The Newborn Sleep Book
Pediatricians Lewis and Jonathan Jassey, authors of “The Newborn Sleep Book” say sleep success for your baby has everything to do with your feeding schedule.
“Tt doesn’t matter how often we’re fed. It matters how cumulative it is in a 24 hour period, whether its 2 ounces every 2 hours versus 4 ounces every 4 hours,” says Dr. Jonathan Jassey.
The Jassey’s method suggests parents eliminate the night feedings for newborns, and stretch out meals to four-hour intervals during the day.
They are claiming a 90% success rate with newborns.
NEWBORNS sleeping 8-hour stretches from birth? Oh my!
- What about the bond?
- What about a mother’s milk supply?
- What about reflux babies?
- What about highly sensitive babies?
- What about the possibility that the brain really isn’t ready to sleep that deeply and for that long at that young an age?
Don’t Deny/Withhold Satisfying Our Baby’s Authentic Needs
- Highly sensitive babies
- Premature babies
- Reflux babies
- Slow to adapt babies
- The babies that we just don’t know how this is affecting them
In fact distracting a baby out and away from an authentic need makes me angry.
Lactation Consultants Agree!
When working with parents and sleep I generally suggest they consult their pediatricians about dropping night feedings but in this case I would say, Get ye to a lactation consultant STAT!
I consulted with my favorite local Lactation Consultant, Stephanie Moore a 30 year veteran in this field. Stephanie’s opinion:
“I am a firm believer that babies younger than 6 months do not manipulate their environment. They eat, sleep, pee, poop, and learn about their environment. If they are hungry, they are hungry. There are predictable growth spurts around 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months. To not follow the baby’s lead during these growth periods would be physiologically harmful.In order for breast milk production to be adequate, it is essential to move the milk from the breasts….frequently. Moving 2oz every 2 hours, either with a nursing baby or with a breast pump, is NOT the same as moving 4oz of milk every 4 hours. NO WAY. Frequency is critical!”