> Why do babies wear mittens indoors? Here, they wear them because the
> parents worry about the baby scratching himself - in fact the indoor
> mittens we buy here are called 'scatch mitts' - no idea if you have them
> anywhere else

In The Netherlands oldfashioned like baby clothes consist of under and over
nappies and under and overshirts, the latter with extra long sleeves to be
pulled over the hands and pinned together, in order to prevent the baby from
scratching himself. i've been told that some people think (thought) that a
babies' fingernails could not be cut of untill a certain amount of weeks (6?)
I indeed have seen babies fuss to get those fingers out of the sleeves and
become more stressed by doing so then they perhaps would have been by an
occacional scratch.
And I think Heather is right in assuming that the way some parents react to the
responsibilities of parenthood may cause breastfeeding problems. I think the
fussiness of the baby to get rid of the mittens can play a role as well.

Gonneke van Veldhuizen, IBCLC, Maaseik, Belgium
http://www.users.skynet.be/eurolac
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