Sara writes:

Many  babies at that age are still eating 1-2 times overnight but I can 
understand  more than that would make a working Mama very tired!  There is a 
large  body of research on the adverse effects on mothers, children and 
families of  long term sleep deprivation.

~~~ I think part of the issue is that we aren't always clear that yes sleep 
 deprivation is indeed a difficult and sometimes dangerous thing but also 
that  sleep interruption and sleep deprivation are not the same.  Babies who 
are breastfeeding normally have moms whose bodies are capable of  brief 
awakenings to feed, then easily go back to sleep. Mom will get plenty of  total 
sleep. If babies are up for long periods with distress or  inefficient 
feedings, this rhythm can be disturbed, of course. The fact that a  mom with a 6 
month old has to focus on a full night of uninterrupted sleep  because she 
must leave this infant for the day, then take away night chances to  get 
emotional and physical nourishment  needed at this age, to get up again the next 
day, is in my opinion one of the  great shames of US "maternity protection" 
policies. The normal needs of infants  to feed and be nourished at night 
was written up recently in Pediatrics, stating  that night feedings make an 
important contribution to overall nutrition at least  until 6 months, and I 
think if we really look longer at normal human physiology  and development, 
the minimum might be more like 6-9 months. Some babies can push  all their 
needs to daytime hours ( possibly an evening nursing if baby isn't  already 
down for the night when mom gets home from work, or is that only where I  
live...) but many would not do this naturally. I wonder about the long term  
consequences of pushing development  this way, in terms of understanding  hunger 
and satiety, and respecting one's own emotional needs.
Peace,
Judy


Judy LeVan  Fram, PT, IBCLC, LLLL
Brooklyn, NY,  USA
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