I was fortunate enought to represent LLLI at a  5 day WHO/UNICEF conference
in Thailand in 1990.  I was nursing my 2.5 year old and not taking him was
not an option.  A child that age can be quite disruptive, so he did not
attend the sessions where he could be disruptive-I had a baby-sitter who
knew where I was at all times and was instructed to get me immeadiately if
he needed me.  I did take him to ALL of the social functions and nursed him
at meals as well as in the hotel lobby.  It was a real eye opener for many,
but very positive. I think that he actualy helped- people came up to talk to
us all of the time and were interested to learn why we were there.  The
funny (sad?) thing was, when I was not with him, people assumed that I was a
conference participant- when they saw me with my son I was asked "what
agency does your husband represent"!

Taking babies to all sorts of conferences is important if we are going to
educate people to the necessity and the normality of mother and baby
togetherness.  It is, however, imperitive to leave right away if your baby
starts to make any noise.  Those wonderful baby sounds that so many of us
love could be seen as very disruptive to folks who think it is
unprofessional to have babies any where in sight.

It is sad that there are some supposedly "baby friendly" conferences going
on where babies are clearly not welcome.

PS- when I attende the Georgetown Lactation Consultants week long training
seminar in 1993- ther was a mother/ baby couple in attendance- and they were
quite welcome.   Nancy Sherwood  mother of five- who have been to (and
nursed at) some unusual places indeed.