Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Feeding the Baby, Schedule or Not?




Deciding whether to keep your baby on a schedule or feeding whenever the baby cries can be confusing for new parents.  However, your parenting style and choices depend on your lifestyle, personal philosophy and schedule.

We have chosen a parent-directed feeding schedule.  Schedule is a loosely used term meaning that you attempt to set the baby’s metabolic rhythm but you always feed a hungry baby.  This is the plan I am most comfortable with since I will need a somewhat predictable schedule with my patients, but I don’t want to starve the baby waiting for the designated feeding time.

This feeding cycle is based on the book On Becoming Baby Wise:  Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Seep by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam.

We like this book because of its simple and logical philosophy that helps get our baby on a somewhat predictable cycle.  The book also describes situations when the baby will deviate from the norm as such as nap times, sleeping through the night and growth spurts as well as ages when you can expect change This gives us an idea of what to expect with the understanding that every baby sets his/her own time frame and schedule.  So far we have a somewhat scheduled day with a cycle of feed-wake-sleep and this allows us to plan our day a little to help keep us somewhat sane.





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