One thing this case makes me think of is the fact that many people who work with babies just assume that the mother wants the baby to be self-sufficient. That assumption can be so ingrained as to even cause some people to ignore feedback from mothers that indicates otherwise. When my Julia was placed with me (full-term baby, CDH, six MO, 9 pounds, antisocial, developmentally testing at 2 months old) I was ordered to take her for weekly sessions with an expert in child development, by the social workers. One of the things the counselor asked me about, each time, was whether Julia was holding her own bottle yet. I couldn't say "Why the heck would I want her to do that, when we are trying to deal with attachment disorder?", so I would just say "no". Each time, she would say, "Well, don't worry. She'll get there!". Actually, getting Julia, who'd had a gastrostomy, bottlefeeding well, always fed by me, with as many aspects of breastfeeding as possible, was a tremendous accomplishment! (I eventually got her to the breast, but that was a few months later). That, and the time she spent in a sling or front pack, were the two main things that I felt accounted for the fact that she caught up on her development so quickly. Maybe I should have told the counselor more about what I was actually doing, but I felt that, if she told the social workers that I wasn't doing just what I was told, it could jeopardize Julia's placement with me. I wouldn't be surprized if there are many moms who are told to wean, or otherwise do things that push their babies away from them, by "experts" who don't really understand what the mother is saying, or what she and her baby really need. I guess, in a case where a mother is told to ubruptly wean, that is pretty certain! Darillyn _________________________________________________________________ Find a broadband plan that fits. Great local deals on high-speed Internet access. https://broadband.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-us/go/onm00200360ave/direct/01/ *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html