Pamela writes:  parents who are persuaded to go along with this
bizaare (to them) behaviour are able to keep the baby reasonably happy in
the late afternoons/evenings;  parents who want the baby to have "a good
feed" then conk out, and keep trying to *make* the baby fit this pattern,
find that the result is "colic".  Has anyone else seen this?

Often...it seems to help if the parents are not always trying to spot the
'right' moment to put the baby down...you know, watching for the  eyes
closing, and then creeping over to the crib, laying the baby down,
carefully pulling a sheet or cover over, creeping out of the
room...whispering and taking the phone off the hook....then WAAAAAAGH!
Baby's yelling the place down. And the parents get so cross and frustrated
(as does the baby....). LIke Pamela,  I often discuss an alternative regime
which just accepts the baby is going to need a lot of
holding/feeding/comforting, and compare it with the hassle of making the
baby do something he clearly doesn't want to do, night after night.

I sometimes wonder if babies get wise to this sort of 'watch for his
sleeping and then put him down' pattern and *resist* conking out.

Cynical postscript: the usual recommendation if a mother asks her health
visitor or doctor about this evening fussing is - guess what???? You got it
- our old friend the  evening top-up bottle.  Just occasionally it works,
too (if all you're wanting is a baby too *full up* to move...) - and when
it does you can usually kiss goodbye to bf.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK