~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Mon, 28 Jul 2008 Jeanette Panchula wrote:
It seems that this is an OVER-feeding issue - the need to get babies to
SLEEP for hours on end - and the reinforcement that parents get - because
babies DO sleep more and deeper when they are overfed!  

...and talk about money makers - the number of books being sold in
bookstores, on line and by word of mouth about sleeping is staggering!
Parents measure their parenting success, in many cases, by how well they get
babies to space out their feedings and sleep!  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeanette, this is so right.  Long sleeps have been equated with a baby who is well fed and doing well, for generations (yes, generations), and topping up to achieve this or any of a number os "sleep-trainign" measures do a lot of business.  New parents, their families, the community and the health sector often do not understand *normal*.  This isn't surprising, since all are bombarded with mis-information on sleep, whether by word of mouth, advertising, or other advice.

It's strange that babies are expected to sleep longer than adults without getting thirsty or hungry. This isn;t a study, jsut an observation - but when I've shared a house or conference venue with other adults over the years, I've heard the toilet being flushed through the night, followed by the refrigerator door being opened.  This applies across a range of adult age groups.

I agree with jeanette that overfeeding is an issue with babies whose parents worry about sleep.  Perhaps some of the health sector and governmental concerns about obesity should be factoring this in when investigating early influences on weight.

Virginia
Dr Virginia Thorley, OAM, PhD, IBCLC, FILCA
Honorary Research Fellow
School of History, Philosophy, Religion & Classics
The University of Queensland, QLD 4072
Australia



             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome