In the pediatrics department of my breastfeeding-indifferent HMO, in a
rack of photocopied hand-outs on parental concerns, was "How to Help the
Trained Night Feeder" adapted from a 1991 book, "Your Child's Health" by
Barton D. Schmitt, MD, and reprinted from  Contemporary Pediatrics,
November 1992.

In this "Behavior Guidelines for Parents" piece, the author deals with
great authority on the problem of a baby over the age of 4 months who
awakens and cries to be fed one or more times during the night.  It's
basically Ferber-esque sleep-training, with directions on not nursing
the child to sleep, getting the crib out of your bedroom, (I guess it
never occured to him that some parents might take the baby into *bed*
with them) and helping the child attach to a security object so the
child "will hold and stroke the security object at bedtime in place of
you." (sorry I can't remember the icon for the steam rising from the
furrowed brow.)

He also recommends stretching the intervals of the daytime feedings,
lest the "baby's stomach gets conditioned to being fed small amounts
frequently, instead of waiting at least two hours between feedings at
birth, and at least four hours by 4 months of age."   This combines with
a statement that "By 4 months, about 90% of infants sleep more than
eight consecutive hours without feeding.  Normal children of this age
(and premature babies who have reached 11 pounds) do not need any
calories during the night to remain healthy."   Also  that older
"Breastfed babies often need five feedings each day (he's talking 24
hours) until 6 months of age, when solids are introduced."

I plan to write to the HMO about this advice being given to tired,
vulnerable parents.  I'm writing to you all to vent and send out the
alert about this book (is it popular? -- I haven't seen it around). I
also wanted to check out his statistics on the numbers of feedings in a
day and the percentage of 4-month-olds sleeping an eight-hour stretch --
do these figures derive from real studies? Are they commonly bandied
about in pediatric circles?  I guess I'm privileged to know so many fine
babies in the elite 10%!

Sincerely,

Margaret Wills
LLLL, New Jersey