Marsha wrote:

>Heather mentions the plight of one poor baby being raised a la Ezzo,

<snip> I'm not a stickler for "those charts" either but they do serve a
purpose and I would think dropping from the 98th to the 30th percentile
would be a red flag for the ped.

Sadly, Heather's case is only one of many those of us encountering Prep/BW
have seen over the years.  The docile, content baby BW touts due to the
schedule is oftentimes depressed, lethargic and conserving calories by
tuning out and sleeping.  These mothers are duped.  A physician friend of
mine coins it, "normalizing the abnormal."  If your peer group is composed
of mothers with underweight, behind developmental milestones, but sleeping
through the night, it becomes the new norm.   Responding to infant cues and
feeding responsively (aka meeting an infant's needs) is pathologized and
dire consequences predicted.

As helping professionals, we can empathetically offer these mothers
information to help them think for themselves and to empower them to turn
back on the mothering heart that has been squelched.  Give them permission
to think and to question what they've been told.  If the baby is not getting
enough to eat (even if it's formula supplementation), at some point other
authorities need to be alerted for the infant's safety.  More than once I
have called physicians to let them know the behind the scenes story and each
time that physician has     a) been clueless about Prep/BW and b) expressed
gratitude for the information.

Earlier Prep/BW editions and the Contact Moms on the GFI Forum used to warn
parents not to tell HCPs that they were using a schedule.  These practices
are still out there.
Anna Swisher, MBA, IBCLC

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