>
>
>It's a bit of a stretch to assume that the exact same thing is happening in
>a newborn, but who of us hasn't seen the baby who appears content to starve?


Absolutely....and here, the general way of explaining it to mothers 
(and I have no idea if it is researched or not, or how you would 
research it) is that it is a combination of placid baby and a 
physiologically-induced method of conserving energy which the baby 
takes on, and so doesn't cry to be  fed.

>And, when they are actively fed for some time so that they catch up to where
>they should be, they suddenly start to take the initiative themselves like
>any other baby.


True.

In the mothers I am in touch with it seems to me it's more common in 
second and third babies - these are the babies born into a busy 
household with a mother who has bf before, and who is more than happy 
to wait for the baby to 'ask' to be fed and who easily prioritises 
the other children.  I have heard them called 'happy starvers' though 
I don't think it is good to use this term, despite its accuracy.  I 
do suspect it has something to do with personality,  at least at 
first.  There is often a history of pacifier use - mother discovers 
she can keep the baby going without a feed for longer if she plugs 
the baby, while she takes the older kids to school or does something 
else. Baby seems quite happy being plugged : (

I have seen it in singletons, too.

When these babies are given more food, they do indeed  recover.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK

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