In response to Lisa's comments about pediatricians recommending solids at
four to six months.  With this issue, as with other non-medical issues,
physicians may be telling mothers what they think they expect to hear.  If a
pediatrician tells a mother "You can go ahead and start solids," she may
interpret this a number of ways.  The mother who wouldn't dream of doing such
a thing is likely to ignore this.  The doctor said "You can" , but you don't
HAVE to.  The mother who can't wait for her baby to reach this important
milestone is going to head straight for the grocery store to buy some baby
food, now that she has the official green flag.  I am glad that the AAP does
offer some guidelines, however inadequate, because many mothers expect to
hear such information from the pediatrician.  However, this is a non-medical
issue.  In days gone by the care and feeding of healthy babies was the
province of mothers, with help and information from wise grandmothers,
sisters, aunts, and friends.  I see the "medicalization" of this issue as
related to the marketing strategies of the ABM industry.  They market their
products through physicians, which gives them credibility.  They have
successfully taken away the care and feeding of healthy babies from women.
 I'll get off the soap box now.

Lesley Robinson, IBCLC, LLL Leader
Corning, NY