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Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996
From: Chris Mulford<[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Sleep and breastfeeding (but hello first)
First, an introduction. Hello to friends old and new. I am a breastfeeding
fanatic who is lucky enough to be
employed full-time as a hospital-based lactation consultant. My pathway to
get to this place started with
motherhood (when it was my baby who taught me how to breastfeed!), and
progressed through LLL Leadership,
nursing school, hospital employment as a maternity and nursery nurse, IBCLC
certification, and submitting a
proposal three times before my employer agreed to set up a Breastfeeding
Center. I love my work, especially
because it give me access to so many nursing mothers and
babies---opportunities to learn more about bf---but I
have to admit Lactnet is pretty fascinating as well!
At this point in my life’s journey I have a husband, two kids 18 and 28, and
live outside Philadelphia. As a thank-
you to my first-born (without whom I never would have discovered the
Wonderful World of Lactation), I invited
her to come with me on a trip to Huairou, China, this year to be part of the
breastfeeding lobby at the NGO Forum
of the 4th UN World Conference on Women.
Now a comment about the sleep instructions for parents quoted by Jay on 17
Jan 1996:
I frequently hear doctors tell mothers not to let their newborn babies fall
asleep at the breast, but instead to “put
the baby down while it’s still awake.” To me this makes no sense. We know
that babies naturally fall asleep while
nursing because sucking makes them produce the sleep-inducing gut hormone
CCK. It looks to me as if nursing is
*designed* to put babies (and their mothers) to sleep, so parents might as
well understand and take advantage of
that result.
Uvnas-Moberg has published wonderful work on CCK, including a study which
found that CCK levels measured in
the first four days increased with nursing, dropped about 10 minutes after
the end of nursing, and rose again 30 and
60 minutes after the end of nursing. In other words, these new babies in her
study had a little *window of
opportunity* to wake up and go back for more nursing if they had fallen
asleep before they were *done.*
I don’t know about CCK in older babies. U-M says that newborns have a
naturally high baseline level of CCK, 10x
higher that that of nine-month old babies or adults. With both my kids I
remember nursing being a reliable bedtime
sleep-inducer well into the third year of life. I also remember the
difficult transition which 3-year-old Zoe and I
had to get through when nursing no longer sufficed to help her fall asleep at
bedtime. (I recall that playing tapes of
MisteRogers songs worked for awhile…)
The mother as well as the nurseling produces CCK during suckling, which
accounts in part for the mellow feeling
many nursing mothers enjoy. When my second child was an active toddler (and
Number One was in school) we
would lie down together at naptime, he would nurse to sleep, and if I was
tired enough, so would I. In fact I could
judge how tired I was by whether or nursing put me to sleep.
Lucky for us, my kids and I figured out how to use nursing as a sleep aid
without ever knowing that CCK existed.
But for discussions with people who want research-based recommendations, or
for ammunition in discussions with
HCPs who recommend restricting sleep-time nursing, you might find the
following articles useful.
Uvnas-Moberg K (1989). The gastrointestinal tract in growth and reproduction.
Scientific American, 78-83.
Uvnas-Moberg K, Marchini G, Winberg J (1993). Plasma cholecystokinin
concentrations after breast feeding in
healthy 4 day old infants. Arch Dis Child 68:46-8.
Chris Mulford, RN, BSN, IBCLC, happy to be where I am.
[log in to unmask]
Page 2
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Content-ID: <[log in to unmask]>
Content-type: text/plain;
name="JAN21P~1.TXT"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996
From: Chris Mulford<[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Sleep and breastfeeding (but hello first)
=0D
First, an introduction. Hello to friends old and new. I am a breastfeed=
ing fanatic who is lucky enough to be =
employed full-time as a hospital-based lactation consultant. My pathway =
to get to this place started with =
motherhood (when it was my baby who taught me how to breastfeed!), and pr=
ogressed through LLL Leadership, =
nursing school, hospital employment as a maternity and nursery nurse, IBC=
LC certification, and submitting a =
proposal three times before my employer agreed to set up a Breastfeeding =
Center. I love my work, especially =
because it give me access to so many nursing mothers and babies---opportu=
nities to learn more about bf---but I =
have to admit Lactnet is pretty fascinating as well!
=0D
At this point in my life=92s journey I have a husband, two kids 18 and 28=
, and live outside Philadelphia. As a thank-
you to my first-born (without whom I never would have discovered the Wond=
erful World of Lactation), I invited =
her to come with me on a trip to Huairou, China, this year to be part of =
the breastfeeding lobby at the NGO Forum =
of the 4th UN World Conference on Women.
=0D
Now a comment about the sleep instructions for parents quoted by Jay on 1=
7 Jan 1996:
=0D
I frequently hear doctors tell mothers not to let their newborn babies fa=
ll asleep at the breast, but instead to =93put =
the baby down while it=92s still awake.=94 To me this makes no sense. W=
e know that babies naturally fall asleep while =
nursing because sucking makes them produce the sleep-inducing gut hormone=
CCK. It looks to me as if nursing is =
*designed* to put babies (and their mothers) to sleep, so parents might a=
s well understand and take advantage of =
that result.
=0D
Uvnas-Moberg has published wonderful work on CCK, including a study which=
found that CCK levels measured in =
the first four days increased with nursing, dropped about 10 minutes afte=
r the end of nursing, and rose again 30 and =
60 minutes after the end of nursing. In other words, these new babies in=
her study had a little *window of =
opportunity* to wake up and go back for more nursing if they had fallen a=
sleep before they were *done.*
=0D
I don=92t know about CCK in older babies. U-M says that newborns have a =
naturally high baseline level of CCK, 10x =
higher that that of nine-month old babies or adults. With both my kids I =
remember nursing being a reliable bedtime =
sleep-inducer well into the third year of life. I also remember the diff=
icult transition which 3-year-old Zoe and I =
had to get through when nursing no longer sufficed to help her fall aslee=
p at bedtime. (I recall that playing tapes of =
MisteRogers songs worked for awhile=85)
=0D
The mother as well as the nurseling produces CCK during suckling, which a=
ccounts in part for the mellow feeling =
many nursing mothers enjoy. When my second child was an active toddler (=
and Number One was in school) we =
would lie down together at naptime, he would nurse to sleep, and if I was=
tired enough, so would I. In fact I could =
judge how tired I was by whether or nursing put me to sleep.
=0D
Lucky for us, my kids and I figured out how to use nursing as a sleep aid=
without ever knowing that CCK existed. =
But for discussions with people who want research-based recommendations, =
or for ammunition in discussions with =
HCPs who recommend restricting sleep-time nursing, you might find the fol=
lowing articles useful.
=0D
Uvnas-Moberg K (1989). The gastrointestinal tract in growth and reproduct=
ion. Scientific American, 78-83.
Uvnas-Moberg K, Marchini G, Winberg J (1993). Plasma cholecystokinin conc=
entrations after breast feeding in =
healthy 4 day old infants. Arch Dis Child 68:46-8.
=0D
Chris Mulford, RN, BSN, IBCLC, happy to be where I am.
[log in to unmask]
Page 2
=0D
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