The more I work with mothers and babies learning to breastfeed, the
more convinced I am that prevention is more valuable than
intervention. We need to expend more energy on helping things go
right than fixing things that go wrong and the critical area I see is
at the very beginning.  Babies need generous amounts of time at the
breast in order to learn how to breastfeed. Breastfeeding is not an
event it is a process.  Babies need to use all of their senses to
become acquainted with and learn to be nourished and nurtured from
the breast.  They need to have generous amounts of unrestricted
access to nuzzle, lick, taste, smell, feel, touch, sleep, slobber,
mouth, cuddle, explore and bond with the breast.  In order to help
babies succeed at breastfeeding, we must maximize breast access. And
we need to step back and give mothers and babies time and
encouragement to figure things out for themselves.  Cathy Lile