Breastfeeding

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Connection after breastfeeding My 3-year-old daughter recently found our old nursing pillow in the closet.	Relationship Between the American Academy of Pediatrics and Infant Formula Companies "Over the course of the next several decades, for a variety of reasons, formula became seen as modern and scientific and breastfeeding as old-fashioned.
Parental leave would cause a boom in breastfeeding "Only 12 percent of U.S. firms offer paid maternity leave, while a national parental leave policy would likely require businesses to give new mothers six weeks of paid time off.	The National Scandal of Newborn Deaths, and Why Support for Breastfeeding Moms Matters "...some of the recent stories in the news and articles spreading through social media appear to paint quite the opposite picture about breastfeeding—that somehow breastfeeding is potentially dangerous to babies and that the “pressure to... read more
CDC Backs Breast-Feeding: A widely shared story that U.S. health officials are recommending a delay in breast-feeding to improve "CHICAGO (AP) — A widely shared story that U.S. health officials are recommending a delay in breast-feeding to improve vaccine effectiveness is false.	Organized Support Helps Keep Women Breastfeeding "All forms of extra organised support analysed together showed an increase in the length of time women continued to breastfeed, either with or without introducing any other types of liquids or foods, the authors wrote."
Support programs help moms extend breastfeeding time "Breastfeeding is really important," said lead author Alison McFadden, who directs the Mother and Infant Research Unit at the University of Dundee in the UK.	Breastfeeding: What Do We Know, and Where Do We Go From Here? "Both exclusivity and duration are important, because dose response is well established for breast milk benefits.3–5 Maternal IQ was not measured, as the authors appropriately note; ideally we need this information to consider child cognitive... read more
For babies, breastfeeding is still best, even if it doesn't make them smarter (though it might) "In a commentary that accompanies the study, Dr. Lydia Furman of Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital suggested that this won’t be the last word on breastfeeding and brain growth.	What’s really keeping women from breast-feeding? The answers may surprise you. "We use breast-feeding to help change that narrative, and say ‘this is our commitment to the health and nutrition of our children.’ Kimberly Seals Allers' book “The Big Letdown."

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Journal Studies

Patterns of Developmental Change in Infants’ Nighttime Sleep Awakenings from 6 through 36 Months of Age Weinraub, M., Bender, R. H., Friedman, S. L., Susman, E. J., Knoke, B., Bradley, R., ... & Williams, J. (2012). Patterns of Developmental Change in Infants’ Nighttime Sleep Awakenings from 6 through 36 Months of Age. Developmental Psychology, 48(6),1511-1528. Infants with night-wakings were more likely to be boys, be breastfed, have a difficult temperament, come from a large family, have a depressed mother, be in a single-parent home, and/or attend fewer hours of non-parental child care; however, this tendency for more night-wakings tended to resolve by 18 months.	Infant Sleep and Paternal Involvement in Infant Caregiving During the First 6 Months of Life Tikotzky, L., Sadeh, A., & Glickman-Gavrieli, T. (2011). Infant sleep and paternal involvement in infant caregiving during the first 6 months of life. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 36(1), 36-46. In solitary sleep arrangements, mothers were more involved in nighttime parenting than fathers, and breastfeeding was related to less father involvement. More father involvement early on predicted fewer night-wakings by 6 months.
Breastfeeding May Improve Nocturnal Sleep and Reduce Infantile Colic: Potential Role of Breast Milk Melatonin Engler, A. C., Hadash, A., Shehadeh, N., & Pillar, G. (2012). Breastfeeding may improve nocturnal sleep and reduce infantile colic: potential role of breast milk melatonin. European Journal of Pediatrics, 171(4), 729-732. Exclusively breastfed infants had less colic and fussiness, and slept longer. Melatonin, which promotes sleep, available only in breastmilk, showed a clear relationship to infant sleep patterns.	A Longitudinal Investigation of Maternal Touching Across the First 6 Months of Life: Age and Context Effects Jean, A. D., Stack, D. M., & Fogel, A. (2009). A longitudinal investigation of maternal touching across the first 6 months of life: Age and context effects. Infant Behavior and Development, 32(3), 344-349. As infants grew older, mothers provided less nurturing touch, patting and stroking but more tickling and static touch.
Touch for Socioemotional and Physical Well-Being: A Review Field, T. (2010). Touch for socioemotional and physical well-being: A review. Developmental Review, 30(4), 367-383. Touch is needed for social-emotional and physical development and well-being. In addition, there are therapeutic benefits of massage.	The Development of Maternal Touch Across the First Year of Life Ferber, S. G., Feldman, R., & Makhoul, I. R. (2008). The development of maternal touch across the first year of life. Early Human Development, 84(6), 363-370. While maternal touch predicts mother-infant reciprocity, which is linked to positive child cognitive, language, and social-emotional development, the incidence of all forms of nurturing touch decrease through the infant’s first year, especially after six months.
Natural Variations in Maternal and Paternal Care are Associated with Systematic Changes in Oxytocin Following Parent-Infant Contact Feldman, R., Gordon, I., Schneiderman, I., Weisman, O., & Zagoory-Sharon, O. (2010). Natural variations in maternal and paternal care are associated with systematic changes in oxytocin following parent-infant contact. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 35(8), 1133-1141. Oxytocin levels rise in both mothers and fathers who provide high levels of affectionate touch but not in parents who provide less nurturing touch.	Breastfeeding, Brain Activation to Own Infant Cry, and Maternal Sensitivity Kim, P., Feldman, R., Mayes, L. C., Eicher, V., Thompson, N., Leckman, J. F., & Swain, J. E. (2011). Breastfeeding, brain activation to own infant cry, and maternal sensitivity. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52(8), 907-915. Breastfeeding changed the mother’s brain, activating brain regions associated with empathy, greater maternal sensitivity, and mother-infant bonding.
Breastfeeding and Its Relation to Maternal Sensitivity and Infant Attachment Tharner, A., Luijk, M. P., Raat, H., IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Moll, H. A., ... & Tiemeier, H. (2012). Breastfeeding and Its Relation to Maternal Sensitivity and Infant Attachment. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 33(5), 396-404. Breastfeeding for longer was associated with more maternal sensitivity, more attachment security, and less attachment disorganization, but bottle-feeding did not necessarily harm the mother-infant relationship.	Responsive Feeding is Embedded in a Theoretical Framework of Responsive Parenting Black, M. M., & Aboud, F. E. (2011). Responsive feeding is embedded in a theoretical framework of responsive parenting. The Journal of Nutrition, 141(3), 490-494. While more research is needed, the benefits of responsive feeding on child nutrition and growth are expected to be as great as responsive parenting is to child outcome.

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