>I wonder if anyone can help me with some references.  I am trying to write
>a letter to one of the Pediatricians who has been giving out these handouts
>regarding "Trained Night Feeders." <snip>
>According to this handout, a "trained night feeder" is over 4 months old
>and still cries one or more times at night to be fed.  In nursing babies it
>is apparently caused by nursing the baby to sleep instead of putting baby
>to bed awake, and by feeding often during the day.

Becky, I have also been wrestling lately with this issue because of how
it relates to Ezzo teachings.  There is some truth to the fact that
babies can become accustomed to night time routines, and that they can be
"trained into or out of" nighttime feeding.  I don't think that we need
to even try to refute that point so much as the question of "is nighttime
nursing evil/bad/unhealthful?  This is the part that really bothers me!

I love my sleep as much as anyone else, and I came to points along my own
road where I was ready to change the nighttime patterns. However, I also
came to realize that my attitude, which was greatly influenced by my
culture's beliefs and expectations of me and baby, had a lot to do with
how tired I felt.  I also came to realize that American/western
lifestyles are NOT baby friendly and do not make many accomodations for
the new nursing dyad; thus, we become frantic when baby and life are not
smoothly coinciding.

The current trend, given the above, is to force baby to do all of the
accomodating so that we experience as little stress and friction as
possible; ie, he MUST sleep through the night so that we get unbroken
sleep. This is one approach to the problem.

Another approach is to try to approximate the mothering style of
traditional societies. This second is very honorable, though also very
difficult to pull off without lots of support and changes of expectations
in the people around us.

A third approach is to do as much accomodating on the parental side as
possible, and then to "ask" baby to accomodate the last part of the gap.

I try to present the nighttime issues in this manner to parents in my
classes. I want them to know that I am not anti-parent sleep, but I also
want them to know that this sleep issue is not merely a matter of good
versus bad habits. It is much more an issue of culture and lifestyle and
expectations!  I encourage parents to do all they can to be sensitive to
the baby's needs and the evolving bond and relationship, and to only ask
baby to accomodate when nothing else truly works. I am re-posting below a
post by Ros Escott, containing an excellent reference for you.

*******************************************************
>Date:    Sat, 27 Apr 1996 23:56:55 +0000
>From:    Ros Escott <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Normal sleep patterns (long)
>
>The above incident had me referring again to a study published in the
>Medical Journal of Australia Vol 161 1 August 1994, pp 202-206.
>"The sleep patterns of normal children" Armstrong KL, Quinn RA &
>Dadds MR.
>
>This is the definitive work on  sleeping habits of (Australian)
>children's to 38 months.  It is a very nice piece of research because
>they surveyed 3269 parents, with a 96.5% response rate!!!, over a one
>week period.  The parents had to report on their child's sleeping
>habits over the past 24 hours, plus answer a few questions related to
>their perceptions of their child's sleep behaviour.
>
>What did they find?
>1. There is a wide range of normal childhood sleep behaviour.
>2. Circadian rhythm is not well established until four months of age.
>3. Daytime sleep becomes less regular with increasing age, the most
>marked reduction in length occurs around 3 months of age. However, a
>surprising 11%  under 3 months of age  don't have a daytime sleep
>every day.
>4. Frequent night waking that distubs parents is common from 4-12
>months (12.7% disturb their parents 3 or more times every night)
>5. Night time settling requires more parental input from 18 months.
>6. Nearly a third of parents have a significant problem with their
>    child's sleep behaviour
>
>Sleeping through the night:  71.4% did this on at least one occasion
>by 3 months of age, but many of these relapse into more frequent
>waking in the 4 to 12 month period.  It is not until after 24 months
>that regular night waking (requiring attention) becomes much less
>common.
>
>While the study did not address breastfeeding, it is relevant
>because a lack of understanding of "normal" sleep patterns can lead
>to comping, early solids, belief there is not enough milk, etc.  The
>authors claim it also leads to misdiagnosis of gastro-oesophageal
>reflux and overuse of sedative medication. A worrying 31% of 25-38
>month-old children were disciplined (mostly smacking) to get them to
>settle.  27% of parents let their children cry, 11% at less than one
>month!
>
>I like the study because it is fact over mythology, and very
>reassuring to the mothers of babies who don't settle easily or don't
>sleep through the night.  Very useful in parent education - it comes
>complete with a summary chart.
****************************************************

>Has anyone else dealt with this handout?  It's copyrighted by "Clinical
>Reference Systems Ltd." but not referenced.

It sounds a lot like the Ezzos to me!  Can I get a copy, Becky?  Let's
trace this one back to the original source.

-Lisa Marasco, BA, IBCLC