Elizabeth Steiner posted:

<< IMHO, we all know at a gut level that food is a critical part of
 nurturing, and for dads to recognize that there's a different kind of
 connection that comes when one feeds a baby, is a good thing.>>

I agree with you on this one Elizabeth.   I think that because we all feel
the very real need to fight the good fight about making everyone aware of the
benefits of both breastfeeding and human milk, we tend sometimes to get
propagandistic even beyond their very real virtues -- hard as that is to
believe :-).

Some days we like to say that holding a baby skin to skin to feed it is
unique in its ability to promote bonding.   Other days we like to say that
the other stuff dads do promote bonding every bit as well but in their own
way.   But guess what, we can't say both of them at the same time to the same
people.

<<And what about non-traditional families?  I have several lesbian and gay
 couples in my practice w/ children (aside -- is this an off-limits topic on
 this list?) >>

Elizabeth, were you reading Lactnet around a year ago when we discussed how
long a mom would need to pump and dump after she dropped acid, before she
returned to bf her 4 year old?    After that thread I knew in my heart that
NOTHING is off limits on this list!   -- which, though I sound facetious, is
how it should be, IMO.

Cheers,
Elisheva S. Urbas
lay bf agitator in NYC

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