"I am not a zealot."  From the last Lactnet email.

I AM a zealot.  Breastfeeding is taken so lightly by most physicians, that I
feel those of us who are very strong, knowledgeable proponents of
breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding have to take a very firm stand.

But, I have also known Harvey Karp for 25 years and I know the kind of doctor
he is.  He's as good as they get.  We differ on some issues, but I would
trust him to take care of my child, your child and any other beloved child
because he is just that good.

One of the groups of ardently pro-nursing moms online call themselves
"sharks."  As Harvey steps into this group and mentions bottles at two weeks,
tea for babies, and a few other things, some of us might smell a little blood
in the water.

Actually, we're only smelling tea in the water.

Harvey's such a strong supporter of breastfeeding, baby cuddling and more
that differences of opinion are easily overlooked by me.  Well, maybe not
always easily .  .  . but a challenging discussion isn't so bad, either.
Some months ago, I mentioned how much I like the fact that Harvey Karp's book
recommends soothing babies by maintaining contact with them instead of trying
to change sleep patterns by letting babies cry.

I still like that.

I also mentioned that I like my books better.  I still do.

(Shouldn't I?  Amazon ran out and are slow to restock.  For some strange
reason, LLLI is refusing to stock my books even though they initially put
them in their catalog!!  Anyone know why?)

The problem I (we) might have involves an early flexibility about exclusive
breastfeeding.  In the real world, we all know that we lose a few BF families
when we misread what they want or need.  I still favor exclusive
breastfeeding for a long time.

I tell the new moms in my office how happy I am to have an overflowing
practice so I can come "out of the closet" and tell them I believe in NO
solids during the first YEAR of life whenever possible.  The quasi-science
about iron deficiency and so on has no firm science upon which to base
itself.  Supporting exclusive nursing for that first year--while retaining
flexibility about the six-month-solid-rule for those families who need
it--let's people know where I (we?) stand.  I don't believe in applying
hemoglobin values from the book to healthy breastfed babies any more than I
think growth charts are worth the paper they're written on.  A good
pediatrician or a good lactation consultant guides parents through weight
gain which deviates from charts.

Charts have hurt more babies than they'll ever help.

I don't like bottles routinely at two weeks of age and really don't like
heading down the "pump and put it in a bottle" road because I so often see
milk supply drop and breastfeeding fail as a result.  I have told moms to try
a few teaspoons of chamomile tea or peppermint tea instead of those awful
silicone drops that some docs recommend.  I agree that bottle of tea at two
weeks of age are inadvisable but I'm not sure that exactly what Harvey meant.
 (Did you?)

And in conclusion .  .  . let us continue to write nice but firm notes to
pediatricians (Dr. Karp obviously NOT among this misguided group) who link
their web sites to formula companies.  Dr. Greene and .  .  . others.

Jay Gordon, MD, FAAP, IBCLC (proud of the last five letters, ambivalent about
the FAAP these days)

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