To prevent any more guilt feelings with mothers I refer to her urge to
   stop breastfeeding as 'being on the fence' about it.
   Have you ever had to make a difficult decision and you were't sure how
   to proceed?  Was the decision very painful for you and you wanted and
   needed guidance while being very fragile?  Sleep was interrupted, you
   walked around feeling bad but you really didn't know what was making you
   feel that way.  You might have needed to 'sleep on it' to sort out your
   feelings or you might just have wanted to talk to someone wise.

   That's where your patients are when they verbalize the need to (and this
   is another of my terms), go to plan B.

   They can stop breastfeeding or they can go to plan B.  If switching to
   formula feels bad give them options, options, options.  The options
   should come one at a time.  Too many options might confuse the issue.
   The less options you offer, the easier it is to jump off that fence.

   Watching a mom an dad relax as I offer an option is one of the most
   rewarding parts of my job.

   However.  Think back to that difficult decision you have made in your
   life.  If you had support for sorting out your feelings, think how
   strong the bond was with that supportive person.  I have had people
   stick with breastfeeding just because they wanted continued support.
   Along the way they became empowered and successful one step at a time. A
   grateful mom stated it this way on her patient opinionaire. "she
   wouldn't let me quit."  She went on to say how I kept offering options
   and followed that up with teaching and supporta:  Hard work for us LC's
   but first the mother must get off the fence.

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