LLLI Web site

List of La Leche League Group Web pages

LLLI Information & Services

Answers to frequently asked breastfeeding questions

Online help form

Useful breastfeeding links (other resources)

LLL in Connecticut

La Leche League of Connecticut

Connecticut Area Conferences

Other Local LLL Groups

Greater Danbury

Monroe

Southbury

La Leche League Meetings
Breastfeeding is best for your baby. But whether you're pregnant and considering breastfeeding, have already decided to breastfeed, or are beginning your breastfeeding relationship with your baby, you probably have many questions.

What are the health benefits of breastfeeding, for both the baby and yourself?

How often will the baby want to nurse?

Is it possible to return to work and still breastfeed?

When should you start solids? Should you wean the baby, and if so, when and how?

Most of your questions are practical ones, best answered by other breastfeeding mothers. And that's exactly what you will find at La Leche League Meetings.

Breastfeeding is most successful when a mother has the opportunity to interact with other breastfeeding women. The information and encouragement she receives is invaluable in the development of the mother-baby relationship. This support system gives her the self-confidence to respond freely to her baby's cues and to make her own decisions about how to raise her children.

La Leche League Leaders
Local LLL Groups are led by trained Leaders--experienced mothers who have nursed their own babies and have been accredited by La Leche League International to help other mothers and mothers-to-be with breastfeeding questions and problems. Leaders are available to answer questions at meetings and also over the phone.

Newtown's La Leche League Leaders are Robin, who can be reached by phone at (203) 426-6242 and by e-mail at BakerRobn@aol.com, and Patricia, who can be reached by e-mail at pmcardle2@earthlink.net.

Newtown Meeting Schedule and Topics
We hold Series Meetings monthly, usually on the third Tuesday of the month, from 10:00 AM until 11:30 or so. Our meetings feature open-ended discussions about breastfeeding and related aspects of child care. Babies and toddlers are welcome, as are mothers-to-be. Meetings are free and you don't need to be a LLLI member to attend. Each meeting has a main topic:

May 21, 2002: Why Breastfeed Your Baby?

June 18, 2002: The Father and Siblings of the Breastfed Baby

July 16, 2002: Breastfeeding--Questions Mothers Ask

August 20, 2002: Why Breastfeed Beyond Six Months?

September 17, 2002: Breastfeeding--The Healthy Choice

October 22, 2002: The Birth of Your Baby and Baby's First Weeks

November 19, 2002: Becoming a Mother--Changes, Adjustments, and Needs

December 17, 2002: Baby's Changing Needs

We also hold Toddler Meetings occasionally, usually on the Tuesday after the Series Meeting. These meetings are geared towards the needs of mothers with older nursing babies and toddlers, and are held in members' homes. Contact Robin or Patricia, our Group Leaders, at (203) 426-6242 / BakerRobn@aol.com (Robin) or pmcardle2@earthlink.net (Patricia) for exact dates and locations.

Our meetings are rescheduled or canceled when the weather makes travel questionable. Listen for school closings, or call beforehand if you're not sure.

Newtown Meeting Locations
We meet for Series Meetings in the Parlor Room on the main floor of the Congregational Church House offices, located at 41-A Main Street in the building behind Newtown Savings Bank. (Please park behind the building or in the Town Hall lot, not in the bank's lot.) Toddler meetings are held in members' homes (call for locations).

La Leche League International's Resources for Breastfeeding Mothers
La Leche League International's basic manual, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, is for sale or loan at meetings. We also have a Group Library covering all aspects of breastfeeding, along with books on childbirth, parenting, and nutrition.

Need Help?
For answers to your questions and help with your concerns, here's what you can do:

• Call or e-mail a Leader (in Newtown: Robin at (203) 426-6242 / BakerRobn@aol.com or Patricia at pmcardle2@earthlink.net

• Attend our next meeting. Don't worry if the topic doesn't match your concern! While main topics are addressed in detail at meetings, we also discuss any other concerns and questions attendees want to bring up.

• Find an answer in La Leche League International's online Frequently Asked Questions area

• Use La Leche League International's online help service to get an answer from a LLL Leader via e-mail within 10 days

Membership
Membership in LLLI is available for $30 per year (but you can attend Group Meetings without being a member). Membership benefits include a subscription to New Beginnings, LLLI's bimonthly parenting magazine. Ask any Leader how to join.

Good Facts to Know:
Breastfeeding in Public

A woman's right to breastfeed in public is now protected by law in Connecticut.

In 1997 Senate Bill #260 created a new law that states no person may restrict or limit the right of a mother to breastfeed her child:

"(a) It shall be a discriminatory practice in violation of this section:...(3) for a place of public accommodation, resort or amusement to restrict or limit the right of a mother to breastfeed her child;...(c) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days or both."

The La Leche League logo is a registered trademark of La Leche League International. Used by permission.