> Even the most well intentioned parents may >not really be feeding their kid for whatever reason and if she is mostly >nursing, the mom's diet needs to be excellent. Sorry, Kate, but I think the research shows this is not the case....there's a good chapter in Riordan and Auerbach on precisely this, and Akre's The Physiology Of Breastfeeding (WHO, 1989) has a good resume of the research that existed up to then. A mother's diet can be very 'unexcellent' and her milk will still be nourishing and plentiful. I don't think I ever posted in detail to the list about my stint in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which I visited for UNICEF. I saw some very interesting data from the Sarajevo seige. UNICEF monitored the growth and health of all the babies born 1993-94. Remember - these mothers were often anaemic, under great stress, and very poorly nourished. Babies were breastfed grew and developed normally. The mothers' diets were irrelevant. Easy ways to up the calorie intake of a hard-to-feed toddler without affecting bf include i) add a dab of butter to most meals ii) give calorie-dense foods like avocado and banana Heather Welford Neil NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK *********************************************** 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