David Haig, a Harvard scientist, has recently proposed a new explanation as to why babies cry at night. He thinks that babies demand breastfeeding in the middle of the night in order to prevent new siblings. He says that more than one baby means having to share the parents, so babies do everything in their power to prevent more children.
They do this by crying in the middle of the night because they want to be breastfed. This not only interrupts potential copulation, but frequent night nursing also delays fertility. When a baby breastfeeds, it causes hormone changes that can affect ovulation. Haig also says that certain genes inherited from the mother cause babies to sleep more soundly, but certain genes inherited from the father cause them to wake up more. Haig attributes this to fathers having no guarantee the baby will be theirs, so it is in their best interest to delay ovulation.
James McKenna, an anthropologist from the University of Notre Dame, disagrees. He believes that babies wake up in the middle of the night for all sorts of reasons. They could be hot, hungry, want cuddles from their mom, or just be awoken by a parent moving in their sleep.
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Conflicts within the scientific community
Really interesting article! Great summary, too! This article proposed that babies cry at night in order to prevent their parents from producing more offspring, thus increasing the amount of attention received from the parents. I personally question the validity of Haig's findings; however, since I have no experience in this field of science, I have absolutely no data to contradict his statement. While I do agree with McKenna's conclusion more than Haig's, I believe that both of these scientists' conclusions could be correct in that there is most likely a combination of factors influencing why babies cry at night. In terms of population growth, while it makes sense that children would want their parents' undivided attention, thus ensuring healthy offspring, this would also cause a decrease in birth rate, leading to a smaller population in the future. Although multiple parenting websites—such as this one http://www.babycentre.co.uk/a536698/seven-reasons-babies-cry-and-how-to-soothe-them — suggest that there are only conventional reasons (and solutions) as to why babies cry, their information is likely to be skewed because they are addressing a specific population. While I couldn't find any research that was in accordance with Haig's findings, there is still no reason to doubt that babies have a natural motive behind crying at night.
ReplyDeleteFrom this blog (http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/14/302912419/why-babies-cry-at-night), I read more about this unimaginable idea proposed by David Haig. He suggested that babies crying at night to prevent mothers from ovulating (and therefore giving birth to less babies) was a result of evolution. He explained how they "have a better chance of surviving when their parents wait a while before having another child." This apparently ensures a higher chance of survival for the baby.
ReplyDeleteThis article, similar to the one you read and about the same exact topic, gave me a new and unique perspective about babies' crying habits. I never would've thought of that!