In a message dated 5/8/0 1:04:48 PM, [log in to unmask] writes: << Hearing this conversation made a huge impact on me. It was clear that this mother - and I assume many others - saw formula feeding as normal and breastfeeding as both difficult and resulting in a few fringe benefits. I think that when we talk about the "advantages of breastfeeding" we are, unwittingly, reinforcing this idea. >> Teresa, That's exactly the word I have been searching for to describe how so many view bf--fringe benefits! Something nice, but not really necessary. Something you could easily give up if they were too hard to get. Like a choice between 2 jobs and for the one with "fringe benefits" you need to travel and extra hour each way. Well, it just may not be worth it, then. Or, to put it another way, AF is no frills, but gets the job done. I believe more than ever that we must turn the dialogue about this topic around, so that AF is thought of as a risk, whenever and wherever it is mentioned. << The mother said: "It really doesn't make much difference. Look, if the normal rate of ear infections is four per year, and by breastfeeding you might reduce that to two per year, is it really worth the inconvenience and effort of breastfeeding? Don't confuse 'optimal' with being worth the effort. >> We certainly have lowered our standards if we believe that 4, or even 2 ear infections *per year* is normal! I would not consider that to be *normal* per childhood! (I know some bf kids will have this happen, but *normal--or average*!) To me, this speaks volumes about the hazards of AF. Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA *********************************************** 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