Hi. I have found the posts about self attachment and nipple pain very
interesting. Ever since I was a child I have been interested in biology and
animal behavior.  I thought it would be extremely interesting to have a job
like Jane Goodall and spend my time trying to figure out why animals do
what they do.  That was before I had kids and became interested in
breastfeeding.  Now I find the biology and behavior of mothers and babies
to be very interesting!

Anyway, it seems we are the only mammal that takes an active part in
latching our babies.  I don't know about primates.  If nipple pain is a
signal that baby is not latched well then what do other animals do if
nursing is painful for them?  They can't work with their baby to get a
better latch!  This idea of baby-led latching really makes sense and I plan
to learn more about it.  I realize that human babies are the least mature
of all mammals at birth so maybe they do require more help from mom, but
maybe we provide too much help under normal circumstances.  Of course then
you throw in all of the labor interventions and that seems to make babies
even more helpless.

I don't have any words of wisdom to add to this discussion, but I do hope
it continues off and on in the future because I feel it is an important
topic.  I feel we have a lot to learn from our babies and our fellow
mammals!

Christine Lichte, LLL Leader, CBE, 2003 IBCLC candidate

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