(A litle off the point, so skip if you wish.)
Lisa:  Thank you for explaining the Ezzo philosophy so clearly. So far, I have not come across any mothers
subscribing to this point of view, but I am sure that it is only a matter of time before this happens, and I
like to be prepared. As I was reading your post, I suddenly remembered something my sister had told me when I
was pregnant with my first child. She said, "You have to decide who is in charge, you or the baby." How sad
that she felt it necessary to set up a power struggle with a newborn! I do not doubt that this attitude
contributed to the fact that she weaned each baby at three weeks, reasoning that if baby needed to nurse more
frequently than every three hours this indicated a poor milk supply. Perhaps the saddest thing is that she
warned me that the women in our family were poor nursers - I guess I proved her wrong! On reflection, I think
that her method of childraising was Ezzo without the religious element, i.e., ignorance compounded by
misinformation. This emphasis on parental control is more prevalent than many of us may realize: just check
out alt.parenting.solutions for examples. By helping mothers get off to a good start in breastfeeding, we may
also be doing more in sensitizing them to their babies' other needs.


Norma Ritter, IBCLC, LLLL                      "If not now, when? If not us, who?"
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Date: 12/21/95
Time: 06:39:27