>     I just got off the phone with her. She's weaned. Her nipples were
>continuing to crack, even while pumping with a mini-electric to soften the
>breast before a feed. She was just too miserable. She doesn't even want to
>try pumping and bottle-feeding...
>     And I am wondering if I got too excited about the baby's achievements
>and didn't focus enough on her. She did describe the bf as a 7 out of a
>maximal 10 last night, when I was there, and seemed so relaxed and happy when
>I left that I felt she could stay committed to bf. I am so sad and angry; sad
>for her, and angry at the staff that all contributed to this premature
>weaning.

Nikki -

I just spent a couple days driving with my grown son.  We listened to "The
Hunt For Red October" on tape in the car.

Jack Ryan, the hero, was confronted with a 23 year old KGB operative who was
planning to blow up both them and the submarine they were in.  Jack was
fishing desperately for the "right" thing to say to him, but everything he
tried was answered with a meaningless (except to the Russians) Communist
platitude.

And I felt as if he was in the same situation we LCs find ourselves in over
and over and over again.  The mothers we help have been filled, all their
lives, with breastfeeding "information" that *we* know to be untrue or only
partially true or overcomeable.  But how do we convey that to the mom in the
few hours we have, when they've had a lifetime of indoctrination from
multiple sources??  If we're lucky we hit the right phrase or concept.  Most
of the time a single phrase or concept can't do it.  She has to have come
partway herself already; we can't get her there fast enough otherwise.

How do you get a KGB officer to understand a peace overture?  How do you get
a mother to recognize how close she is to full-blown success?  How do you
get her to care about getting there?  I dunno.  Sigh.
--
Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL  Ithaca, NY
www.wiessinger.baka.com

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