I, too, have observed some moms and babes getting to breast after many
weeks of no breastfeeding or partial breast and bottle feedings and other
combinations.

I have found that "giving permission" to do something other than breastfeed
often reduces the mother's perception that she has only one of two choices:
to breastfeed or not to do so.  You and I may know that is not so, but
these new mothers often take everything very literally. Sometimes it is
necessary to go through the many options that are truly open to them.

One statement I found has been helpful is to remind the mother that she
decides to breastfeed EVERY time she puts her baby to breast or attempts to
feed in some other way. This is not an all-or-none decision, but part of a
process through which she and her baby learn.  Helping her to see that may
give her the freedom to decide for herself what she wants to do and then to
act on that decision as she helps her baby to breastfeed.



         %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
         %% "We are all faced with a series of great  %%
         %% opportunities brilliantly disguised as    %%
         %% impossible situations" - definition of a  %%
         %% lactation consulting service.             %%
         %% Kathleen G. Auerbach, PhD, IBCLC          %%
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