Dear Mom and Dad, We haven’t met yet, but I am the one down here hanging out in the most comfortable place around. And before I make my grand entrance I need to ask you for a few favors. Accommodating them may mean parenting differently than you were expecting, but I promise it will be worth it. First, I will be healthier and happier if you breastfeed me. So please nurse me, whenever and however often I want. This is how my tiny little body works. It needs to nurse a lot. I know this will be hard for you mom, and that for the first couple of months you will wonder if you will ever have a moment to yourself. But here I am. And this is what I need. It will get better, I promise. Next, please do not leave me alone. Ever. If you try to and I cry, please pick me up. Hold me, nurse me, , rock me, cuddle me. Do whatever you have to so that I become calmer. I breathe better when you are holding me. I am safer. Where I Am Happiest I do not cry to bother you, I cry because something is wrong. Horribly terribly wrong. I know it may not seem like that is possible, when my diaper is dry and I have just nursed. But I am so little and my body is growing so quickly. And I only feel right when I am being held, or nursed. I have been living in nirvana while I was growing in your belly and now I have to wear clothes and I get cold, or hot, or hungry, and I do not understand it. It has never happened to me before. You will be frustrated, I know. I hear that it is really, really hard. But, here I am. I am your baby. Instead of spending your time trying to make me, a little tiny baby ,behave as you want me to, will you use your resources to bring in help? Family, friends, anybody who offers. Anybody who will support you while you focus on the most important thing in the world; me. So that you can just spend all of your time making me comfortable. I know a lot of magazines and people and books will tell you that you will spoil me, or that you need to make time for yourself. But right now, while I am still so little, I need to be taken care of. I have to be most important. If you are able to do these things for me, we will be closer than you ever dreamed possible, and we will be able to relate. Always. Even when I am 16. If you wonder if this is true, please go to the source to find out. Do not talk with people who have done it differently, instead talk with those who have made these choices. Look at the science that supports it. And try to find the science that does not. As soon as I am born you will start making decisions about how connected we will be. You will decide how much time we will spend together and I will understand what you are telling me. If we spend lots of time together, I will know how much you value me. If you hang out with me on the floor and play, I will know that you think I am fun. If you smile at me, I will know that you are happy to be my mom. If you always try to make me comfortable and stop my crying, I will know that you believe what I am telling you. And that matters to me. And to the world. And finally; always trust your instincts with me. That is why you have them. If anybody tries to tell you that you are doing it wrong, but with every part of your being you believe that your choices are just what I need, respectfully ignore those people. Soon we will meet. I will be confused and scared and lonely and wondering where I am. Comfort me, love me, do what your instincts tell you, and we will all be very, very happy. Love, Your Baby