Dear all:

I wasn't there at the time, but I know some of my professors at Cornell and I interpret the WHO code to have been considering both aspects -- the process of breastfeeding as well as the content of the milk.  

More and more, I am seeing the perversion of infant feeding from the normal process to an even more highly artificial "Schedule" that bears no basis in any evidence whatsoever.  It is being overlaid on top of breastfeeding in ways that I think are going to exacerbate our increasingly eating disordered culture.  I feel like one particular area of Manhattan been infected with the viral spread of the notion that babies should be sleep trained to 12 hours a night at 8 weeks of age and fed only 4 times a day by age three months.  This defies science and common sense.  I used to only hear this once or twice a year.  In the last month I've had three mothers overcome iatrogenically induced low supply only to, at the moment when they finally were able to have their babies complete feeding at the breast, be told to sleep train for 12 hours. And these mothers feel bad that they are somehow spoiling their babies by not complying with the pediatrician ordered schedule.

I have to teach tonight at what is the likely source of the viral spread of this idea of four feeds a day.  Unrepentently, I will include information about what is the normal number of feeds for older infants and information about why mothers who breastfeed sleep 45 minutes longer per night than formula feeding mothers and why it is not OK to feed an infant of 3-6 months only four times a day.  I've already started including the concept that babies don't bond to the feeding device, they bond to the person that interacts and offers physical contact.

I'm very happy about the crib recall!  So, I can use that while I highlight that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies sleeping "in close proximity" rather than a separate room.  Which means it is not safe to put your 8 week old in a separate room and shut the door for 12 hours.

Best, Susan Burger

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome