The First‐born Child: Patterns of Development

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
First-born infants (209) and their mothers were studied at birth and again 2 mo. later to learn how they had adapted to post-natal life. Only a small minority had escaped ill-health and also achieved the ideal of a contented breast-fed baby with an established routine. At 2 mo. 33.5% were still breast feeding. Difficulties with feeding were reported by 55% of mothers. Of the babies 24.4% were having a night feed at 2 mo. and 24.8% had not yet established a daytime routine. The daily number of feeds ranged from 3-7, with a median of 5. Medical problems had occurred in 46.5% of the babies. Bottle-fed babies had more infections, and were more likely to use a dummy than breast-fed babies. Wakefulness during the daytime ranged from less than 4 h to more than 10 h. Many of these women were over-anxious. The primary care teams and pediatric services face a major task in helping today''s primiparous mothers and their infants make a good start in life together.