In a message dated 6/9/0 4:56:52 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< But in poor families the baby is provided for. The new baby is a
stake in the future, a piece of hope, worth spending money on. No one
will criticise the mother for spending money on her baby...and that
includes spending money on formula.

It may be difficult to sustain this 'investment' in the baby....but
many babies do at least start life with an excess of material and
consumer items, often ones which are useless, like huge soft toys.
That's what our society values, and if you're poor, you want your
baby to have 'the best'.
 >>

When I worked w/ larhe numbers of teen moms, this was the same thing we
witnessed. All of the moms had the most expensive strollers (prams) and
carseats and every possible gadget available, although many did not have
cribs b/c they shared their mothers' bedrooms and often their beds as well.
The babies had expensive, name-brand clothing as well. 99% of the mothers
were not married and most did not live with the fathers of their babies, but
it was a big issue that the fathers provide for "their sons or daughters".
This meant buying expensive toys, "Pampers" (all of our clients referred to
diapers as "Pampers"--believe me if I were promoting anything it would be
cloth!) and artificial baby milk. So, if the mother bf, this was another
issue in the complex relationship between the teen mother and the baby's
father, in terms of his ability to prove his committment to the baby.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

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