Short-term influence of breastfeeding on the infants' interaction with the environment

✍ Scribed by Carolyn J. Gerrish; Julie A. Mennella

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 124 KB
• Volume: 36
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0012-1630
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(200001)36:1<40::aid-dev5>3.0.co;2-4

✦ Synopsis

The present study tested the hypothesis that around the age of weaning, human infants are more interactive with their environment immediately after breastfeeding. To this aim, we assessed 4- to 6-month-old infants' responsiveness to a rotating, musical mobile before breastfeeding on one test day, and after breastfeeding on another. Thirteen infants, fitted with miniature movement detectors on both their left leg and wrist, were videotaped for 4 consecutive min during which the mobile was alternately switched on and off in 1-min intervals. Although the infants showed no significant differences in limb activity as a function of the timing of a breastfeed, they looked at the mobile significantly longer when tested after breastfeeding. This finding suggests that breastfeeding has a substantial effect on 4- to 6-month-old infants' attentiveness to and interaction with their environment.