>This means they nurse *100 times a day*.
>Note I say "the babies breastfeed" not "the mothers breastfeed".  Though it 
>doesn't say so, I'm betting the babies are carried or worn all the time and 
>that nursing the baby at a particular moment is not a conscious decision 
>the mother has to make.

I watched a lovely demonstration of this once, by a woman who came with her older baby to give a breastfeeding talk to a pregnancy exercise class.  We all sat on the floor, the baby playing near her mother.  Mid-program, the baby crawled over to her mom, whining, as if to say:  "I'm not happy".  Without interrupting her talk, the teacher scooped her baby up and lifted her shirt:  "Do you want to nurse?"  The baby arched away:  "No."  The teacher set her down and offered a nearby toy:  "Do you want something new to play with?"  The baby accepted it:  "Yes."  

I've always been sorry I didn't interrupt to point out to the expectant moms what they had just witnessed.  Mother and baby had had a whole dialogue without exchanging a single word, and without the mom interrupting the flow of her adult conversation.  No, we're not that talented when we first start parenting, but that's where those Toba moms - and we - can get to, provided we don't see nursing as a Big Deal.

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

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