Your baby isn’t lazy

Too often I hear parents say their baby is “lazy”, or worse it comes from a practitioner like a Pediatrician or Chiropractor. They say that the baby just won’t do the work needed. Baby falls asleep at the breast, doesn’t eat enough, and doesn’t seem interested in eating after a few minutes.

Why do people say that babies are lazy? What makes them say this? The babies that they are talking about are hungry, and go to the breast/chest/body/bottle hungry, yet they stop eating within a few minutes. So what’s really going on?

Humans are mammals. All mammals breathe air, are warm-blooded, give live birth, and make mammal milk for their young. Have you ever watched nature shows that have a mammal with its young? Whales, bears, horses, rhinos, squirrels, and all the other wonderful mammals lie there and nurse. Their baby does ALL the work. The parent doesn’t need to hold their body, position the baby, or do compressions to feed their child.

Mammal babies know what to do. They are born with reflexes that guide them, help them create paths in their brain and body, teaching them step by step how to do. These reflexes are very important! They teach human babies how to position their bodies on their parents to feed, help them locate the nipple, and latch.

Reflexes also teach human babies how to roll over, crawl, walk, and so much more. There is a ton I could say about reflexes, but that’s for another post.

Most improtantly know that babies have these reflexes to feed. So if they have reflexes, why are they falling asleep? Why would a baby sleep instead of eating when it’s hungry?

The answer is easy- feeding is supposed to be EASY and these babies sleep because it’s HARD!! Your baby isn’t lazy, they are conserving energy. So don’t tickle feed, unwrap, rub cold cloths or dance around and try to get baby to feed. Work with a skilled IBCLC and get to the root of the issue. Figure out why feeding in hard (and hug your smart baby who is most definitely not lazy!).