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Houston Chronicle presents

Dr. Jay Allison
"Ask the Doctor": Pediatrics

February 17, 1999

Dr. Jay Allison from Texas Children's Hospital - Houston, answers questions reguarding your children's health.

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HoustonChronicle: Welcome to Ask the Doctor! The purpose of the Ask The Doctor chats are to provide general information and is in no way intended to be construed as medical advice for any visitors' specific disease or condition. The intent is to increase a participant's knowledge about a general disease or condition. For treatment of your specific condition please see your personal physician. This forum is not intended to be used in emergency situations. If you are uncertain of the urgency of your problem or condition, contact your personal physician or the nearest hospital for assistance. HoustonChronicle.com, Texas Children's Hospital - Houston and the Talk City Network are proud to present our special guest for today, Dr. Jay Allison. Welcome Dr. Allison!

Dr. Allison: Thank you.

SoonToBeNothing: How long should I breast-feed my baby?

Dr. Allison: That's an excellent question, and there really is no one solid, true answer to that. If you let babies alone, and let them nurse as long as they want to, most babies will nurse between nine months and one year. Some mothers choose to nurse longer than a year, but beyond that time I think it's more of a social interaction than a nutritional interaction. So I guess 9 to 12 months is Mother Nature's normal time. The benefits of breast-feeding accrue in the first several months, so even if you just want to nurse 2 or 3 months, that is worthwhile. But peoples' lives are complicated, and babies are all different, so I don't think there's one firm answer. You have to pick a time that's best for you and your baby. If you only nurse for a couple of months, that's still worthwhile. Sometimes the baby will decide to stop nursing, and once they have stopped, I don't think there's much a mother can do to alter that decision. So sometimes the baby decides.

RubyMoon: When should I start my three-month-old on solid food? He is just breast-fed now.

Dr. Allison: Again, I think the baby is the one you need to look to for an answer to that question. Most babies will start sending a signal that they require more food than breast milk or formula between 4 and 6 months. Occasionally a baby, particularly a large one, may start sooner than that. But usually it's in that window of time. The usual signals would be the baby who has been sleeping through nights may start to wake up every 2-3 hours during the night for feedings, or the baby may start squeezing daytime feedings closer together. And act dissatisfied with just milk alone. For most babies, the signals are fairly clear. And I'd like to say that solid food, rice cereal, etc. is not really a sedative. So when the baby starts waking up to eat again at 4-6 months, we're not sedating the baby; he's just asking to eat more. The same thing will not work with a two-week-old baby who's waking up every 2-3 hours during the night. Years ago, people believed that, and some will still give you that advice but I've seen the experiment performed hundreds of times, and it doesn't work. Starting solids too soon doesn't solve those problems, and can actually cause problems that you don't have and don't need to have. Feeding a baby who doesn't want to eat at 1 or 2 months is extra time and effort that at, the very least, you don't need to be spending. And parents of newborns are busy enough as it is!

Sigmagirl: I have a two-week-old baby. How can I get her to sleep?

Dr. Allison: That is a great question, and if I knew the answer to that, I wouldn't need to practice medicine any more! I encourage anyone to come up with a solution, and I'll become partners with them! I don't know how to make babies sleep. It's one of those magic neurological switches that goes off in the brain at a certain age. The age may vary a bit from baby to baby, but generally most newborns are sleeping for 6 or 7 hours by about 2 months of age. It's very much like they're going to start smiling at 6 weeks, sitting up at 6 months, walking at a year. They are programmed into the nervous system at a certain age, and there's no way to hurry it. So unfortunately, I don't know how to make a baby sleep, but if anyone knows one, I'd welcome you to send it to me.

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