Dear Lactnetters, Happy New Year to all! May the new year bring happiness and health to you and yours. Keep up the good work and keep on Lactnettin'. I will be off line for a few days beginning Friday while I am in my old stompin' grounds, FLORIDA, where I hope to warm up and see some of my old LC friends there! Kathie Hoerl, if you're on now, I hope to see you. Re Ezzos: IMO, hitting a four month old with a spoon is definitely child abuse. I say they are control freaks! I can't stand this philosophy. My children, whose needs were met when they were young, and who were not abused or forced to do anything they didn't really want to do, have turned out great. They have high self esteems and basically have never given us problems during the teenage years. Is it luck, or did we do something right? BTW, they all "matured" later, reaching puberty about a year or so later than most of their bottlefed friends. I think there really is something to breastfeeding long and maturing later, which is the way it should be. Joanna was still playing with Barbie and Ken dolls while some of her friends were playing serious games with real boys. Really. And the clingy little girl, who is away at college now, is VERY independent and not a mama's baby anymore. But it is kind of sad. Pam Wiggins, IBCLC, Franklin VA.