Hi all,

By way of introduction, my name is Cindi Swisher.  I am an RN living in
Seoul, Korea.  A friend, Marilyn Nichols (also an RN) and I are volunteering
for the local military hospital in the role of lactation specialists.  We
also teach childbirth classes at the hospital.  My nursing experience is not
in maternal-child health (ER and blood banking); however, I have always had
an interest in that field and I breast-fed all 4 of my children, the last
two successfully.  Marilyn, otoh, has extensive childbirth and breastfeeding
education experience.  Not so much computer expertise though, and that is
why only I am subscribed to this listserv.

Our question comes from a mother who is breastfeeding her 5th child.  She
successfully breastfed all her other children into their second years.  This
child was born 3 1/2 weeks ago.  For the past 4 nights the baby has slept
for 7 hours straight from about 9:30pm to 4:30am.  She awakens normally and
nurses well and returns to sleep for another couple of hours.  According to
the mother, she nurses 7-8 times during the day, soaks at least 8 diapers a
day, bms regularly, and gained 1# since her 1-week visit.  This baby is
exclusively breast-fed... has received no ABM or even bottles.  The mother
has not been giving her cereal or anything other than breastmilk.

The question arises because the mother took the child into the doctor's
office today to check out a blocked tear duct.  During the course of the
visit she told the doctor about the 7 hours sleeping.  She was told that she
should not allow her baby to sleep more than 5 hours at this age because of
the risk of hypoglycemia.

So the question is --- is this true?  Do any of you know any research that
answers this?  Or is this a case of "the average baby doesn't sleep through
the night until at least 6 weeks" and since this is not average it makes
people nervous?  I did a search of the archives and could not find this
addressed.  When is it "safe" to let a baby sleep through the night?

This mother is very conscientious and loving and definitely does not want to
let her baby sleep if it will harm her.... yet at the same time she would
love to be happy that her child is actually sleeping through the night with
no prompting.

Thanks in advance for any help, wisdom, advice on this subject!

Regards,

Cindi Swisher, RN
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