I have just read two articles recently mentioned in Lactnet - one is

Baldwin, E.N. and Friedman, K.A. "So I Nursed Every 45 Minutes",
Mothering, Spring 1994.

 at: http://www.parentsplace.com/readroom/articles/45min.html

and the other, the article on Babywise in Salon Magazine by Katie Allison
Granju  ( http://www.salonmagazine.com/mwt/ ).

I think these articles are a must for most new parents. Who of us as new
parents didn't hear that we are spoiling our babies? All new parents (most
anyway) tend to go with their instincts, but quite a few are frightned by
the world around them that they are spoiling their babies, and start to try
and force their babies into some kind of shedule - "for their own good", as
it is usualy put.

 I confess, as a first time mom, I also thaught I must be doing something
wrong when my son wanted to nurse every hour or two, day and night, and
when he continued to wake 3 - 5 times a night well into his second year. I
remember my husband and me eating dinner, maybe a week or two after my son
was born, I had just nursed him and put him down, and he was fussing again.
Should we get up and go to him? Should we eat dinner? Of course we got up.
Today the thaught seems stupid, but then, with all the well meaning advice
"don't spoil him from day 1", it made us think, instead of simply following
our instincts. As time went by, and we had more kids, it became clear to us
that our instincts were our best guides. Beeing a doctor, our family and
friends didn't bother us too much, but it was enough. It must be very hard
for young, inexperienced parents to fight their own parents, nurses,
doctors, etc.

When I read the article about "Babywise" I couldn't beleive my eyes - what
they recommend sounds simply like child abuse. Isn't there a law against
this? Hasn't anyone sued them? It's hard to beleive they have so many
followers in the US. I do hope this is not mainstream parenting advice.

Mira Leibovich, MD
(Mom of Ido-12, Maya-10, Noa-7, Yael-4)





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