Someone writes:

"This idea that breast fed babies "need" to feed much more frequently comes
up often and is one that I take issue with for many reasons. Undoubtedly
some breastfed babes "prefer" more frequent fds., some less frequent and
some seem to "require" more frequent and some less."

Feeding frequency in mammals is directly correlated with composition of the
milk.  The composition of human milk suggests that humans are a "carry"
species (rather than nest/cache) and that "continuous" access to the breast
is the physiological norm.  Comparisons with our closest relatives, the
Great Apes, supports very frequent feeding as the biological norm.
Cross-cultural research by anthropologists around the world shows many many
cultures where babies are allowed to breastfeed as often as they like, and
they usually like to breastfeed several times an hour, for short duration
each time.  Breastfeeding several times an hour for a few minutes each time
takes no more time than sitting down every 3-4 hours for a 30 minute
breastfeeding session.

While SOME babies can eventually be moved onto a schedule of the mother's
convenience without any harm, other babies cannot.  In those cases,
infrequent feeding will mean that the mother's breasts are not stimulated
often enough to make sufficient milk, or sufficiently high fat content.  As
well, in those case, infrequent feeding will mean a baby who doesn't grow
properly and is very unhappy.  You can push human biology around a lot with
cultural beliefs/practices, but there are limits, and there are costs.  If
people knew that babies are designed to be fed several times an hour for a
few minutes each time, then it wouldn't come as a surprise and it wouldn't
seem so overwhelming.

If you spend any amount of time at all around mothers who feed babies this
often, you know that the mother has much MORE flexibility and time to get
her work done that a mother who must budget a 20-30 + minute breastfeeding
session every couple of hours.  When babies are fed this often, the mother
can easily take the baby off the breast when she needs to do something
without the baby fussing too much -- because the baby knows it'll be fed
again in just a few minutes.  The baby never gets too hungry this way
either.  It approximates the continuous nutrient delivery system of the
umbilical cord.

In cultures where children are allowed to breastfeed at will, nursing
frequency does not necessarily decrease with age -- so that in some
cultures, you have 3 year olds still coming over for a quick nip several
times an hour.  And everyone knows this is normal, and no one thinks
anything of it.

Kathy Dettwyler

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