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The recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO) is that infants should be fed exclusively on breast milk for the first 6 months, but the rate of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) has been on the decline in Nigeria. The study determines knowledge, attitude and intending practice of unmarried female undergraduates about breastfeeding (BF). Two hundred females were selected using the simple random sampling procedure. Interview schedule was used to obtain information on socioeconomic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and intending practices of EBF of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile Ife, Nigeria. Knowledge and attitudes on BF were determined using a three and five point Likert Scale, respectively. Data was described using percentages, frequency counts and regression. Sixty percent of the respondents were between the ages of 21 and 24years and more than half are four hundred level students (54.5%). Knowledge on the term EBF is misconstrued as BF for 12 months by 33% of the respondents. Women intend to initiate BF between the first 0-6 hour of birth (65%) and breast feed on request (62.5%). However, 61% may not practice EBF because of their jobs, will introduce infant formula or water during the first six months and 38.3% will not breast feed in public. Women intend to terminate BF at 3 months (5.0%), 6 months (16.5%), 1 year (50.5%) and 2 years (28.0%) because of their health status (54.0%). Knowledge about BF was average (94%) and attitude was neutral (77.4%).Women intend to manage EBF during working hours by having fixed feeding schedules (14.0%) and using expressed breast milk (16.0%). About 34.5% of respondents will not use expressed breast milk because of fear of contamination (42.0%) and their health (36.3%), 6.0% expressed the opinion that EBF is not possible. Major influence on BF decisions includes maternal health (59.7%), maternal jobs (54.4%), husbands (34.5%), mother (24.8%), and mothers in law (17.5%). Regression analysis revealed that knowledge (b = -0.025) has a negative significant relationship with duration of EBF of mothers at p < 0.05. It is concluded that women lacked understanding of the BF recommendations, duration of EBF, have average knowledge and neutral attitude towards EBF. It is recommended that child health matters should be taught not only in the medical schools, but special courses should be offered to increase knowledge on appropriate recommendations on BF practices for all students. Key words: undergraduate, attitude, knowledge, practice, breastfeeding, INTRODUCTION Breastfeeding is the normal, natural way to feed infants, and is part of laying the foundation for a healthy life from infancy and childhood. Breast milk easily absorbed and [...]

The first 2 years of life provide a critical window of opportunity for ensuring children's appropriate growth and development through optimal feeding. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of weaning practices in Wakiso district. Wakiso is a district in central Uganda that encircles Kampala, Uganda's capital city. The district is named after the town of Wakiso, where the district headquarters are located. A descriptive survey to evaluate infant weaning practices was conducted at Nsanji Health Centre III, Wakiso district from July through October 2011. Mothers with no established HIV/AIDS positive status aged 15 years and above, with last born-child aged 1-23 months, willing to provide data on the infant's feeding practices and regular attendants for infant vaccination schedules on Tuesday at the same facility were targeted. The mother-infant pairs were systematically selected for participation in the study based on the number of mothers together with their infants present every Tuesday morning of each week, for vaccinations at the health centre since the health centre had no database for the breastfeeding mothers. A structured questionnaire focusing on breastfeeding practices, complementary feeding practices, mineral supplementation and fluids administration, child's state of wellbeing in first year of life, mothers' age and parity was administered. A total of 204 mother-infant pairs were analysed. Overall, 94% of 204 infants who participated in the study had not been exclusively breastfed for 6 months. Only one of the 124 infants between 0-6 months of age and 5.9% of the 80 infants over 6 months of age were still exclusively breastfeeding at the time of the survey. Complementary foods were introduced earlier than recommended with 22% of the mothers introducing solid foods before 1 month, 14% at 1-3 months and 6% at 4-6 months. Family members (p = 0.001) were a significant source of information on when to start feeding infants solid foods. In conclusion, the low exclusive breastfeeding rates, the early introduction of complementary foods and cow milk and the late introduction of red meat into the infant diets may well be responsible for the high level of infant infections recorded in the first year of infancy. Therefore, a nutritional education intervention, promoting exclusive breastfeeding, highlighting the health and food safety risks associated with the early introduction of cow milk into the infant diets could help reduce the high levels of infant infections and mortality in Uganda. Key words: Exclusive breastfeeding, Complementary feeding practices, INTRODUCTION Infants should be exclusively breastfed for 6 months to achieve optimal growth and development. They should be given adequate nutritional benefits and safe complementary feeding from the age of [...]

This study examined the differential contribution of pre- and perinatal risks in narrowly versus broadly defined autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and across core symptom domains, IQ and co-morbid problems. Children with a DSM-IV diagnosis of autistic disorder (AD) (n = 121) or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) (n = 75) were compared to a typical control sample (n = 311). Diagnoses were based on extensive assessments between 12 and 49 months of age (M = 33.3, SD = 6.4) and re-evaluated at 43-98 months (M = 68.1, SD = 10.7) in 70 % of the cases. Compared with controls, cases with ASD were more likely to be firstborn and show a suboptimal condition after birth. Case mothers reported more infections and more stress during pregnancy. Although the ASD subgroups showed mostly overlapping risks, cases with PDD-NOS differed from those with AD by higher exposure to smoking during pregnancy (SDP) and by a negative association of smoking with IQ, regardless of confounders. SDP appears to contribute more to broadly defined (PDD-NOS) than to narrowly defined ASD (AD). Findings suggest differences in etiological contributors between ASD phenotypes. Keywords Autism spectrum disorders * Prenatal * Perinatal * Risk factor, Introduction Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impairments in social reciprocity, communication deficits and restricted or repetitive behaviors and interests. Although ASDs are predominantly genetically determined (Freitag [...]

Approaching culture as a set of practices that help cope with problems, I explore the emergence of the Schnullerfee, a fairy that helps wean children from pacifiers (Br., dummies) in German-speaking areas. I analyze how parents invoke the dummy fairy in order to deal with their own needs and those of their child, especially as they navigate conflicting medical recommendations. Drawing on my ethnographic research on German family culture, and analyzing contemporary medicalization discourses, I consider practical strategies of risk management in childrearing and the question of shifting authorities in family life., Introduction When we talk about childrearing in a risk society, we must consider different kinds of risk: those risks to which parents fear their children will be exposed, but also [...]

This study investigates the consequences of interference during first suckling for subsequent mare--young attachment in horses (Equus caballus). Foals brought to their dams' teats appeared, at later ages (1-3 months), to remain closer to their clams and to play less than control foals that had been allowed to suckle spontaneously. Higher levels of play and distance initiatives from the mother are considered criteria for secure attachment in horses, humans, and other species. As this unique handling was the only event that distinguished experimental from control groups, the authors concluded that first suckling is a crucial event in the development of secure dam--young attachment. These results could have important implications for all mammal species, including humans. Keywords: suckling, attachment, horse, mother--young bond

About half of 2,581 low-income mothers reported reading daily to their children. At 14 months, the odds of reading daily increased by the child being firstborn or female. At 24 and 36 months, these odds increased by maternal verbal ability or education and by the child being firstborn or of Early Head Start status. White mothers read more than did Hispanic or African American mothers. For English-speaking children, concurrent reading was associated with vocabulary and comprehension at 14 months, and with vocabulary and cognitive development at 24 months. A pattern of daily reading over the 3 data points for English-speaking children and daily reading at any 1 data point for Spanish-speaking children predicted children's language and cognition at 36 months. Path analyses suggest reciprocal and snowballing relations between maternal bookreading and children's vocabulary.

Different types of smiling varying in amplitude of lip corner retraction were investigated during 2 mother-infant games--peekaboo and tickle--at 6 and 12 months and during normally occurring and perturbed games. Using Facial Action Coding System (FACS), infant smiles were coded as simple (lip corner retraction only), Duchenne (simple plus cheek raising), play (simple plus jaw drop), and duplay (Duchenne plus jaw drop). In addition, again using FACS, the amplitude of lip corner retraction was coded on a 5-point scale. Rather than a single smile expression that differs only in amplitude, the authors found a complex family of different smile expressions differing in their duration and amplitude as a function of game, setup versus climax of the game, and perturbation. Both type of smiling and amplitude of smiling appear to be controlled independently by the infant in relation to the context. These findings reveal systematic and context-specific nuances in infant smiles in the 2nd half of the first year. Keywords: infancy, smile, FACS, peekaboo, tickle

The links between unresolved maternal attachment status, disrupted maternal interaction in play situations, and disorganized attachment relationships were examined in a study of 82 adolescent mother-infant dyads. Maternal interactive behavior was measured using the Atypical Maternal Behavior Instrument for Assessment and Classification coding system. Additional rating scales were developed to correspond to the 5 dimensions of disrupted maternal behavior outlined by E. Bronfman, E. Parsons, and K. Lyons-Ruth (1999). A robust association was observed between disrupted maternal behavior and disorganized attachment. Ratings of disrupted maternal behavior revealed that disorganized attachment relationships were strongly related to ratings of fearful/disoriented behavior. Moreover, mothers who were unresolved were more likely than not-unresolved mothers to show disrupted patterns of interaction with their infants. Regression analyses suggested that disrupted behavior statistically mediated the association between unresolved status and disorganized attachment relationships. Keywords: disrupted maternal behavior, attachment relationships, mother-infant interactions

Links between neonatal biological rhythms and the emergence of interaction rhythms were examined in 3 groups (N = 71): high-risk preterms (HR; birth weight < 1,000 g), low-risk preterms (LR; birth weight = 1,700-1,850 g), and full-term (FT) infants. Once a week for premature infants and on the 2nd day for FT infants, sleep-wake cyclicity was extracted from 4-hr observations and cardiac vagal tone was measured. At term age, infant orientation was tested with the Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale. At 3 months, arousal modulation and emotion regulation were assessed, and mother-infant synchrony was computed from microanalysis of face-to-face interactions using time-series analysis. Sleep-wake amplitudes showed a developmental leap at 31 weeks gestation, followed by a shift in vagal tone at 34 weeks gestation. At term, differences among FT, LR, and HR infants were observed for biological rhythms in a linear-decline pattern. Sleep-wake cyclicity, vagal tone, newborn orientation, and arousal modulation were each uniquely predictive of mother-infant synchrony. The organization of physiological oscillators appears to lay the foundation for the infant's capacity to partake in a temporally matched social dialogue. Keywords: mother-infant synchrony, sleep-wake cyclicity, vagal tone, premature infants, arousal

This study uses hierarchical linear regression modeling to analyze sources of variation in the developmental pathways of mother-infant relationships and to search for behavioral discontinuities. The data come from 23 mother-infant dyads of baboons (Papio hamadryas), whose interactions were recorded longitudinally during the infants' 1st year of life. The infant's sex and the mother's age and reproductive experience accounted for part of the variation observed in the developmental pathways of 11 of 20 behavioral measures analyzed; however, some of them did so only in some periods but not in others. The authors proposed that this can reflect the occurrence of reorganizations or discontinuities in the mother-infant relationship that can be related to important life events such as the mother's resumption of sexual activity.

This study examined Family characteristics associated with the coparenting behavior of 60 parents with an 11- to 15-month-old infant (30 boys, 30 girls) during a structured triadic play session. Mothers reported on family demographics, social support, and child temperament. Both parents reported on their self-esteem and childrearing beliefs. Fathers displayed more supportive coparenting behavior than mothers. Mothers' intrusive coparenting behavior differed based on the number of children, parent's employment status, and child gender. Social support, parental self-esteem, and child temperament were significant correlates of individual coparenting behavior. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for family theory and family practice. Key Words: coparenting, family rclations, parenting infants and toddlers, parent-infant, parent-child relationships.

Objective. To examine whether a triplet birth per se poses a risk to the development of infants&apos; cognitive competencies and to the mother-infant relationship. Methods. Twenty-three sets of triplets were matched with 23 sets of twins and 23 singleton infants (n = 138) with respect to gestational age, birth weight, and medical and demographic features. Infants with perinatal asphyxia, intraventricular hemorrhage of grade 3 or 4, periventricular leukomalacia, or central nervous system infection were excluded from the study. At 6, 12, and 24 months of age, mother-infant interaction was observed and infants&apos; cognitive development was tested with the Bayley II test. Results. Mothers of triplets displayed lower levels of sensitivity at 6, 12, and 24 months and infants were less socially involved at 6 and 24 months, compared with singletons and twins. Triplets scored lower than singletons and twins on the Bayley Mental Developmental Index at 6, 12, and 24 months. A weight discordance of >15% was found for 15 triplet sets (65.2%). The discordant triplets showed decreased cognitive skills at 12 and 24 months, compared with their siblings, and received the lowest scores for maternal sensitivity. Hierarchical multivariate regression analysis revealed that greater medical risk at birth, multiple-birth status, lower maternal sensitivity, and reduced infant social involvement in the first 2 years were each predictive of lower cognitive outcomes at 2 years ([R.sup.2] = 0.33). Conclusions. Triplets appear to be at higher risk for cognitive delays in the first 2 years of life, and discordant infants are at especially high risk. This delay is related in part to the difficulty of providing sensitive mothering to 3 infants at the same time. The findings may assist practitioners in guiding prenatal and postpartum parental care and management. Pediatrics 2005;115:443-452; triplets, twins, multiple birth, parent-infant interaction, cognitive development, Bayley II, maternal sensitivity, infant social development., ABBREVIATIONS. IUGR, intrauterine growth retardation; MDI, Mental Developmental Index; MANOVA, multivariate analysis of variance; CRIB, Clinical Risk Index for Babies; PDI, Psychomotor Developmental index. Triplets are a fast-growing birth population. [...]

Weekly observations documented developmental changes in mother-infant face-to-face communication between birth and 3 months. Developmental trajectories for each dyad of the duration of infant facial expressions showed change from the dominance of Simple Attention (without other emotion expressions) to active and emotionally positive forms of attention to the mother toward the end of the 2nd month. The results support an overlapping waves model, rather than at stage model, of developmental change. Sequential analysis found developmental changes from cycling between Gaze Elsewhere and Simple Attention to the Mother's Face in the early weeks to a complex sequence of transitions between Concentrated Attention. Smile, and Cooing Expression nested into sequences of positive communication during the 2nd and 3rd months.

Ecological contributions to attachment transmission were studied in a sample of 64 adolescent mother-infant dyads. Maternal sensitivity was assessed when infants were 6 and 10 months old, and infant security, was assessed at 15 and 18 months maternal attachment state of mind was measured with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) after the 1st assessment. Ecological variables considered were maternal education and depression, paternal support, and infant maternal grandmother support. Results indicated that when the contribution of ecological variables was statistically controlled for, sensitivity was a significant mediator and state of mind no longer contributed to infant security. Sensitivity also mediated an association between maternal education and infant attachment, suggesting that attachment transmission is embedded in a more global process of infant attachment development.

Attachment theorists assume that maternal mental representations influence responsivity, which influences infant attachment security. However, primary studies do not support this mediation model. The authors tested mediation using 2 mother-infant samples and found no evidence of mediation. Therefore, the authors explored sensitivity as a moderator, studying the (a) interaction of mental representation and sensitivity as it predicts infant attachment security and (b) level of sensitivity in mothers whose infants' attachment security is either concordant or discordant with their own. The interactional analyses were not significant. But the match-mismatch data showed that when mother-infant attachment strategies were discordant maternal sensitivity was more consistent with infant than maternal attachment strategy. These findings are congruent with an interpretation of sensitivity as a moderator that can block transmission of attachment strategy.

My responses to the observations and criticisms of 26 commentaries focus on the coregulated and affective nature of initial mother/infant interactions, the relationship between motherese and emergent linguistic skills and its implication for hominin evolution, the plausibility of the 'putting the baby down' hypothesis, and details about specific neurological substrates that may have formed the basis for the evolution of prelinguistic behaviors and, eventually, protolanguage.

In order to formulate hypotheses about the evolutionary underpinnings that -preceded the first glimmerings of language, mother-infant gestural and vocal interactions are compared in chimpanzees and humans and used to model those of early hominins. These data, along with paleoanthropological evidence, suggest that prelinguistic vocal substrates for protolanguage that had prosodic features similar to contemporary motherese evolved as the trend for enlarging brains in late australopithecines/early Homo progressively increased the difficulty of parturition, thus causing a selective shift toward females that gave birth to relatively undeveloped neonates. It is hypothesized that hominin mothers adopted new foraging strategies that entailed maternal silencing, reassuring, and controlling of the behaviors of physically removed infants (i.e., that shared human babies' inability to cling to their mothers' bodies). As mothers increasingly used prosodic and gestural markings to encourage juveniles to behave and to follow, the meanings of certain utterances (words) became conventionalized. This hypothesis is based on the premises that hominin mothers that attended vigilantly to infants were strongly selected for, and that such mothers had genetically based potentials for consciously modifying vocalizations and gestures to control infants, both of which receive support from the literature. Keywords: bipedalism; brain size; chimpanzees; foraging; gestures; hominins; infant riding; motherese; prosody; protolanguage

An important issue for understanding early cognition is why very young children's real-world representations do not get confused by pretense events. One possible source of information for children is the pretender's behaviors. Pretender behaviors may vary systematically across real and pretend scenarios, perhaps signaling to toddlers to interpret certain events as not real. Pretender behaviors were examined in 2 experiments in which mothers were asked both to pretend to have a snack and really to have a snack with their 18-month-olds. Episodes were analyzed for condition differences in verbal and nonverbal behaviors, including smiling, looking, laughter, and functional movements. Reliable differences were found across conditions for several variables. In a 3rd experiment, children's apparent understanding of pretense in relation to their mothers' behaviors was examined, and significant associations were found with some of the mothers' behavioral changes but not others. This work provides a first inroad into the issue of how children learn to interpret pretense acts as pretense.

In this study the authors attempted to unravel the relational, dynamical, and historical nature of mother-infant communication during the first 6 months. Thirteen mothers and their infants were videotaped weekly from 4 to 24 weeks during face-to-face interactions. Three distinct patterns of mother-infant communication were identified: symmetrical, asymmetrical, and unilateral. Guided by a dynamic systems perspective, the authors explored the stability of and transitions between these communication patterns. Findings from event history analysis showed that (a) there are regularly recurring dyadic communication patterns in early infancy, (b) these recurring patterns show differential stabilities and likelihoods of transitions, (c) dynamic stability in dyadic communication is shaped not only by individual characteristics (e.g., infant sex and maternal parity) but also by the dyad's communication history, and (d) depending on their recency, communication histories varying in temporal proximity exert differential effects on the self-organization processes of a dyadic system.

This study deals with parenting from a cultural perspective. Based on Kagitcibasi's model of the autonomous relational self, the authors analyzed Greek urban middle-class mothers' parenting strategies and compared them with German urban middle-class mothers' parenting styles. Interactional behaviors were assessed during videotaped, free-play home observations. It was assumed that urban middle-class Greek and German mothers do not differ in their display of face-to-face context and object stimulation, both considered as supporting an independent agency, that Greek mothers modulate the face-to-face context more with facial warmth than do German mothers who on the other hand, modulate their face-to-face behavior more with experiences of contingency than do Greek mothers. The data confirm our assumptions with the exception of baby talk as a second indicator of facial warmth. The data are interpreted in terms of foundations of socialization pathways of urban families in independent and interrelated societies without denying intracultural variability.

This paper examines the author's treatment of a severely depressed mother-infant pair in a therapeutic nursery. While the direct treatment lasted only nine months, a telephone relationship has continued over fifteen years. Dramatic changes in the pair resulted from the strong therapeutic alliance between mother and therapist, combined with a flexible and adaptive approach, utilizing 'on demand' availability, as described by Winnicott. The convergence of the clinical work with the maturational processes and the sequelae of both mother and infant's early experiences of deprivation are described and explored. KEY WORDS: mother-infant; early intervention; telephone.

Objective. Some mothers have difficulty initiating lactation even when highly motivated to breastfeed. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of and risk factors for suboptimal infant breastfeeding behavior (SIBB), delayed onset of lactation, and excess neonatal weight loss among mother-infant pairs in a population with high educational levels and motivation to breastfeed. Methods. All mothers residing in Davis, California, who gave birth to a healthy, single, term infant at 1 of 5 area hospitals during the 10-month recruitment period in 1999 were invited to participate if they were willing to attempt to breastfeed exclusively for at least 1 month. Lactation guidance was provided and data were collected in the hospital (day 0) and on days 3, 5, 7, and 14. Infant breastfeeding behavior was evaluated by trained lactation consultants using the Infant Breastfeeding Assessment Tool. Onset of lactation was defined based on maternal report of changes in breast fullness. Infant weight loss was considered excessive if it was [greater than or equal to] 10% of birth weight by day 3. Results. Of the 328 eligible mothers, 280 (85%) participated in the study. The prevalence of SIBB was 49% on day 0, 22% on day 3, and 14% on day 7. SIBB was significantly associated with primiparity (days 0 and 3), cesarean section (in multiparas, day 0), flat or inverted nipples, infant status at birth (days 0 and 3), use of nonbreast milk fluids in the first 48 hours (days 3 and 7), pacifier use (day 3), stage II labor >1 hour (day 7), maternal body mass index >27 kg/[m.sup.2] (day 7) and birth weight 72 hours) occurred in 22% of women and was associated with primiparity, cesarean section, stage II labor >1 hour, maternal body mass index >27 kg/[m.sup.2], flat or inverted nipples, and birth weight >3600 g (in primiparas). Excess weight loss occurred in 12% of infants and was associated with primiparity, long duration of labor, use of labor medications (in multiparas), and infant status at birth. The risk of excess infant weight loss was 7.1 times greater if the mother had delayed onset of lactation, and 2.6 times greater if the infant had SIBB on day 0. Conclusions. Early lactation success is strongly influenced by parity, but may also be affected by potentially modifiable factors such as delivery mode, duration of labor, labor medications, use of nonbreast milk fluids and/or pacifiers, and maternal overweight. All breastfeeding mother-infant pairs should be evaluated at 72 to 96 hours&apos; postpartum. Pediatrics 2003;112:607-619; breastfeeding, infant suck, lactogenesis, cesarean delivery., The first week postpartum is a critical period for the establishment of breastfeeding. Normally, the amount of milk produced is minimal for the first 1 to 2 days' postpartum, but [...]

Although the construct of infant reactivity is thought to be a temperamental dimension, investigators have been interested in the relation between emotional reactivity and maternal behaviors. In this study, infants' emotional reactivity to frustrating stimuli and maternal sensitivity and intrusiveness were observed at 5 and 10 months of age. Cluster analysis of infants' emotional expressions revealed three patterns of expressive behavior emerged at both ages: (1) frequent anger and negative (distress) expressions, (2) intense anger expressions, and (3) frequent happy expressions. Results demonstrated that patterns of emotional reactivity at 5 and 10 months differed by maternal interactive style. In addition, patterns of emotional reactivity at 10 months of age could be predicted by differences in maternal caregiving, and conversely, 5-month infant reactivity was predictive of 10-month maternal behavior. Conclusions are made regarding ways that mothers socialize emotions and the bi-directional nature of mother-infant interactions. KEYWORDS. Infant temperament, emotional reactivity, maternal sensitivity

We examined the relative stability of pitch, tempo, and rhythm in maternal speech and singing to prelinguistic infants. Mothers were recorded speaking and singing to their infants on two occasions separated by 1 week or more. The pitch level and tempo of identical utterances were highly variable across the 1-week period, but these features were virtually unchanged in song repetitions. Rhythmic patterning was largely maintained in speech, as in song. Mothers' accurate reproduction of their sung performances can be considered a form of absolute pitch and absolute tempo.

This study examined whether parenting stress in mothers of one-year-old twins can be predicted by their prenatal and postnatal personal well-being, marital support, social support and the presence of other children in the family. Forty mothers of twins participated in a research study conducted pre- and postnatally in their homes. The first interview was at around 27 weeks of pregnancy; the second occurred one year following the twins' birth. At both times, the mothers completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30). At the second interview, the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) was also administered. Regression analyses showed that parenting stress was significantly predicted by pre- and postnatal personal well-being and marital support. Neither social support nor the presence of other children in the family predicted parenting stress in a significant way. Keywords: Parenting stress, prenatal well-being, postnatal wellbeing, marital support, social support, twins

Objectives: To describe maternal behavior in 15 women identified as having smothered their children. Design: A descriptive study of maternal behavior and interaction with her child, using videotapes of mother and child together. These were obtained by covert video surveillance in a hospital setting. Maternal behavior was rated using an assessment schedule designed to be used with video. Results: The mothers showed a range of behaviors. Three groups emerged; one whose interaction with the child resembled normal maternal behavior, a second who interacted in a hostile way, and a third who showed a paucity of interaction. Conclusion: These preliminary data suggest that smothering may reflect more than one type of abnormal maternal relationship or attitude towards children. This may have implications for treatment and prognosis.

The maternity colony of Myotis formosus in Yun-lin County, southwestern Taiwan, began to form in late March, and the numbers peaked (about 200) in May. Most bats left the roost site between mid-August and early October for unknown hibernation sites. Females gave birth during May and June. Before parturition, females (n = 19) spent 563.9 min +/- 47.28 SD outside the roost per night. Time away from the roost decreased significantly after they gave birth. Lactating females increased the total time that they spent outside the roost per night by 37.8% from early to late lactation. Females spent more time grooming young than self-grooming during the first 2 weeks of lactation. From the 3rd week on, more time was spent on self-grooming. Forearm length and body mass of newborns were 21.46 +/- 1.90 mm (n = 13) and 3.71 +/- 0.41 g (n = 12), about 42.8% and 24.1% of adult size, respectively. Young rarely moved during the 1st week after birth. They started to crawl at the 2nd week and to attempt short straight-line flight at the 3rd week. Females always rested next to their young while roosting in the first 2 weeks of lactation but separated from them from the 3rd week on. Behavioral changes in females coincided with the growth and development of their young.

This study investigates the validity and reliability of memory-based reports from mothers regarding the exposure of their infants to secondhand smoke. Results indicate that mothers can provide information about their babies' exposure that is consistent with measurements of air nicotine and urine cotinine levels.

The relationships between aspects of mother-infant interaction and both communication and cognitive skills at 1 year of age were examined in 92 African American dyads, of whom 64 (70%) fell below the poverty line. Ratings of warmth, sensitivity, responsiveness, encouragement of initiative, stimulation, and elaborativeness during a semistructured play interaction were correlated with measures of global cognition, expressive and receptive communication, and communication use. The overall quality of the home environment and maternal ratings of stimulation and elaborativeness were the most consistent correlates of infant communication measures. Relationships were stronger in middle-income than lower-income dyads. These results support the linkage of didactic and functional aspects of maternal behavior to cognitive and communication skills at 1 year of age for African American infants. KEY WORDS: communication development, maternal interaction, infancy

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of human infant mortality after the neonatal period in Western countries. Recently, child care practices have been shown to be important in determining infant vulnerability to SIDS. However, very little is known about the impact of parent-infant cosleeping on infant sleep physiology and behavior and SIDS risk. This reflects the failure of Western societal research paradigms to appreciate the human infant's evolutionary history of cosleeping, the recency of the emergence of solitary infant sleeping as a practice and the fact that parent-infant cosleeping is still the preferred sleeping arrangement for the majority of contemporary societies. Incorporating current hypotheses on the mechanisms of SIDS, we have hypothesized that the comparatively sensory-rich cosleeping environment might be protective against SIDS in some contexts. As a first step to characterize cosleeping environments, this investigation is aimed at assessing, in routinely bedsharing mothers and infants, their relative sleeping positions and the potential for sleeping in close face-to-face proximity and for infant exposure to increased environmental CO2 produced by maternal respiration. The latter is important in that breathing elevated levels of CO2 can have diverse effects, ranging from respiratory stimulation at low levels to suffocation at very high levels. Two related laboratory studies were performed. In the first, all-night videotapes of 12 healthy, routinely bedsharing mother-infant pairs were analyzed for sleeping positions and time spent in face-to-face orientation and distances separating their faces. Infants were 11-15 wk old. Mothers predominantly positioned themselves on their sides facing their infants, with the infants placed either supine or on their sides. Mothers and infants slept oriented face-to-face for 64 [+ or -] 27% (S.D.) of non-movement time, with distances less than 20 cm commonly separating their faces. In the second study, concentrations of CO2 in air were measured in six young women at distances of up to 21 cm from their nares. Peak expiratory CO2 concentrations remained above 1.0% at distances up to 9 cm and above 0.5% at 18 cm. Both baseline and peak CO2 levels were further increased at all distances when measured within a partial air pocket created to simulate a bedding environment sometimes seen during bedsharing. We conclude that during bedsharing there is potential for 1) a high degree of face-to-face orientation and close proximity and consequently 2) increased environmental CO2, as a result of maternal respiration, to non-lethal levels that might stimulate infant respiration. The close proximity would also maximize the sensory impact of the mother on the infant through other modalities. We also suggest that bedsharing may minimize prone infant positioning, a known risk factor for SIDS. KEY WORDS cosleeping; mother-infant bedsharing; CO2; sudden infant death syndrome

Studies have shown that infants of depressed mothers express negative emotions more frequently than infants of nondepressed mothers. The present study examined electrical brain activity during expression of negative and positive emotions in infants of depressed and nondepressed mothers. Infants, 11 to 17 months of age, were exposed to conditions designed to elicit positive and negative emotions while electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was measured from left and right, frontal and parietal regions. EEG activity was analyzed when infants were displaying prototypic expressions of emotions. Compared with infants of nondepressed mothers, infants of depressed mothers exhibited increased EEG activation in the frontal but not parietal region when expressing negative emotions (unfelt smiles and anger). The two groups of infants did not show reliable differences in brain activation during the expression of positive emotions (happiness, surprise) or neutral expressions. Compared with infants of nondepressed mothers, infants of depressed mothers exhibit greater frontal EEG activation during the expression of negative emotions.

The distribution of ingested stable, lipophilic environmental pollutants in dams and their transfer to fetuses and sucklings were investigated in rats fed a diet containing a small amount (35.1 nmol/100 g diet) of hexachlorobenzene (HCB). In the first experiment, we examined the distribution of HCB in pregnant and nursing rats fed the HCB diet during pregnancy and lactation. Its transfer to their sucklings was also studied. On d 16 after parturition, HCB concentrations in the blood, and subcutaneous and perirenal fat of nursing rats fed the HCB diet during pregnancy and lactation were approximately 1/3.5, 1/15 and 1/2.8, respectively, those of pregnant rats fed the HCB diet only during pregnancy. On the other hand, the HCB concentrations in the blood, and subcutaneous and perirenal fat of sucklings were approximately 6, 29 and 15 times higher than those of their dams. Therefore, a large amount of HCB apparently was transferred from dams to suckling pups through the milk. In the second experiment, we fed dams the HCB diet only during pregnancy and determined the distribution of HCB in the pregnant rats and fetuses as well as in the nursing rats and suckling pups. The estimated amount of HCB transferred from a dam to her fetuses corresponded to about 0.39% of her total intake during pregnancy. The amount of HCB detected in nursing rats on d 16 after parturition was much smaller than that in the pregnant rats, suggesting that a large proportion of the HCB that accumulated during pregnancy disappeared from the organs and fat tissues during lactation. The HCB concentration in the stomach contents of suckling pups fed by the dams who had consumed HCB before parturition was highest on d 2 after birth and decreased gradually during the 16 d after birth. In the blood, liver and fat tissues of suckling rats, the HCB concentrations increased until 7 d after birth and then decreased gradually. We conclude that the HCB that accumulated in dams during pregnancy was transferred to their suckling pups through milk in the early days after birth. KEY WORDS: * rats * pregnancy * lactation * hexachlorobenzene