In a message dated 2/9/00 7:11:49 AM US Mountain Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: << Most pediatricians do ask about sleeping during routine exams. This is usually, as Ms Abrams suggested, to find out if there are any issues regarding sleep that the parents are concerned about. It is also an opportunity to reinforce what is normal, i.e., that a 2 month old should be waking to feed at night despite misadvice that the parents might have been given from neighbors, etc. >> I can understand that the pediatrician needs a tool to do this. But most parents assume when asked "Is your baby sleeping thru the night?" that this is what their child should be doing at this age. Would it not be more accurate and less misleading to ask "What is your baby's nighttime sleep pattern? Do you think there is a sleep problem? Why?" When my first was an infant, I thought that if he wasn't doing what they were asking -- sleep, solids, whatever-that he was behind. ( I quickly learned otherwise). But yes no questions such as "is your child sleeping thru the night" can easily be misinterpreted to mean "Your child should be sleeping thru the night. Why isn't he? Come on defend your parenting and your child's habits" and mislead parents in reguards to expectations of what the child can or should be doing. I hope I'm making sense here, I haven't had any coffee yet :) Cheryl Tompkins CLC Phoenix AZ USA *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html