The old nursery nurses postings have lead me to reminiscing about my almost 27 years of being involved with breastfeeding (actually 43+ years as I was a breastfed baby): first as a mother, then an LLLL who added an IBCLC and then earned a BSN. My oldest daughter is ready to make me a granmother and what advantages will she have over my attempts at breastfeeding her? Well, she won't have to wait 24 hours to feed her child, then have the first feed be water. She won't have to wipe her nipples with cotton balls dipped in alcohol before she can put babe to breast, limit the first feed to one minute per side, then give a bottle of formula and wait 4 hours before she can again feed her little one. If she develops painful, cracked and bleeding nipples she will not have 5 medical professionals tell her to wean. She will not spend days crying every time she prepares a bottle of formula while her breasts hurt and leak. With my second baby I had made a friend who took me to LLL and I at least knew what to fight for to make breastfeeding success more likely. Thanks to you and our foremothers (and a few forefathers) in lactation what I had to fight for is accepted breastfeeding management. In spite of this I fear she will fall prey to whatever the reasons are that so few more mothers are breastfeeding today than they were when she was born. Linda Beckler, RN, BSN, IBCLC