Sleep Consultants

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    “Sleep consultants,” while they may market themselves as “breastfeeding friendly,” still have the primary goal of getting your infant to sleep through the night (even if the infant isn’t ready or willing).  Having help with nights is essential if you have any history of anxiety or depression (which is worsened by lack of sleep) or other mental health history.  

    However, attempting to feed a baby more breastmilk during the day when the baby becomes 3 or 4 months old and is otherwise distracted, is generally a recipe for frustration and confusion.  Babies at this age drink less during the day (they are too busy exploring their world) and more at night (and therefore often do not sleep naturally through the night).  So it’s often a better (and more natural and physiologic approach) to let an infant nurse less during the day and have help with feeding the infant overnight (rather than trying to force an infant to sleep through the night if he is not ready). It will also maintain your milk production at a physiologic level, rather than risking it dropping with forced night weaning.

    Sleep consultants also may recommend that an infant doesn’t get carried while nursing or sleeping, as this will train them to “not sleep alone.” When infants are small, they generally love to be carried and snuggled (it is the most similar to their uterine environment, which was close quarters, warm temperature, and mom’s voice/heart/lungs/intestines soothing them). It’s ok to do this. You can always address coaxing an infant to sleep on its own at a later time when they are ready.

    Community Art Project 1 final pic
    “Embracing Connection.” Cheryl Hann and Fiona Neal. Expo: www.breastfeedingchange.ca.
    We are carry mammals
    Baboons, one of our primate cousins, demonstrate how our infants love and are meant to be carried and have constant contact with mom or another caregiver.
    Deer are not carry mammals
    My son and I are animal lovers, and he especially enjoys the ‘Critter Club’ series about a group of girls who started a rescue shelter, and have various adventures related to animals. The book above relates to the girls discovering a fawn without her mother, and becoming concerned. The mother of one of the girls, a vet named Dr. Purvis, helps assess the situation and educate the girls on the fact that deer will leave their babies for long periods of time. Their milk is designed for this. And fawns instinctively know not to cry or make noise, or they will be eaten by another animal. In contrast, human milk composition is low in fat and protein, and is designed to digest quickly. Human infants cry and fuss when left alone, because carry mammals evolved to not experience large durations of separation at young infant ages.

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    Go With the Flow

    August 18, 2026