I don't mean to be uncharitable, but . . . (meaning, I really do mean to be
uncharitable!).

Anyone who thinks that the few extra minutes of time spent "with a baby who
can't feed at breast" makes up for not giving him pumped breast milk is
seriously clueless.  It doesn't take that long to pump -- either with your
hands or with a breast pump.  The poor kid started life with a cleft palate,
and now he'll have a host of other health problems and a lower IQ, just so
his mother can spend an extra 40 minutes a day with him?  I just don't
understand, sorry.  Even if it took 6 hours extra a day, it would be worth
it to make sure he got breast milk.  I just can't understand the logic of
people who give up breastfeeding and breast milk so easily.  And whenever I
read about clefts, I think about the 5 year old in Mali with a bilateral
cleft of the palate and upper lip -- who breastfed for two years, just like
everyone else.  His mother reported no trouble at all breastfeeding him, and
acted puzzled as to why I would even ask if she had had any problems.

I saw a baby this past week who was born at 7 lb. 12 oz., eventually lost
down to 5.5 lbs.  Was very sleepy for the first three weeks, and who
couldn't seem to get her tongue working properly to breastfeed.  So . . .
the mother is bottle-feeding.  This is someone who certainly should know
better.  I saw them in a social situation, so did not ask "Why in the *hell*
aren't you pumping for this baby?  And why didn't you contact the IBCLC
whose number I gave you?"  I have never seen a mother less bonded to or
interested in her baby.  I wonder if the lack of bonding led to the decision
to give up on breastfeeding so easily, or if the giving up on breastfeeding
led to the lack of bonding.  Sad.  :(


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