My son rarely attended confewrences with me, because few were held in those
"olden days." When he was under 2, I didn't go to the few that were held
because I was not into that sort of thing then.  When I did go, it was a
major difficulty, meeting his needs and being able to hear seemed mutually
exclusive at that time--he was a busy almost toddler or slightly older.
And when he answered the speaker from the audience one day, I knew that my
efforts to combine the two activities were going to be more limited before
they would open up again.

However, as a speaker, let me also say that quiet babies are very welcome
at conferences where I speak.  I find their presence very calming and a
terrific modeling opportunity should the need arise to use a live mother
and baby.

The problem arises with those babies/children who are NOT quiet AND who
happen to be linked to a parent who ignores them. To my mind, it is the
parent who is being rude/disruptive, not the child, who is simply being
him/herself.

At our conferences (ones offered by my partner and me), we watch babies
very carefully and when they begin to get loud, the mother is politely but
firmly asked to step outside of the conference room so that the rest of the
people can hear.  This has not been a problem.  In fact, we have had very
quiet babies and very quiet toddlers and only an occasional very loud in
betweener!

I would hate to see mothers and babies barred from conferences. However, to
enable other professionals to learn (the material presented AND taht
baabies are not just to be kept out of sight at home), the best advocates
for babies at conferences are those who are least intrusive.

Would that their mothers understood/abided by such a notion.




Def. of LC service: "We are all faced with a series of great opportunities
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."
Kathleen G. Auerbach,PhD, IBCLC (Homewood, IL)- [log in to unmask]
WEB PAGE: http://www.mcs.com/~auerbach/lactation.html