OK - this is my last post for the day - and it's only noon Pacific Time!

I, like Pam, thought of this situation in a positive way.  As much as I
wanted and was able to breastfeed my three and stay home so they did not
have anyone else but me, I don't think we want to say that this is not
"right" for this baby!

Baby already lost his mother - NOTHING is "right" about that!

However - in many cultures and families - for generations and centuries -
babies have been cared for by loving family members.  My own sister in law
(the 7th child) was breastfed - but she also had 6 older siblings that did
just about everything else!

When I worked in Puerto Rico I met a young couple (well, PRETTY young - he
had put in 20 years in the Navy and was retired) who had just had their
first baby - and lived on a boat - they traveled from place to place where
dad would get a job as a Captain for tourist boats or take fishermen out on
his boat.  Their son was to be raised on-board, home-schooled (thanks to the
Internet) and moving from place to place in the Caribbean and along the
South American coast...  Would this child be, as an adult, a "normal" child?
No...his experiences would be totally foreign to what we are used to - but
would this be BAD for him?

Even the way we raised OUR kids can be thought of as "abnormal" - we lived
in 5 different states as the kids grew up - and my mother lived with us and
moved along with us...whereas my husband's family and mine both stayed in
the same neighborhood throughout our childhood and even after we graduated
from college.  

I think we need to be very careful that we don't imply that the ONLY way to
raise a child is the way we have seen from studies based on
American/European standards.  Let's not get sucked in to making
proclamations that this or that is the ONLY way to do things - or we'll fall
into the trap similar to those who think that the only way to care for a
premature baby is in an incubator or the only way for a child to sleep is
alone in a room.  

Jeanette Panchula, BSW, RN, PHN, IBCLC
California, USA (Where I've seen LOTS of different home environments - but
none like the one described in that article!)

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