Chris Hafner-Eaton tells us about her son:
> He weaned again just after his 3rd bday in order to have bubble gum (I
had this idea that no >nursing child should be able to have bubble gum).

I think the possible reasons for this are very interesting:
1) bubble gum sticks to the breast, and if it dries there (overnight,
for instance) it could be painful to remove -- imagine if the nipples
are scabbed (i.e. from teething)
2) certainly having enough teeth to chew gum would be an indication that
complementary foods would be appropriate now... remember, weaning starts
as soon as you introduce other foods...
3) one way to determine a child's readiness to wean is to offer a
substitute. An attractive substitute is required. (The way I'm preparing
my children for kindegarten is to tell them they get to take a lunch to
school, and in that lunch will be a drinking bottle.)
4) by the time I was convinced they wouldn't swallow the gum whole, my
children would be pretty close to the natural weaning age. Perhaps Kathy
D. would consider this benchmark? You know, time of second molars,
attaining percentage of adult height, chewing bubble gum...
:-) Jo-Anne, who is learning about interpretation of data this week.

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html