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5 Cool Things No One Ever Told You About
Nighttime Breastfeeding
The world
is full of tired parents… and the Internet if FULL of message boards with posts
from worried and exhausted parents seeking information about whether their
babies are normal and what they “should” do about all the night-waking their
babies do. Bookstores have entire sections dedicated to baby sleeping,
authored by so-called “baby sleep experts.” And, big-box retailers stock
these books next to all sorts of gadgets from specialty swaddling blankets to
sound machines, knowing, from market research, that desperate and
sleep-deprived parents will fill their cart full of anything they think might
improve their baby’s sleep. Impulse shopping at its finest.
But, what
do we really know about night-waking, breastfeeding babies and why they might be waking up to nurse when all we
want them to be doing is sleeping? Of course, there are the basics of why
babies nurse frequently.
But, with this post, we thought we’d compile some of the cooler, less
publicized things science tells us about nighttime and breastfeeding so that
you, the exhausted moms of Chicagoland, might be able to look at nighttime
breastfeeding in a whole different way.
So,
without further ado… here are
5 Cool Things No One Every Told
You About Nighttime Breastfeeding:
1) Did anyone ever tell you that…. studies have
shown that breastfeeding moms actually get MORE sleep than their
formula-feeding counterparts? Yes.. you’re tired, but you did read that
correctly! According to one study, breastfeeding parents got 40-45
minutes more sleep per night on average during the first 3 months postpartum.
(Source) Over a 3 month period, that is A
LOT more sleep! And, research also tells us that all that extra sleep is
very important for mom’s mental health and serves to decrease her risk of
postpartum depression. (Source)
2)
Did anyone ever tell you that… in lactating women,
prolactin production (prolactin is the milk-making hormone) follows a circadian
rhythm? Studies have shown that breastfeeding women’s prolactin levels
are significantly higher at night, particularly in the wee hours of the
morning. Babies often want to nurse at night because quite simply,
there’s more milk at night! (Source)Aren’t our babies smart??
3)
Did anyone ever tell you that… babies are born with
no established circadian rhythms? They can’t tell day from night, and
they take several months to develop their own cycles. They also do not
make their own melatonin (a sleep-inducing hormone) for much of their early
life. But, guess what has plenty of melatonin in it? Your nighttime
breastmilk! (Source) So,
scientists actually think that melatonin-rich nighttime breastmilk helps babies
develop their own circadian cycles and helps them eventually learn to sleep
longer stretches at night.
4)
Did anyone ever tell you that…. in addition to
melatonin, your evening and nighttime breastmilk is rich with other
sleep-inducing and brain-boosting substances? The following is an excerpt
from an article authored by University of Notre Dame early-childhood
researcher, Darcia Narvaez, PhD:
Parents
should know that breastmilk in the evening contains more tryptophan (a
sleep-inducing amino acid). Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin, a vital
hormone for brain function and development. In early life, tryptophan ingestion
leads to more serotonin receptor development (Hibberd, Brooke, Carter, Haug,
& Harzer, 1981). Nighttime breastmilk also has amino acids that promote
serotonin synthesis (Delgado, 2006; Goldman, 1983; Lien, 2003). Serotonin makes
the brain work better, keeps one in a good mood, and helps with sleep-wake cycles
(Somer, 2009). So it may be especially important for children to have
evening or night breastmilk because it has tryptophan in it, for reasons beyond
getting them to sleep. (Source)
5)
Did anyone ever tell you that… breastfeeding at
night can be important for keeping a mom’s long-term milk production steady and
strong and may actually mean less
pumping during the day for working moms? See, the lactating breast knows
how much milk to make based primarily on how frequently it is emptied; these
are the laws of supply and demand, which are based on the natural world’s
24-hour clock… and not just during a mom’s waking hours.
The
number of times an individual mom will need to empty her breasts to maintain
long-term milk production has been called her“Magic Number.”
If a mom is not nursing enough times in a 24-hour period to meet her
Magic Number, her body will eventually down-regulate milk production and her
supply will be reduced. For working, nursing mothers, more breastfeeding
at night means more nursing sessions in a 24-hour period, which in turn could
mean less pumping sessions needed while mom is at work while still achieving
her daily Magic Number.
These
basic dynamics apply to older babies, who
may still need nighttime nursing, too!
So, there
you have it! 5 cool things no one ever told you about why your baby is
(still) waking at night to nurse. Did you ever think, when you
hear your baby rouse at 2:00am, that they are actually giving you the gift of
MORE sleep, lowering your postpartum depression risk, building and developing
their brains, possibly reducing their risk for long-term mood disorders,
developing their own circadian cycles, getting more milk when your supply
is highest, ensuring your long-term breastmilk supply, AND giving you an
opportunity to pump less at work? Hopefully, now
you will. Sleep, tight mamas!
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