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Infants with and without feeding difficulties: Maternal experiences
Author(s) -
Hagekull Berit,
Dahl Margareta
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/1098-108x(198701)6:1<83::aid-eat2260060111>3.0.co;2-1
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , breastfeeding , isolation (microbiology) , social isolation , pediatrics , medicine , psychiatry , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
This study aimed at describing parental emotions and experiences mainly related to the feeding situation during infancy. Two groups were compared, one group of families (n = 42) with infants exhibiting severe feeding problems, and a matched control group without such problems. Subjective maternal reports were obtained in a structured interview covering aspects such as child behavior at mealtimes, amount of problem experience, maternal emotions, and social relations as well as facts about the feeding situation (frequency of feeds, length of meal, period of breastfeeding, etc). In the large majority of comparisons, there were significant group differences, with problem parents reporting more negative experiences and emotions, more social isolation, and more irritable child behavior coupled to more prolonged and frequent feedings. The feeding difficulties appeared to have influenced the total situation in the problem families. It was concluded that such negative experiences could not be regarded as “normal” stress reactions following the birth of a child. The relevance of parental experiences for clinical work with infant feeding problems was discussed.