Lesley Robinson -

I'm behind on lactnet;  just read about your mom who's nearly quit, even
though the solutions were in sight.

I love the tricycle/bicycle analogy, because my older child is one of
those who would NEVER have learned to ride a bicycle if bicycles were not
the cultural norm.  It was abundantly clear to him that he would *never* be
able to balance and ride, and the only thing that made him keep trying was
the fact that people all around him were riding bicycles and he knew he'd
look like a fool if he kept riding a tricycle.  It took years off both our
lives getting him started on a bicycle, though biking is now his absolute
favorite sport.

We live in a tricycle culture, as far as breast-and bottle-feeding go.  There
are precious few bicycle-riders to model how easy it is once you get the
hang of it.  That biking analogy has helped me as much as anything else
I've heard, in understanding why some women quit so easily.

One of mine recently pulled herself out of the ditch after she'd quit *twice*
in the first *week*.  What helped her was stories from New Beginnings that
I mailed to her, of women in situations similar to hers.  I mailed them
with her permission, after she had called to say she had quit.  Maybe she
just needed to see a few more people on bicycles.  But if *your* client is
anything like *my* son, it's gonna take a whole lot of bicycles to
convince her!

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL    Ithaca, NY