Recently I had a caller leave a message that this was her final attempt to
get help before stopping breastfeeding altogether.

The reason: Her baby was needing to eat more than 15 minutes per
side....and her Md. (Happens to be my family practice MD also!)
                  told her that that is a sign that she' s not producing
enough and to start formula NOW....

Baby is 2 weeks old, diaper counts were fine and has regained birthweight.
I was in shock to find out it was my own MD and the mom
has changed 2 cup sizes during pregnancy as well....leaking,swallowing and
good diaper counts continue.And it's time for a growth spurt or increased
appetite or "a frequency" day.

To me there is a strong correlation with some healthcare providers'  infant
feeding instructions ( at $45 for 10 minutes) and a
certain book in print which I am dissecting page by page for the prepsurvey
group.  However, the cover of a book states a premise
in small letters which appalled me: "How 100,00 new parents trained their
babies to sleep through the night the natural way."

It should be noted that demand feeding in some books in this category
define it as such: Baby's cry is  "the primary" signal for
nursing,regardless of the need for food or comfort,no matter how much time
has passed since the last feeding.

I don't use the term "demand" as an LC or RN. There are many other feeding
cues babies have,and many reasons children and infants
cry. IMHO no one I know defines demand feeding as in this book....One of
the requirements for following the "theory of feeding infants
on demand" is that one must "accept the belief" that every cry is a request
for feeding.

Just as another book in print which was frequently discussed on Lactnet,I
believe this book misrepresents those of us in the helping
profession who base our assistance efforts and instructions on
physiology,research and clinical experience, rather than relying soley
on opinion or personal childrearing experiences or unsubstantiated
theories.

With freedom of speech and press, there are drawbacks and I believe many
sincere,well intentioned people read such books
......and because it is in print and is
endorsed by so many healthcare professionals who state they have used and
are using these principles in their practices, the book
is taken as being factual.

 Some of the endorsements are extremely worrisome:  to the effect that
instead of being in "baby bondage"
a CLE was quoted as saying that she was "liberated to be the mother God
intended her to be".....comments about how their other
children had been fed on demand and how depressed one woman was at the next
pregnancy because she worried about the misery of more sleepless nights and
demanding children until she followed this books' principles. 3 pages are
endorsements by healthcare
professionals plus the outside cover of the book. Several women
obstetricians,a pediatrician, and married team of family Md's, and a
certified nurse midwife are quoted.

Under a parent directed feeding plan,the book states that at weeks 9 thru
13 "you will transition  from 6-7 feedings down to 5-6 in 24 hours".  There
is not a caution about a decreasing milk supply which can be deleterious to
the slow gaining infant and mom's supply of breastmilk. The phases in this
plan seem to indicate that this is the natural pattern for most infants.
Additionally,there is no mention of the effects of this advice on a woman
who's parenting method includes continuation of lactation while remaining
emplyed....and how this advice is not recommended in such a case.

Under "how to drop a feeding" : "Many babies drop the middle of the night
feeding on their own by the sixth week".
This statement simply is not true and is misleading to the breastfeeding
family. A woman given this advice is indirectly instructed to
ignore her baby's cues for 5-15 minutes with the statement that at this age
baby is waking as a result of "conditioning-(his or her biological clock)
rather than for food or comfort". Any crying will be temporary,lasting from
5 to 45 minutes. (THIS is not fact--I know of babies using similar sleep
training techniques who cried for over an hour and a half in spite of the
frequent checking  and reassurances parents provided....these babies were
hoarse after that time frame).

I see so many parallels to many a physician's advice and other books
recently in print. And thanks to the "advice and opinions"
my client has mastitis,a distrust for any and all feeding information and
added stress in her life.

I am now sending this copy to prepsurvey. I cannot access their page as my
server is unable to. If anyone could let me know what
the results or information is on that page I would appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Denise Ferrell,RN,CLE,BSN,IBCLC  and mom to Alan (5/21/93) and wife to
Dennis

Once I am finished with the book I will gladly share it with those
interested.

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