New Research on Newborn Sleep Needs: Mom's Nightly Presence is Essential

Before you send your child to the hospital nursery at night, take a look at the new research out.  Newborns who were separated from their mothers (sleeping in a different room) during the first few days showed higher psychological stress and had their sleep patterns disrupted.  The separation created anxiety measured in heart rate changes, respiration changes, and a decrease in rapid eye movement (which is essential for babies' brain development and the reason why they need to go through more REM periods than adults).  The article was posted on www.foxnews.com (http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/10/19/newborns-need-to-be-near-their-mothers-at-night/ ).

While I feel that this is not new information, I am extremely glad to see that research is emerging to support the concept.  Hey, if even Fox News is reporting it, then that's big strides for attachment parenting.  It has been well advised by many sources (La Leche League and Dr. Sears included) that newborns need their mother's presence.  It just does not make evolutionary sense that babies would have the ability to operate without their mothers at their most vulnerable moments in life.  They are biologically aware of this vulnerability and in desperate need for the feeling of safety.

I remember being in the hospital and having the nurses encourage me to send my baby to the nursery; I needed the rest, they said.  My absolute refusal was all they received.  It was hard enough for me to let my baby leave the room after my C-section without me, but with having to be sewn back up and all, there was no other choice for me.  I took my husband by the hand and made him swear to me that at no moment would our child be without one of us during our hospital stay.  He kept his promise.  Later, even when the doctors and nurses wanted to take him to the nursery for different medical measurements and what-not, I insisted that they let my husband go with them.  I was surprised that there was push-back from the nurses, but inevitably they gave in.  Maybe it's being a first time mother, but I just couldn't imagine leaving him to strangers, no matter what their job was.

I'll admit, we did concede once, when we were promised by an overly charismatic nurse that she would bring him back in no more than 15 minutes.  30 minutes later, I began to panic.  40 minutes later, my husband went storming to the nursery where he found our son just sitting there crying while the nurse chatted with other nurses.  She told him they were still waiting on a doctor, so he waited with them, comforted our son, and later, we promise ourselves we'd never let the nurses take him without us again (I still curse myself and that nurse when I think back on it).

Babies are so vulnerable at this stage of their lives.  It's the first chance they have to learn that we will be there for them and protect them.  I'm glad to see that research is now seeing this concept in biological responses in the infant.  So, remember you are your child's first line of defense.  And, while the world has changed and babies are safe in the nursery, their biological response is still to need the presence of their mother: the only person they actually know at this point.