Heather wrote, a propos of Glenni's clenching baby:

<< I have seen remarkable results with cranial osteopathy (as we call it here)
 with upset babies, but the babies have been older. My approach would be to
 go with what the mother can do hersef first.  >>


Heather, I understand and agree with your bias that we should assume mothers
and babies can do a lot on their own through restoration of normal conditions.

However, in cases where a sensible professional has reason to believe that
mom & baby are having real trouble -- that waiting will undermine confidence
more than build it, and in any case seems, in the counselor's judgment,
unlikely to be sufficient -- why would we wait?

We advise against waiting to clip frenula until after speech is damaged.  We
advise all kinds of "early intervention" to toddlers, such as speech therapy,
much earlier than was done even ten years ago, based on research that
suggests it is more helpful to more children.  We advise treating bumps and
other causes of inflammation with ice right away, not waiting until they are
already swelling.

Supporting mothers & babies to do what they can naturally do seems like a
good bias.  But I personally would be cautious about applying it in cases
where a small, safe, potentially reassuring I"this pain is not your fault")
intervention can be a big help.

Looking as always for the Golden Mean in NYC,
Elisheva

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