Lisa Bugg

> I am having a very hard time with the fact that so many people are judging
the
> Ezzo's on what they have heard other people say, instead of reading the
material
> and then judging for themselves.

Faith, I once sat next to a new mom, who was holding a crying 6 month old.
She was watching her watch. That baby needed a drink and she wouldn't
*give in to his sinful nature* by nursing him 10 minutes early. You have no
idea the self-control I learned on that day. Not just in keeping my hands
off of that miserable baby, I wanted to take him and nurse him myself, but
in keeping my tone of voice and body language in check.

Baby's do not *nurse on demand*, babies let you know something is wrong by
crying. As mom you offer all kinds of things to help. Offering to nurse is
not always about food and hunger schedules. Sometimes it is about comfort.
A baby feels safe and warm and loved while being nursed, so that if for
whatever reason they become scared, nursing is soothing. If we were out and
about in the wind and weather, sometimes my babies just wanted a drink, not
a meal.

I have worked in a midwifery practice. We were trained to spot *Ezzo*
babies. Every local emergency room in VA went through a training class on
how to spot *Ezzo* babies, you see they were seeing hundreds of dehydrated
babies in the ER (this was in 90-92).

Some days I'm very hungry, the first day of fall finds me fixing something
filling like stew. Other days bring other needs. If a baby is moving into a
growth spurt they will nurse 2-3 times as much as normal so as to increase
the milk supply. Factor in your own body chemistry and you have too many
variables to be able to nurse on someone else's schedule.

Each nursing relationship is different. All 4 of my children nursed for
different lengths of time and in different ways. I had one child that
nursed for nutrition for his first 18 months. That child nursed every hour
to an hour and half. The second son would nurse every 4 hours and
sometimes I had to ask him to nurse, as I needed him to. Neither baby was
"good" or "bad", they were just my sons with their different needs.

I think you are doing the right thing, listening to all kinds of theories
then picking out what works for you. The most important thing you have been
given is your *mommy voice*, that little internal voice that tells you this
fits this baby, this works for today---or conversely, this isn't quite
right. You are the mom and you must trust yourself first, no matter what
any method, theory or interested friend says. If and when you feel
conflicted about something and your mommy voice is unsure, always, always,
always, choose kindness at your course of action.