Comments on: Breastmilk, Ice Cream, and Infant Feeding Schedules: How Much Space is on YOUR Counter Top?

By: Allie

Allie — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:40:44 +0000

I know this is an older post, but THANK YOU! I think I don’t have much space “on my counter,” and for her first 3 or 4 months of life, my daughter mostly nursed every 1-2 hours in the daytime and every 2-4 at night. Pretty much everyone told me to try to stall her for longer so that I “had time to build up some milk.” Someone gave me the Baby Whisperer book and we tried it a little bit, though never letting her cry alone, but it didn’t resound with us and we abandoned it for watching her cues. When she stopped nursing so much a month or two ago, I kind of didn’t know what to do with her in all the spare time between feeds!!

She is now almost 6 months old and people well-meaningly ask me if she’s sleeping through the night yet. She still wakes 3-4 times to eat each night, and yes I’m still tired, but sleeping through the night is not my goal. (I would be in a lot of pain from engorgement, for one thing!!) It’s interesting how many people suggested I give her solids early, too, “to make her sleep for longer.” She’s still just on breastmilk and she’s almost 19 pounds!

Thanks so much. I always agree with everything you post.

By: rachel

rachel — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:11:37 +0000

Great post. My husband and I believe that the best way we can teach our babies about God from the beginning of their sweet lives is to always be there for them and meet the needs that God created them with. If our babies know they can trust us to care for them, then hopefully they’ll learn to trust God to care for them as well. Thank you for the read–very informative.

By: Mrs. Parunak

Mrs. Parunak — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:11:47 +0000

Lori,

Thanks for your comments!

My intention in sharing the “horror” stories was to show the effect that a schedule can have on babies whose mothers have very small milk storage capacities. I was attempting to include both extreme ends of the spectrum by telling about the couple we knew who had NO problems whatsoever and then other people who had very serious problems. Certainly not everyone who implements Babywise (or one of the other popular scheduling programs like Baby Whisperer, for example) is going to have this happen. My point is that there are VAST differences in experiences with schedules, and milk storage capacity goes a long way towards explaining why that is.

I’m not sure how fair it is to accuse the parents who had serious trouble of not doing their research. You’re right that Ezzo does tell about watching wet diapers, but the problem is that he also manages to scare a lot of people with tales of the “dangers” of demand feeding, and he gives the false impression that all babies can and should follow the eat, wake, sleep routine. Babies whose mothers have small storage capacities often need to do eat, wake, eat, sleep, or even eat, wake, eat, wake, eat sleep.

It’s true that there are babies who do not “demand” to eat frequently enough and could wind up in serious trouble, too. This has nothing to do with milk storage capacity, which is why I didn’t discuss it in my post. But you’re right, it is certainly dangerous to think that if your baby isn’t crying that he isn’t hungry. (Incidentally, I dislike the term “demand feeding” for that exact reason. It makes people think you only feed your baby when they are “demanding” it by crying forcefully. “Cue Feeding” is a much better term. You’re paying attention to cues: mouthing, rooting, increased alertness, and even the clock when you have a sleepy baby who needs to be awakened to nurse.)