I have been watching Animal Planet all morning, and seen many examples of things that occur with animal mothers and babies, and trying to identify what might be applicable to humans, or where there might be a similarity that we generally don't think of. I have been thinking about this topic for quite a while, after reading a new book about cats (which I have five of). The book described how kittens paw, as well as purr, while nursing, and suggested that both behaviors assisted in the letdown of the mother cat's milk. I knew the pawing (kneading) that cats and other animals do assisted in milk removal, but had not thought about the purring. I wonder, however, if it is the purring, per se, or the fact that the mother comes to associate the kittens' purring with the need to let down milk. That would make it more of a learned behavior, I think. I would also think that other species have habits that the babies have which the mother learns to associate with nurturing and letting down her milk. Perhaps the fact that so many cats have successfully nursed "adopted" babies of different species, which do not purr, suggests that the mother can adapt to whatever behavior she comes to associate with nursing babies. I wonder if identifying such things in human babies could be helpful in certain situations, especially in situations where there are problems with milk supply and/or letdown. I think those unique little grunts that newborn babies make would be one behavior that qualify. Of course, the odor of the baby is a big one. I felt like that was a big thing for me, with my adopted babies, and one thing that explained why my babies got SO much more milk directly from me than I could ever get from a pump. I very rarely used anything but warm water on my babies' skin, and washed their clothes separately, so that they did not retain any perfumed products. My babies really smelled like babies. I wonder if the widespread use of baby washes, lotions, shampoos, powders, scented baby detergents, etc., would interfere with any response the mother might have to the scent of her baby, or if a mother who uses those things consistently would develop the same association to those scents with her baby, and the same response. Back to the animals, another interesting thing I learned is that a baby panda cannot find the nipple and latch on without the mother holding it to the breast. I even saw a film of a new panda mother, who had just delivered the first male baby the breeding facillity had had in over a year, who was confused. She would sit with her baby, but not guide him to the breast. After a few hours, the keepers showed the new mother a video of mother pandas nursing their newborn babies (including switching sides!). Shortly thereafter, she held her baby to her breast and her baby started thriving. I was also impressed that the keepers were going to extra effort to keep the (very rare) baby with the mother, if possible, rather than just removing him and raising him by hand, immediately. They have done that many times at that facillity, since there is a high incidence of panda mothers completely rejecting their babies. Obviously, the experts there appreciate the benefits of having a baby with a real mother, over even their most educated and sophisticated efforts. I believe that we humans can learn a great deal about breastfeeding from animals. The topic of animals breastfeeding "adopted" babies is, of course, one that I have been especially interested in. I know of literally dozens of various combinations of animals where a baby of come species has been nurtured, and breastfed, by and "adoptive" mother of another species. Sometimes, the mothers aren't even female, and sometimes the babies aren't even mammals, but the mothers produce milk for their adopted babies, without any form of medication or hormone treatment, and regardless of whether they have ever had a pregnancy. In some cases, where I have heard comments from the owners of the animals, they have said that they did need to provide extra food to supplement the milk supply of the animal adoptive mother, but that has been where the adoptees have been some much larger animal, like where an ordinary little housecat was nursing large breed puppies, or a small goat was nursing a calf. There are alot of similarities to human adoptive moms and babies breastfeeding. Another one of my thinking out loud, drawn out posts, but sunday is a slow digest day, anyway! Anyone have any thoughts to add? It would be nice to come up with a list of things that could serve as a resource for mothers who need to depend on pumping, for whatever reason, and are having trouble responding to a pump. Such things might especially be helpful to adoptive moms who spend alot of time pumping, before they have a baby, but I would think it could help in lots of situations. Aloha, Darillyn _________________________________________________________________ Fast. Reliable. Get MSN 9 Dial-up - 3 months for the price of 1! 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