This certainly is not the standard advice given out by most mohels (ritual
circumcisers). It seems that each usually has his own personal preference of
what to reccomend to the mother based on his experience, which all too often
is experience with bottle fed babies.

Some tell mothers not to feed for two hours before the procedure "so that
the baby will be hungry afterwards, and will be calmed easily" , as if a
breasfted baby who fed half an hour before would refuse to breastfeed after
the procedure because he wouldn't be hungry.  Many others tell mothers to
feed the baby right before, as well as after the procedure.

Many of them reccomend a pacifier to calm the baby (many, if not most
Israeli mothers are using them by this age anyway),  and it is very common
to give the baby a piece of gauze dipped in sweet wine to suck on right
before the procedure.
I have never seen a baby be given a bottle of ABM  right before. This is
certainly  not standard practice, even though many of the mohel's may be
ignorant about breastfeeding.

Yael Wyshogrod
Atlanta , GA... getting ready to go back to Rehovot, Israel permanently (as
well as sit for the IBLCE in Haifa) at the end of this July.

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