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Subject:
From:
Anne Eglash <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 7 Mar 2011 20:56:48 -0600
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Here is my commonsensical reason, ie not evidence based, as to why 
babies are awake and wild at night in the first week or 2;
When moms are pregnant, they have increased uterine blood flow at night 
as they get off their feet and lie down at night to sleep. As soon as 
they go to bed, the baby starts jumping around and becoming wild.
Ergo, when the baby is born, the baby's circadian rhythm continues in 
this way. They are most awake and alert between 11pm and 3-4 am. They 
crash between 3-4 am until 9am.
I warn my patients ahead of time that the first several nights with the 
baby will be wild, and if the baby wakes up close to midnight and wants 
to have a feeding frenzy, it is a sign that the baby is a normal, 
thriving, neurologically intact baby who is on a different but expected 
schedule than the parents. When I walk into the room in the am and I 
hear that the baby was wild and feeding nonstop, I congratulate the 
parents that the baby is just so normal, its wonderful.
I remind parents that because of this behavior, the parents need to rest 
in the daytime with the baby, and ask people not to visit, so that they 
can be up with the baby at night. I then teach parents how to 'turn the 
babies around' to have more of a daytime schedule in the next week or 2.
By providing this information, I am able to empower parents to 
understand what is happening, so that they can make a decision to 
support the baby at the breast, and avoid the hospital nurses' offers 
for a pacifier.
Anne

Anne Eglash MD
Clinical Associate Professor
Dept of Family Medicine
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
600 N. 8th St.
Mount Horeb, WI, 53572
608-437-3064 (O)
608-437-4542 (fax)

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