Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, PhD, calls herself the “Uppity Science Chick” and I adore this about her! She clarified new research on postpartum sleep and depression at the recent New Zealand LC Assn. annual conference (where I presented an all-day HUG workshop (HUGyourbaby.org). Kathleen sometimes is surprised by, and certainly surprises us, with what research now shows. For example, most of us were taught that breastfeed mothers get less sleep than bottle-fed babies. But, the research on 6,400+ breastfeeding mothers gathered by her and Dr. Thomas Hale brings new light to this critical issue. As detailed in her new book, “The Science of Mother-Infant Sleep,” Kathleen explains that babies exclusively breastfed do sleep for shorter stretches of time than their bottle-fed peers. However, exclusively breastfeeding mothers fall asleep FASTER, get more TOTAL hours of sleep, get MORE slow-wave (restorative) sleep, feel MORE rested, report MORE energy, and describe generally BETTER physical health than what EITHER bottle-feeding or mixed breast/bottle-feeding mothers report. We now have facts to counter a grandmother who says, “I’ll just give a little formula at night so that my daughter can rest better.”
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 05:28:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015