well, it would take a lot of writing to explain my entire philosophy on every aspect of scheduling. I have always believed there are a hundred ways of parenting well. For the most part, as a postpartum doula, I work with career women who want to breastfeed but also have careers that are very important to them. I often wish they would all quit their jobs when they have a baby and stay home and nurse every hour and give their babies their all. I love the images of people in other cultures carrying their babies to work in slings and nursing whenever they wish. I love Jean Liedloff's philosophy that babies want to know what it is to be a human and they learn that from being with us. That they also need to be responded to every time they cry. Breastfeeding is one way to ensure this happens and my goal is to keep my clients breastfeeding for as long as possible. In the beginning of my career I saw some mothers quit breastfeeding because the baby's wanting to nurse every hour or so was more than they could fit into a day filled with obligations, siblings, big houses to clean, hair appts. and shopping. A midwife client I'm working with now told me last night that if she couldn't give her baby a good feeding and know he won't get hungry again for 2 or 3 hours she would feel she could never go back to work again. Or anywhere else. Yes, it would be good to take their babies with them everywhere and they try to do that but can't always. Traffic alone can make it impossible to get an errand done in an hour. I think it is a good balance to offer a schedule (that can be changed or deviated from; that goes without saying) if it keeps mothers nursing, even if that sometimes means pumping and feeding breastmilk. My original question wasn't about newborns, it was for babies about 6 wks and older. And I asked how much they need after 6 months or so, so that mothers didn't feel they were lacking in milk supply if they couldn't pump 6 ounces for one feeding. During the early weeks, obviously, the more they nurse the better for all the reasons we now know.
Is it cultural? Yes, certainly, but it's the culture we live in. I'm not going to change that single handedly in one life; I can tell them what I believe and give them choices. The problem comes in where moms put them on strict schedules and don't deviate no matter if the baby is hungry, lonely or just needing soothing for reasons we don't know. But that is the stuff of Babywise and others. I work with these moms for weeks and months (and know some of their kids as teenagers and a couple now adults) whose babies are on 3-hour (somewhat, there's dessert, etc:) schedules and they are also carrying them in frontpaks, passing them around the family for love, keeping them warm, playing with them and raising well adjusted kids. I know for a fact that many of these would go to formula so others could feed the babies when they are gone if I told them they must feed on demand) And the ones who have the privilege of staying home are able to nurse completely on demand and are happy with that. It can all be good, depending on the whole picture.
Vicky York, IBCLC, CPD
http://mypeoplepc.com/members/vmyork/
www.ikarma.com/user/vmyork
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