Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Babies...

I love babies.  I really do.  The sight of them makes me happy.  The smell of their sour milk breath is better than roses.  The feel of them in my arms ignites a warmth that is so soul permeating that I can't really compare it to anything else at all.

My best friend just sent me a note to tell me that her baby was having a tough time adjusting to her going back to work and is refusing the bottle.  In hopes of helping; I surfed the web for a couple of minutes to see if I could find any nugget of wisdom to offer.  Turns out - there's not all that much advice out there on this topic but from what I found; it generally fall into four categories:  Be Patient; Change the Bottle; Change the milk/formula; Give In...

So what I thought was worth noting was this... Give In?  Much of the popular advice seemed to focus on having someone (mother, husband, nanny) BRING the baby to you during your work breaks so you can nurse him/her...  I am no expert on child rearing and I am no child psychologist or anything like that.  My first reaction to such advice was "ARE YOU KIDDING ME????"  But then, I got to thinking...  How wonderful for those folks!  To have such a strong and nurturing support network to be able to accomplish such a thing.  It really is heart warming!

Some may not want to have the obligation to nurse follow them to work which is just fine as far as I'm concerned.  But some simply may not have such an opportunity to begin with.  So for those of you who can have your babies brought to you and you can (and want to) nurse; good for you!  I applaud you and your support network.  I am glad that your babies are able to extend this wonderfully bonding comfort for as long as that situation can be maintained.

On the other hand...

To my dear friend, I found myself saying: "Try not to worry." "She'll get used to you being away." "I'm sorry it's so hard for everyone." "

And, I found myself thinking

If only we could make our babies understand how hard it is for us to leave them too maybe they wouldn't feel so sad.

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