother's choice to nurse her child and
her decision NOT to wean.  These could be handed to one's dentist as a
primer on *how we would like to be treated.*  There is also some
information about the cause of the decay- spread orally, and statistics
that this is rare (about twenty percent have the bacteria.)  So this
article can difuse some of the blame, bias and misinformation out
there.

I always like to help parents role play some quietly assertive
responses, useful in so many walks of life.  One that seems called for
here is:  (said cheerfully, of course) "My parenting choices are not
open for negotation.  Let's review some other options."

Sue Jacoby, IBCLC
Clovis, California