title: Short-term influence of breastfeeding on the infants' interaction with the environment.
abstract: The present study tested the hypothesis that around the age of weaning, human infants are more interactive with their environment immediately after breastfeeding. To this aim, we assessed 4- to 6-month-old infants' responsiveness to a rotating, musical mobile before breastfeeding on one test day, and after breastfeeding on another. Thirteen infants, fitted with miniature movement detectors on both their left leg and wrist, were videotaped for 4 consecutive min during which the mobile was alternately switched on and off in 1-min intervals. Although the infants showed no significant differences in limb activity as a function of the timing of a breastfeed, they looked at the mobile significantly longer when tested after breastfeeding. This finding suggests that breastfeeding has a substantial effect on 4- to 6-month-old infants' attentiveness to and interaction with their environment.
authors.affiliation: Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-3308, USA.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Gerrish
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Mennella
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012919:Social Behavior