>  Even the most well intentioned parents may
>not really be feeding their kid for whatever reason and if she is mostly
>nursing, the mom's diet needs to be excellent.


Sorry, Kate,  but I think the research shows this is not the
case....there's a good chapter in Riordan and Auerbach on precisely
this, and Akre's  The Physiology Of Breastfeeding (WHO, 1989) has a
good resume of the research that existed up to then.  A mother's diet
can be very 'unexcellent' and her milk will still be nourishing and
plentiful.

I don't think I ever posted in detail to the list about my stint in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, which I visited for UNICEF. I saw some very
interesting data from the Sarajevo seige. UNICEF monitored the growth
and health of all the babies born 1993-94. Remember - these mothers
were often anaemic, under great stress, and very poorly nourished.
Babies were breastfed grew and developed normally. The mothers' diets
were irrelevant.

Easy ways to up the calorie intake of a hard-to-feed toddler without
affecting bf include  i) add a dab of butter to most meals  ii) give
calorie-dense foods like avocado and banana

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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