“My baby is now up many times at night!”
Julie is a delightful, energetic first-time mother. She has enjoyed every aspect of being a breastfeeding mother. Learning how to differentiate active and deep sleep, Julie was able to help her baby, Elena, sleep through the night by six months of age. Thankfully, life is proving to be predictable again, and Elena has become a happy and fun-loving nine-month-old.
However, over the past two weeks Elena has started getting up several times at night. She breastfeeds at each awakening and is hard to settle back to sleep. She even resists eating her cereal in the morning and generally seems in a grumpy mood. Elena’s behavior at nine month worries Julie, who wonders if she should give up breastfeeding.
THE SCIENCE: MISUNDERSTANDING separation anxiety
An important surge in a baby's cognitive ability takes place at around nine months of age. Parents will notice "social referencing," when the baby looks to the parent for reassurance when encountering a new situation or person.
A night month old delights in games like peak-a-boo and hide and go seek. This enthusiasm reminds us that at this age a child discovers that things go away still exist in the world! This awareness leads to Separation Anxiety. As a result children can seem heartbroken when their mother leaves the room, even briefly, or when their father drops them off at daycare. As we have discussed before, surges in a baby's development cause disruption in a baby's eating, sleeping, and general behavior. Parents who expect and understand these changes can find effective ways to respond to a baby who is transitioning to the next level of development.
An ”Ah-Ha” Moment: How the HUG information helps this mother
Julie is delighted to be reminded about her daughter's development, even if it means a week or so of more challenging behavior. This mother decides that she does not want to resume multiple nighttime feedings as her primary mode of comforting her baby. Instead, Julieta responds to her daughter's awakenings at night by assuming a somewhat "boring" affect. She goes to Elena when she wakes up, but now Julieta glances to the side and does not engage in conversation. She gently helps Elena lie back down and pats her back. Within a few days the daughter awakens briefly, stirs and then returns back to sleep.
Breastfeeding tip for this week
Research continues to identify many important benefits of breastfeeding. Moreover, these benefits appear to be "dose related," meaning that the longer a mother breastfeeds, the more she and her baby benefit.