My mother always told me she tried to breastfeed me, but that she didn't have any milk. That made a big impression--that she tried and wanted to nurse me. Then once when I was about 8 or 9 we were visiting relatives. My older cousin had her 3rd baby then about 4 weeks old. Mother told me to go upstairs and watch her feed the baby. She was nursing lying on the bed and invited me over to look. The baby was almost asleep, dozing and nursing lazily. They both seemed so warm, content and just happy, and neither in a hurry. She was smiling down at her little one and I remember she commented when he would suck a bit that "there is always just a little bit more." That was my first lesson in supply and demand and why I think I never worried about my supply when my babies nursed alot. Other than seeing my dog and cat nurse their puppies and kittens I never saw another mother nurse until nursing school. Then I taught a woman to nurse, with a stop watch!! 5 minutes on this side, now 5 minutes on the other, not a second more. Well that's what my instructor told me to do. Then in 1975 with my first pregnancy, we went to an early pregnancy class where they had some books for sale! I bought the old blue copy of The Womanly Art and somewhere I also got a copy of Karen Pryor's book and read them both cover to cover. They made such perfect sense, so logical. My husband is "exquisitely allergic" according to his allergist (about his highest rating I think) and I wanted to minimize what I had done to my children by choosing such an allergic father to provide 1/2 their genes. My first baby, Scott WOULD NOT LATCH ON!!!!! We had a totally natural birth. I was baffeled, but extremely stubborn. I tried for 2 weeks and he lost a pound below his birth weight. Thank goodness he had been over 8# at birth. If I only knew then what I know now. (Don't we all wish that?) After visiting the pediatrician at the 2 week check and being told "Mrs. Bradshaw you don't have enough milk", I went home and fed my starving child a bottle of formula. At that point my husband walked in. Now you have to understand that he had just completed his Dairy Science course, and had to groom and train a cow as part of that class. If you ever want a personal opinion about how dumb cows are just ask him. I remember jumping when her thundered: "WHAT ARE YOU FEEDING OUR CHILD!!!" That did it. I was going to find a way to make this work. After the first decent sleep I had had since giving birth I tried to nurse again and HE LATCHED ON! I think the "super sign" of the bottle stimulated his palate , which I had never done, never though of putting my finger or anything else in his mouth. Anyway to make a long story short, by 4 weeks of age he was 2 # over his birth weight, and we nursed over 2 years. Nursing my next 2 children was looong and joyful. Baby #3 tried to have latch on problems but after 5 days of strong persuasion and 4 hands (my husband helped with his arms around me) stuffing him on the breast, he "clicked on" and decided nursing was OK after all. I didn't go to LLL meetings until my first was 6 weeks old and our problems were pretty much solved, but loved all the support and began learning, and learning and haven't stopped yet. Happy nursing just makes you want to share it with others. So everyone is important in the life of a young girl, and books as well as strongly opinionated husbands help too. Jane Bradshaw LLLL, RN, IBCLC Private Practice in Lynchburg