Allow me a clarification. Babies should be welcome at BF conferences, no question. When I said tolerance of baby noises is part of our job, I did NOT extend that same tolerance to wailing kids whose mothers won't leave the room. Snarfs and snuffles are not the same as outright crying. I once had a mother bring her 6-month old to a several-day course. The child was adorable and a real "chatty Cathy." (no offense to the Cathys on this list). Nobody in the class was bothered in the least by the chatty baby sounds. However, one day mom decided that "Cathy" needed a nap and put her in a playpen in the back of the room and expected her to fall asleep by herself. "Cathy" wasn't sleepy and naturally protested loudly. I gently suggested to mom that Cathy wasn't sleepy, but mom said "I'm training her to sleep on a schedule." I had to tell the mother that allowing "Cathy" to cry it out IN MY COURSE was unacceptable. By that I meant that deliberately ignoring a child's needs to the point where the child was crying in distress was inappropriate behavior, to "Cathy" and the other participants. Mom reluctantly picked up "Cathy" who immediately calmed down. When mom tried the same thing a few hours later, I pulled her aside and offered to refund her course payment. Many years ago I read a wonderful line by a mom torn between wanting to attend a conference and who had a nursing child who didn't travel well. She wrote "There will always be another conference." That's the spirit. Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre, Ltd. 6540 Cedarview Ct, Dayton OH 45459 ph 937-438-9458 / fax 937-438-3228 www.BFLRC.com *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome