Choice in Human Breastfeeding Infants

Abstract

The present study is an initial examination of choice in human breastfeeding infants. The specific parameters of interest are how an infant distributes its time and its rate of sucking in relation to milk intake while breastfeeding and to what extent the matching law describes human breastfeeding behavior. A descriptive procedure was used in which breastfeeding mothers, with their infants, video recorded all nursing sessions within a 24 hour period. Dependent measures included (1) the amount of time spent feeding on each breast, (2) the number of swallows on each breast, and (3) the amount of milk consumed on each breast. These data, configured as proportions of (1) and (2) relative to (3) for each feeding session, served as the basic evidence for matching, undermatching, and overmatching.