Gatekeeping and Alienation: Breastfeeding

The case of Squires v. Smith brought forth an interesting issue with respect to the access of a newborn baby.

The case revolved around the issue of whether a father’s request to have overnight access to his newborn child interrupted the child’s breastfeeding patterns, and thus the request should be refused. In its ruling, it was clear that the Court was not suggesting that the mother had engaged in gatekeeping or alienation; however, the Court did rule in favor of the father.

In coming to a decision that awarded the father overnight access to his child, the Court also ordered the mother to provide pumped and stored breast milk to the father so as not to interrupt the child’s eating habits.

The Court also noted several cases that conveyed clear principles with respect to the issue at hand. The following cases were highlighted by Justice Douglas Cook in his ruling:

Preserving a breastfeeding schedule for newborn children up to at least one year of age will often be protected; See McDonald v. Deagnon, 2009 SKQB 154, [2009] S.J. No. 249.

Similar feeding and sleep patterns in each parent's home ensure and promote stability: See Cooper v. Cooper, 2002 SKQB 151, [2002] S.J. No. 226.

The goal of an access plan should be to avoid long separations from both parents to minimize separation anxiety and to have sufficiently frequent and broad contact with each parent to keep the infant secure, trusting, and comfortable in each relationship. See: Cooper v. Cooper.

Limited overnight access has been successfully argued for infants as young as 12 months old: See Baird v. Webb 2002 SKQB 518, [2002] S.J. No. 748.

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