Re: [ozmidwifery] "failure to sleep through the night"!!!

[Marilyn Kleidon]

I think we could encourage this gentler approach to mothering by having bigger beds in the postpartum wards big enough for both the woman's partner and the baby to sleep in. It would give the ok. I know some hospitals already do this both here and abroad but I think it should be the usual not the unusual. As it is many if not most of the midwives where I am working encourage mums to sleep with the baby in their bed and cuddle as well as feed, but at least at the beginning the size of the bed is discouraging, of course it gives a good talking opportunity which should never be lost, i just think visual or unspoken cues are also important. I do realise that hospital beds are probably necessary for at least 24 hrs post operative delivery, but then the mum and baby could be moved to a more cuddly bed.   marilyn ----- Original Message ----- From: Jo Slamen To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2003 7:34 PM Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] "failure to sleep through the night"!!! I still enjoy feeding my 11.5 month-old overnight - is it 2 or 3 or 4 times a night?- never sure - we're cuddled up together in bed and it's so drowsy that I don't remember specifically.  Not ready to lose that closeness from him just yet...  And yes, he's a nice weight and a really cuddly baby - everyone comments on his cuddliness - just like many say - "Oooh he shouldn't be in bed with you!"  I'm quite suspicious, however, that one has to do with the other.   Jo ----- Original Message ----- From: Jackie Kitschke To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 5:09 PM Subject: [ozmidwifery] "failure to sleep through the night"!!! I was just flicking through the latest ANF Journal before chucking it out when the title "Frequent feeding clue to disrupted infant sleep"!! It was published in the "Archives of Disease in Childhood" by M. Nikoloulou and I. St. James-Roberts. These researchers identified "at risk" infants during their first week of life which put them at risk of failing to sleep through the night at 12 weeks of age!! Talk about turn normal physiology into an abnormality. They say that babies that feed more than 11 times per day at 1 week were 2.7 times more likely not to sleep through. Duh, aren't they supposed to be feeding frequently. There is no mention of the failure to thrive rate between the "control" group and the"behaviour program group". This program included maximising the difference between day and night, avoinding feeding and cuddling at night and from the age of three weeks gradually delaying feeds when the baby awoke at night!! When will sense prevail. Those poor women out there, they must be so confused with nurses now taking that line. Just annoyed Jackie