Okay, I am going to chime in.

I (try to) always identify early hunger cues for new
parents.  I emphasize that crying is a LATE hunger cue
and a stressful, disorganized state in a young infant.
I also tell parents that during the night, because
they are sleeping (or trying to!) they may miss early
cues and the baby may progress to crying before the
parents are awake, and that this is okay AT NIGHT.
During the day, I advise feeding promptly in response
to early hunger cues, rather than allowing the baby to
progress to crying.

Suggestions I offer for managing night feeds: keep the
baby close by at night, if not in the parents' bed,
then at least in their room, so the rustling and
restlessness that occurs before the baby goes into
full-blown crying can be sensed by the parents.  I
encourage moms to experiment with nursing in a
side-lying position, while emphasizing that this is
sort of an "advanced beginner's" skill and may take
some time to work, and may not work at all, but it's
worth trying!

Someday, I will be brave enough to counter complaints
of new-parent sleep deprivation with a recent quote
from another Lactnetter: "If you wanted to spend this
year getting plenty of sleep, you should have thought
of that 39 weeks ago!"   Snicker!

Carole Jernigan
hospital-based IBCLC and insomniac...


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