I am only a lurker on this list, as I have no "credentials" and am
not involved in counseling mothers.  However, a short article in the
Sunday StarTribune (newspaper in Minnesota) addressed the issue
discussed a month or so ago on Lactnet, of whether boys are more
prone to bf problems than girls.  I was waiting for someone else
to post this, but no one has.

There was no journal citation, and not even an indication of which
news service it came from (UPI, AP, etc.), it just states "from News
Services" at the bottom.  Perhaps searching on the doctor's name in
the appropriate medical databases would provide more detail for
anyone so inclined.

Using ultrasound on 39 fetuses, 20 of which were girls, the
scientists, directed by Dr. Peter G. Hepper at Queen's University of
Belfast, counted fetal mouth movements.  At 20 weeks, the girls had
more than 55 mouth movements per hour, compared with about 42 for
the boys.

"The movements look as if the baby's chewing gum with its mouth
open," says Hepper.  "Mouth movements are essential for sucking and
feeding," he said.  Whether such movements also relate to speech
development is not known.  The researchers speculate that it means
girls develop faster than boys, even in the womb.

On another current topic, I have also noticed that Jay Leno is
pretty consistent on his bf jokes.  Back when there was the flap
about McDonald's kicking out a nursing mom, his joke was that McD's
didn't want anybody eating food with any nutritional value in their
restaurant.

Kristen Wong, mom to Jamie (4 Jul 93) and Laura (29 Jan 97)
[log in to unmask]