I've appreciated the generous sharing from mothers who have troubled children. Having a child who's following a different path is a major challenge in our competitive society. I call it "full frontal parenting" after 20 years of a challenged child. How is this relevant to LC's? We spend so many hours staring at babies that our antennae are extremely sensitive to anything falling outside the range of normal. We are also focused on hearing the mother. the baby's doctor may be focused on what s/he sees in the 15-30 mins the baby is being examined and not hear the gentle noises of concern the mother is making. And, after all, mothers want everything to be normal - right? Isn't it Linda Smith who says "the mother is always right"? As LC's we will hear the mother's concerns and she may feel more free to share with us her misgivings - we may spend hours with her (phone, home, office visit) and be able to pick up on subleties. I totally agree with the recent comment that of course not all extremely fussy babies are going to be bipolar! However, many of us have seen those babies that fall outside the norm and are dx'd later (usually 6m+) with sensory issues and much later with other disorders. An LC has a unique ability to give a heads-up to the baby's hcp. When I warn the Peds I work with that all is not happy, they will pay more attention to small developmental delays they might have let go otherwise. And may refer to OT sooner, not later. And will pay close attention to concerns the mother raises that the ped might otherwise have dismissed in an attempt to provide reassurance. Thankfully most children are just wonderfully fine. But it's such a help to the parents to catch differences early. Joanna Koch, IBCLC, N. Cal. *********************************************** 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