Nursing cues range from the more subtle (e.g., small mouth movements) to
the loud and clear (e.g., crying--a very late cue). A mother who sleeps
next to her baby has the opportunity to notice that her baby is giving her
nursing cues even when the baby is asleep. Nursing at night keeps supply
from experiencing dramatic changes, protects the LAM option, is appropriate
for our species given the composition of human milk, etc. Yet many mothers
don't know about subtle nursing cues, much less that it's biologically
normal for a baby to give cues even while asleep at night, that babies
might nurse in a light sleep cycle without waking up, and that it's
biologically appropriate for a mother to respond to night-time nursing cues
given by a baby who is asleep--in spite of what Western culture tends to
say about such matters. Babies might even "sleep through the night" *while*
nursing frequently at night. And mother might not have to wake up fully to
actively engage in night-time parenting. Babies who are asleep while
nursing simply don't need to be settled back to sleep after having fully
awakened.

Cynthia

Cynthia Good Mojab
Ammawell; Research Associate, Publications Department, LLLI
Email: [log in to unmask]; Web site: http://home.attbi.com/~ammawell

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