Conferences are great.  Having been in this field for some time,
( my oldest will be 25 this year ), I have attended many and helped
plan several. My favourites will always be LLLI conferences
because they are for families and they are run by people who
have learned so much from past experience.

Little children do well at conferences for a certain length of time
depending on their age. Mothers have to tune in to their little ones
and leave when baby has had enough. Expectations have to be
realistic and baby must come first. The time when children are
little is precious and passes so quickly. When I had four little
ones I had to plan very carefully if I was going to attend and some
conferences had to be missed. There will be lots of opportunities
to attend when childrens needs are not so urgent.  For the last 11
years I have not had a child with me and I have enjoyed others
babies as long as they are not being loud, quiet baby noise I can
handle.

What amazes me are the comments on evaluation forms from
professionals who were distracted by babies.  Some who are new
to the field are surprised that other women don't leave their babies
with sitters.  Some never come back because they were upset
with the background noise. Sometimes that's our loss.

Ruth Bacon  IBCLC  Ontario