Gayle said:
"My thought is how much of this could have been avoided
if mom's had been willing to feed on the baby's cues
rather than schedule. "

Today we had our La Leche League meeting - and when we discussed what hint
to give a new mother they all applauded when I recommended they cover all
the clocks in the house!  We are so acculturated to look at a clock - and I
do the same thing - I'm hungry, but wait until noon to eat...

Night time clock-watchers reported they felt so much better once they
stopped looking at the clock at night when the baby woke up or when they
finally were able to go to sleep...20 minutes of sleep, in my estimation,
feels like a lot more if you only don't know you ONLY had 20 minutes!  (I
remember taking a 20 minute nap right before the kids arrived home from
school - it made all the difference!)

Moms reported still being instructed by staff nurses to nurse 20 minutes,
take baby off and go to the other side.  Another mother worriedly asked me
if her 7 week old should be FORCED (How??? I asked) to take the second
breast when he naturally and comfortably came off the first one and didn't
give any signs of interest.  Seeing the lovely rolls of fat on his cute
legs and arms, I felt quite comfortable recommending following baby's
pattern, not the one she had read or heard about.(We giggled that he
obviously hadn't read THAT book...he was writing his own.)

Schedules, times, clocks, timing, pacifiers - in my opinion they all
prevent a mom from learning her own baby's pace and developing her skills
as her baby's primary nurturer.

Jeanette Panchula, BSW, RN, PHN, IBCLC
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