Well, all I have to say about that is ..."Hmmmppphhh"! I have some
experience with Waldorf, anthroposophy, eurythmy, etc. (my son went to
Waldorf school for a couple of years). Waldorf education has some very
beautiful aspects, and eurythmy can surely be beneficial for growing
children, but this "Anthroposophical doctor" is way off the mark in his
advice about breastfeeding.

It is wrong of any stripe of "professional" to disregard/contradict what is
*known* and research-based and to substitute his own "beliefs" for the facts
when advising parents (not that you were even there to be advised about
breastfeeding, for crying out loud!). I don't know what "Anthroposophy" has
to say about breastfeeding (and I wouldn't trust this guy's
interpretation!!!), but I do know lots about breastfeeding, and he is dead
wrong (esp. the mumbo-jumbo about BF having no value after 4 months!). I'm
not too sure what "Anthroposophical Medicine" is - our Waldorf school's
physician was a DO - but making such statements with whatever authority he
expects his title to convey is unethical. I don't even know who you would
file a complaint with.

If this had happened to me, I would have taken the matter up with the
teachers & parents at the school. I would offer to do an educational
presentation on breastfeeding, incorporating aspects of Waldorf education
that are compatible with BFing (and there certainly are many!)- build on the
strengths of BFing and the strengths of Waldorf philosophy, so that the
parents and teachers have better grounding in the reasons why BFing is so
important. And I'll bet that most of the parents at the school wouldn't have
any part of that "Anthroposophical Medicine" as it relates to breastfeeding,
if what this man said is indeed accurate within the theoretical framework of
anthroposophy!

Cathy Bargar, RN, IBCLC Ithaca NY

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa Boisvert-Mackenzie [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 1999 9:56 PM
Subject: Breastfeeding and Anthroposophical Medicine


I am forwarding this post for feedback.
Please reply to Tamar at:  [log in to unmask]   as well as to the list.

 < We took our son, a first-grader, to see the
Anthroposophical doctor who consults at our Waldorf school several times a
month. This visit was on the strong recommendation of both the first grade
teacher and our son's kindergarten teacher who both thought he would benefit
from Curative Eurythmy. The only way to make an appointment with the
Curative
Eurythmist at the school is through a referral from the Anthroposophical
doctor.  We met with the doctor for a lengthy interview, much like a
"constitutional interview" with a homeopath.
I had my 2-1/2 year old daughter with me who became restless after an hour
of
listening to her parents talking. She climbed into my lap and asked to nurse
at which point the doctor gave me a horrified look at said rather curtly,
"Well, I certainly hope you're going to stop that very soon."  I was
somewhat
taken aback and asked why?  I was told that any benefit a baby gets from
nursing doesn't exist after 4 months of age. I was also told that humans
shouldn't ingest any dairy products after 1 yr. of age. When I protested
that
I was not a cow and that human breastmilk was not a "dairy product" I was
told that the human digestion system cannot "recognize" breastmilk because
it
is too similar in make-up to the human body, so that it is not digested and
can cause allergies and other problems - it also perpetuates "heredity" -
which I understood to mean traits, health problems, etc. brought into the
current incarnation - that need to be "shed" by the incarnating child. (High
fevers, during infancy and early childhood are supposed to help burn off
this
"heredity.")  I was also told that children should not sleep in the parent's
bed because (I'm paraphrasing here), we process lots of things during the
sleeping hours and there might be a kind of cross-contamination with too
many
people in the bed.  Needless to say, I left this consultation with a lot of
food for thought.  My daughter, who will be 3 in a few weeks, still nurses
at
bedtime and she still sleeps with us.  > ~snip~

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