I wonder if he's changed his position on this: > Ferber recommends using his method if your baby is 6 months or older. > Like most sleep experts, he says that by the time most normal, > full-term infants are 3 months old, they no longer need a nighttime > feeding. And at 6 months, none do. If you're still nursing or giving a > bottle at bedtime at this age, the feedings themselves may be behind > your baby's wakings. She has become used to them, and her tummy tells > her she needs them. Ferber says no: She wants, but doesn't need, to be > fed. He adds that if you find late-night nursing satisfying and it > doesn't keep your baby from sleeping through the night, go ahead and > do it. This is from http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babysleep/7755.html. Granted, it may be a misinterpretation and I don't have the Ferber book handy to supply the accurate quote. However, it is directly related to breastfeeding, and I think others on this list may agree with me that night-feedings are a need, rather than a want, for such young infants. If Dr. Ferber starts from this premise, I don't think his approach to meeting children's sleeptime needs can be considered evidence-based, let alone consistent with many of the mothering practices that lead to and from breastfeeding. I admit that I am often a bit wary of someone who claims that his / her words were misinterpreted after such a long period of successful sales. I assume that at least some people who have hesitations about the method have read the book, and that they can understand it. Perhaps a Lactnetter can confirm whether Dr. Ferber presents evidence for his belief that breastfeeding at night is not necessary for a 6-month old baby's physical and emotional needs. If not, he's the one who has misinterpreted (or ignored) the scientific evidence on the potential damage to a baby who is not fed at night. For that matter, most of us do know how to interpret the evidence on what happens to a baby left to cry for 45 minutes (however progressive the waiting period was), even to the point of having a temper tantrum and throwing up (he recommends cleaning up the vomit matter-of-factly), and to a mother's self-confidence, her ability to read and understand cues effectively, and her relationship with her family when she is advised to ignore her instincts. His advice? Counselling will help a mother cope with her instincts that crying is bad. Jo-Anne *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html