>Denis Hartley writes:
>>Richard Ferber's book "Solve your child's sleep problems" is a well writt=
>>en book with a lot of useful information and advice.  Successful breastfe=
>>eding AND a child who sleeps between feeds in their own bed (if that is =
>>what the parents choose) AND sleeps through the night from around 2 month=
>>s of age can definitely go together.

I heard recently that Richard Ferber has expressed deep distress at what
he perceives to be the mis-application of his book.  He wrote to address
problem sleep situations, not make a pronouncement of defining sleep
problems as an epidemic among infants.  I remember seeing a show on his
"method" a few years back; the video-taped subject was a babe who was at
least able to stand in his crib--- not a two month old.  Why in the world
do we now feel possessed to pronounce two-month old babies who nurse
during the night as having "sleep problems"?  Why this preoccupation with
forcing babies into adult modes rather than just letting nature take its
course?

If adults enjoy sleeping and cuddling together, why do we expect our
babies, who were virtually "one" with us during pregnancy, to make an
abrupt transition to solo sleeping when developmentally they have not yet
even passed through the stage of differentiating themselves from their
mother? I believe more in mother-baby attachment now than I did when I
had my own four children. If I had to do it over again, I'd give them
even more than I did, not less.  I'd also space my children farther apart
so that I would not feel so overwhelmed by the legitimate needs of very
little ones.

I think that what Kathy Dettwyler shared is extremely relevant and not to
be dismissed. I have heard that there are some African peoples who
believe that Americans don't like children because of the many ways that
we detach ourselves from our children so quickly, rushing the stages of
infancy and childhood.  I understand the need to balance everyone's needs
in the home, especially in our very demanding, inflexible nuclear family
units, but I hate the biased way in which we tend to view needs.

One other comment: It is extremely important to pay attention to
frequency of feedings in families that are aggressively pursuing sleep
training in young infants. One study revealed that mothers who averaged
at least 7-8 feedings in 24 hours during the first 3 months were much
more likely to be breastfeeding months later than were those who averaged
less than 7-8 feedings a day. Sleep training efforts often go hand in
hand with scheduling, and when a baby is encouraged to sleep long periods
at night, they can easily fall below the 7/8 minimum. The most likely
resulting pathology of early sleep training is inadequate prolactin
receptor development (which is dependent on frequency during the first
three months and not just length of feeds) which in turn can sabotage
milk supply at the transition to autocrine control.

-Lisa Marasco, BA, IBCLC