WASHINGTON – If babies had their way, they would be an only child.
Babies are wired to get and keep their mother’s attention. The plan, according to research out of Harvard University, is to prevent mom from having the time or energy to make another one.
Author and biologist David Haig tells the Daily Mail it is all about natural selection. Mother Nature has programmed the little ones to cry for attention and food.
Breastfeeding at night extends a mothers post-birth infertility and increases mothers’ fatigue. Tired moms do not have the energy for romance and this gives the child more time to be the only one.
The study says the delayed birth of another sibling gives the first child a better chance of survival.
So the next time your little one cries in the middle of the night, just let them know, you’re on to them.