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From:
June Rychlik <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 2 Feb 2002 01:11:44 EST
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When I have had moms express to me an interest about getting the baby on a
schedule...I explore that desire a little bit..because I usually find its
related to a problem the mother is perceiving..or a worry about the future.

For example, if the mother has one of those babies that seem to like to
cluster feed in the middle of the night, and she's not able to rest while the
baby sleeps during the day. (perhaps due to demands of other children..) she
may really mean that she wants the baby to sleep more at night.

In the baby awake all night scenario suggest to her that she try to nurse the
baby very frequently during the day..at the slightest feeding cue the baby
shows..even if the baby seems awake with no other feeding cues exhibited.. in
reality this happens naturally in most cases, if the mother is more
responsive to early feeding cues during the day. (At night, it may actually
take crying on the baby's part to rouse the mother)  I also talk with her on
other ways to make the night time feedings more tolerable. It amazes me how
many of these mothers haven't tried nursing lying down. I encourage them to
take the babies to bed with them, or at least have them close at hand at
night and nurse lying down.

The other big reason I see that mothers want to get their babies on a
schedule..is the impeding..I'm going to be going back to work soon.  This is
a valid concern for these mothers, and they need practical help on ways to
manage breastfeeding and working. It would be nice if all moms could stay at
home and be available to nurse on cue..but in reality many are returning to
the work force very soon and don't have that choice.

I talk with these mothers about enjoying their babies while they can, and how
to prepare to manage the working/breastfeeding experience.  Sometimes the
issue has got to do with wanting the baby to actually be hungry while she's
available to nurse.  I experienced this first hand when I went back to work,
but went to the baby-sitter to nurse the baby at lunch.  There were a few
times the sitter had to really hold the baby off for me until I arrived to
feed him. She would offer him as little expressed milk as she could to make
him not miserable, but hungry still when I arrived. This was important to me,
as I was NOT a productive pumper.

Sometimes it does mean that the mother would like the baby to nurse less
frequently. It often means that she sees other important demands on her time,
and a discussion of the normalcy of very frequent feeds (which she often
perceives as not normal) is in order.  Often the most productive discussion
we can have over this is simply acknowledging her desire to be Superwoman,
but helping her explore ways to save time in other areas of her life, or
asking for help/support from others in her life in these areas.  With my
prenatal women, I bring the topic up of needing help and support especially
the first few weeks and how it will be difficult to impossible to *do it all*

I also see this as a cultural issue.  If culturally she values independence
and feels children should learn to be as independent as young as possible,
she is more likely to be interested in a schedule.  Other cultures that are
more *attachement parenting* orientated are less likely to see this as an
issue.

So when a mother tells me she wants to get her baby on a schedule..I explore
that a little to see what she means by that, how she perceives it will solve
her problem, and help her find solutions that will work.  I myself also use
the analogy of adults eating when hungry and very frequently and most parents
do respond well to that line of thought.

June Eastman, BS, M.Ed, IBCLC
Lawrence Massachusetts WIC Program

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