Thank you, Barbara W-C, for your thoughts re: pacifier use/BFing; reading
this post of yours was eerily like reading something I've heard myself
saying for years!

"Or maybe (and this is my observation) the baby who gets real "confused" by
pacifiers
is a baby who is nursing poorly to begin with."

Exactly! It's always been crystal-clear to me, even when I was a little kid
checking out the neighbourhood babies, that babies have different sucking
needs, and that those differences *mean* something, and that a "sucky" baby
*needed* to suck more. Who knew that it maybe helped keep them breathing?

Is "TRUST THE BABY" one of the "rules"? If not, it should be! *Not* meaning
that a baby's breastfeeding skills are always "perfect" for his own needs,
but rather that when a baby is having trouble thriving at the breast, he is
telling us something. There will be a reason why he's not BFing well - our
job is to pay attention and figure out what it is.

But my question about the current fluster (is AAP coming out with a blanket
pro-pacifier recommendation?) is why on earth do we have to have so many
manifestos from "authorities" about things that are individual? Some babies
may need a pacifier to develop optimally (not to mention keep breathing),
others may not. Why can't the rule be "observe the baby closely and respond
to its individual needs re: sucking"?

Cathy Bargar RN IBCLC (taking a little break from happily planting bulbs -
although I sometimes think I should just spread them out on a tray with a
sign saying "squirrel snack bar - come & get it!")

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html