Judy, thanks for that long and interesting story about the bf autistic child
you worked with.

I (sorry) don't remember who originally posted this question, but it was
striking to me that most of the responses have talked about why it would be
best not to stop nursing, why nursing was a positive interaction, etc.
Because they were treating the questions as "bf or don't," they all (of
course!) came down on the side of continuing to bf.

Certainly we all know that parents of bf children, especially older children,
and most especially older special needs children, get a lot of dumb orders to
wean.

However, my impression of the original question was that it was about
**expanding** rather than about limiting the range of this little one's social
and occupational abilities --  not about ceasing to bf but about using bf
skills to help the child get used to new fluids, get used to new ways to take
food and fluids, etc.

I would tend to think that, say, drinking from a cup sometimes would be a
valuable social skill, aside from any nutritional issue.

And even a mom who **chooses**  to be with her toddler almost all the time
might still like to know that her child has the necessary skills to be
nourished and hydrated appropriately if she should need to be away for a
morning, or a day, sometime --- whether for reasons psychological (it is
indeed a hard thing to be the only caretaker of two babies 24-7) medical (what
if mom gets ill in a way that might make her need to take a break from bf,
even temporarily?), or logistical.  I once handed the baby to my husband for a
minute while I went upstairs to the bathroom -- and then got stuck in the
elevator for 4 hours.  Made me happy that there was pumped milk in the
freezer!   But this autistic child might be thirsty, as well as sad, by the
time the elevator repairman arrived.

Judy Gellman's response was the most interesting to me because it did
helpfully list the issues that might make this desirable, and also those that
might make it very hard to accomplish.

But what interested me about the original question was the search for tactics.
So -- whether or not this was the original question -- let me ask it this way:
How can this special needs toddler piggyback his valuable bf skills to gain
other, social and nutritional, eating and drinking skills which it is
desirable for him to have as well?

Thoughts?