I've given my friend, Pat a few days to add this, as it happened in
her life, but couldn't resist adding it here when she didn't.  She received a
call from a mother of a newly circumcised baby saying that he was extremely
fussy at the breast or more appropriately refused the breast, I believe.
 After much questioning she discovered the baby had not gone pee in the
entire time (24 hours?) since the circumcision.
(Please forgive my ignorance here, as circumcision is not my area of
expertise, and I have only girls)...Came to find out everything  (what
exactly, I don't know) to do with the circumcision had not been removed from
the penis, so the baby could not physically release the urine.
***********
       Now my contribution to the night relief bottle brouhaha.   While I
understand that the idea is  a kindness--to give mom a break from having to
get up every night, let's look at it from the baby's point of view.
    " Of course, it's good to see Dad, but this is not what I want right now.
 This is the right thing I'm drinking, but it's not the same temperature as
Mommy's.  It has a plastic taste to it.   I wanted to nuzzle my face up to
mom.  My mouth feels like working more when it is warm.   He's holding me
now, but when I get older, I'm gonna go examine that table over there by
myself.   That would be fun! Oh, and then, I'll wander over to there to play.
 I can carry my bottle with me.  Hey, I'm up!  I can make a habit of this,
instead of going cozily right back to sleep with Mom and that crazy
prolactin..."
    As a mother of a 12 year old, this reminds me of pre-teen life.  Babies
and 12 year olds seem to do well at knowing what's good for them for the most
part, but sometimes what they think is good for them is not.  That's where
parents come in.
     Bottles, to an infant, seem like a good idea.  The milk comes out easier
than working the breast.  They are portable.  Okay, maybe they are not as
quick at coming when baby cries, but...
   And let's not forget Psych 101 where we learned about the babies in the
orphanages whose growth was documented--they didn't grow actually.  They
weren't touched enough.  (the origin of the term failure to thrive?)  They
died.  Bottlefed babies do not receive all that touching at feeding time.
 Once they can move around by themselves, they do--bottle in mouth or hand.
    And last but not least, my least favorite aspect of our bottle-is-
convenient culture, like putting a plate of brownies out on the counter at
home, we all think we can stop at one.  Not!  If tonight's bottle worked so
well, then when we have that party coming up next Saturday night, we can just
leave a relief bottle for the babysitter.
Then, oh, that worked, let's go skiing for the weekend and leave baby home
with grandma...a little formula will fill in for us this time.  All great
fun, but we all know this is how babies wean.  The snowball effect.
   Once this mindset kicks in that baby is lucky to make it to 6 months of
nursing.   As the mother of two babies who nursed well into their 3rd year, I
can tell you toddlers love to nurse, not so much as a feeding method as a
warm way to relax and meet that sucking need.  Although, I too  never thought
I'd nurse past 6 months, looking back, I wouldn't have missed these special
times for anything, and I feel for all the toddlers whose special time is
with a blanket or a dirty stuffed duck--all in the name of independence and
self-soothing.

    I'm sure everyone's heard enough of this issue.   To me, it is one of
those hard to quantify issues--like proving that you love your mate.
 Everything you have to document it is kind of mushy.  But having been in the
relationship, you know you do know of what you speak.

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 (Gena) LLLL