I may be a few days late in answering the posting regarding mitts on babies hands....one of my personal peeves. People think that babies are going to scratch themselves and cause scarring. How ridiculous! Babies scratch themselves in utero also. Their hands are the only thing they come with that we really shouldn't cover up...they allow the baby to feel themselves and their new world. I liken it to putting a blindfold on a new baby and suddenly his world has changed dramatically and now we blindfold him, bundle him up and put him in a plastic case away from his Mummy. How cruel this new world must be in his preception, no wonder he feels stressed out. So I tell them to have someone who will be visiting to bring the baby fingernail emery boards so if they feel they MUST trim those nails they have a tool. I tell them to let the fingers fall free from the sleeves of the nightgown when not using skin to skin and to hold these small jewels so they can hear their Mommy's heart and feel her breathing and allow them to transition to their new world. Sometimes we need to give them permission. Some feel that by allowing the fingers to be free the baby will suck them...Hey isn't that what they were put there for...built in soothies when Mom isn't about? No, they would rather give a pacifier. I remind them that if the ultrasound showed their hands in front of their mouths they most likely were practicing sucking on their fingers...not a pacifier. I also remind them that baby chooses his own source of contentment....fingers, Mom or a pacifier if its introduced but that they shouldn't be so quick to give the pacifier but to use their own clean fingers...skin feels so much more nicer to their mouths. I also remind Mom that by looking at those beautiful fingers and playing with them they are communicating to their babies by touch. Babies who suck on fingers with mittens are eventually getting to suck on wet rags. Have just comeback from 10 days in California traveling with one of breastfeeding granddaughters....no tears, just smiles and she is thinking of naming her scrapbook "All the places I have breastfed in my sling from Miami to Monterey to Big Sur to San Francisco to Napa and Sonoma and Marian and Muir Woods and all points in between." Back to unpacking, answering mail and laundry. Fun day. Fondly, Leanne Jewell RNC, IBCLC, LCCE, FACCE *********************************************** 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