On Thursday 11 July 2002 09:40 am, Kermaline J. Cotterman wrote:

> Do you suppose you could somehow propose a similar study on new
> parents, or at least new mothers, 1/3 of whom were
> breastfeeding/cosleeping, 1/3 breastfeeding with baby in a separate
> bed so they had to get up, and 1/3 of them formula feeding?

One major difficulty with such a study would be that to have the most
worthwhile results, you would need to randomize the groups.... and the
problem inherent with this is probably obvious.  The problem with having
non-randomized groups is that it is difficult to rule out underlying
differences as a cause for any findings.  A couple of hypotheses of mine
in that regard are that 1) breastfeeding mothers who take their babies
to bed do so, in part, because they know and anticipate that babies need
frequent feedings even during the night and use that technique to help
make sure they do get some sleep.  2) breastfeeding mothers who keep the
baby in another room are possibly doign what amounts to token
breastfeeding (by that I mean doing so solely because they're supposed
to and perhaps have a sort-term goal) and are not fully prepared for the
full implications of the frequent feedings (and may well at least
partially formula feed in hopes of cutting night feedings)  3) The
bottle-feeding moms are not prepared either for the frequent feeds of
young babies at night.  Again, these are merely some thoughts as to
possible differences between the groups that could really muddy the
waters in looking at results.... although I would say the first group
would likely be the least sleep-deprived.

--
Elisa H. Casey
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