Victoria,

I'm going to approach this from a parent stance more than anything, so
please take it with that in mind.  From your post, I assume that the mother
is able to be with the little one 24 hours/day vs. having long periods of
separation?  Several of my children have virtually quit day-nursing (unless
they happened to nap) and would obtain their calories through the night.  I
have attributed it to their developmental stage...my 5-month old is doing
the exact same thing right now because he is perfecting sitting up,
beginning to scoot, rolling to get where he wants to go and is constantly
stimulated by older siblings.  My firstborn who didn't have the older
siblings had a hyper-drive mother who provided (too much) stimulation and
exhibited this same behavior.  I do have an OAMER, but that existed prior to
5 months, so that theory never made sense to me.  The start of this behavior
for your client at 3 months may truly indicate something other than what I'm
assuming with my own children.  I would still wonder about stimuli while
awake and the whole sleep environment.  If "getting the baby to sleep" is a
stressor for the mother, I can't imagine that feels too pleasant for the
baby.  But I'm no infant psychologist.  The fact that the baby is growing is
extremely reassuring; the fact that a mother's body can adjust to changed
"timing" of nursing can be empowering for some mothers.

From a practical standpoint, I cope with the need to nurse through the night
by co-sleeping.  I cope with the daytime hours by carrying my babies so that
they do occasionally fall asleep without me needing to exhaust myself by
rocking and wishing they'd give up.  This way I can go about my "business"
with my little one close by and we are in better sync with each other.  When
my little guy starts to droop, I adjust the sling and pop him on for a snack
when he starts to sleep.  Some mothers, though, can't do that and do require
a set time for a nap and a break for themselves.  Is she expecting a "text
book" baby who has naps at specific times of day for a given length of time?
Just some rambling mother thoughts.

HTH,
Rebecca DeYoung Daniels, MBA, RD, LD, IBCLC, but wearing her MOM to 5 hat
right now

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