Dear Friends,

I would like to tell you about this curse that I have that has wound up being a
blessing after all these years.  I use to be a black and white thinker.  Now I
only see gray.  For every time I said I will never allow my child too.....  I do
not see how people can allow their child too.....  MY CHILD WILL NEVER!  I have
a child who made me eat those words.  Each and every child is different and will
have different needs for nursing, sleeping, and socializing.  When my first
child cried, he needed me now.  Nineteen months I had a child who liked to cry
in his sleep.  After jumping out of bed to run to his side to find him asleep.
I learned to listen a few minutes before getting him and bringing him to bed.
David loved the family bed and graduated to a sleeping bag next to the bed
before being in his own bed all night while Dan often crawled out of bed back to
his own bed after a breastfeeding.  Breastfed babies do not suck their thumb.
Want to bet!  Babies should wean by 2.  Want to bet!  Children  should be
comfortable in a car seat.  Want to bet!  The point being Farber can not have
rules that work for all children.  We can not have the answers for every child.
We can only make suggestions and say follow your heart (instinct).

Old sage coming down from the box.
Diane Herforth, Tacoma WA