>As I read my lactnets-which, by the way, I have no hope of keeping up with once I return to work-I have begun keeping a list of things I want to respond to. So this may all seem unrelated but they really are. Also, I don' t always get everone's name, so please forgive me!! > 1-Anne-I know what you mean about the burnout issues!! I often feel like I am swimming upstream. I could really go on and on about this. Maybe we should email privately. However, I have this public info to share: As I've shared before, I have 5 children, 2 in college (one leaves for Israel tomorrow for 10 months-and I'm having a hard time not crying!!) and my husband is unemployed. I am on contract for my work which means I'm paid by the hour and if I am not in work I don't get paid. So I rarely take a day off, except for religious holidays. What I have discovered is that if I don't take off a week or two once a year, I crash and have absolutely NO PATIENCE for women who wean b/c of sore nipples or because their older kid acts up when they feed the baby!! Actually, I'm really looking forward to going back to work and I was thinking of changing careers before vacation!! We in helping/crisis related fields really need to learn to nurture ourselves. > 2-My first baby slept 6-7 hours at night after 3 weeks (the only easy thing she ever did-remember, Rita??). My husband called her a "sucker punch". None of the other kids did until 3 or 4 years old-and they probably didn't then either but were able to entertain themselves. BUT-it was a revelation to me when my next door neighbor, who never breastfed, and had a couple of babies after me, never slept either!! She had a similar parenting style also-so I wonder if that was contributory. But why did my first sleep so well?? I think it doesn't matter one way or the other, but it really helps when you sleep with the kids. At least you get some rest. PS-now I am the one getting up at night to read or whatever and they ALL sleep or at least don't need me at night> > 3-I have found that my kids who had a learning by doing style of learning and a hard time sitting still did really well in a Montessori environment. When my son went to "regular" school, we took him on a tour before he began and told him that he would have a desk and chair in school where he would sit and his response was "All day!!!??" I thought we'd be in big trouble but he's done ok. > 4-Lastly-I see my mission as an LC as helping breastfeeding go well so that women can make a choice about when to stop and not be forced to stop because thing got all messed up. In my work with the WIC agency, I feel encouraged when breastfeeding has at least been initiated since when I began there 3-4 years ago the bf initiation rate was about 10%. I know how frustrating it is to have all this early weaning, but I beleive in empowering women to make choices even when I don't agree with them. I have found that many women come to me and end up nursing longer because I don't contribute to the guilt they feel when they wean. Also, if bfing is a good experience this time, it may last longer next time or at least they won't walk around giving it bad press! > Now if anyone wants to provide support for a mom who's kid is leaving for a year, email me privately. You'd think it would get easier-my older daughter did this too, but it doesn't seem to. > Thanks for the opportunity to ramble. I think I've learned more from lactnet than from all the seminars I've attended over the years!! > Barbara Leshin-Zucker, BA, IBCLC > Highland Mills, NY >PS-tried to send this yesterday but seem to be having problems sending stuff. This seems to be a little dated now!! >