Ah, Marianne, I loved your post! You are so right, we owe mothers accurate 
information and we need to be very careful that our language doesn't 
inadvertantly reinforce the misconceptions they may have absorbed from our 
culture.

Vicky, I do understand what you are saying - that you have found scheduling 
has succeeded with many of the mothers you've worked with. I'm sure that's 
true - babies are often highly adaptable and resilient. There is often a 
cost, though. I talked to one obesity researcher, for example, who felt that 
scheduling could be linked to higher obesity rates. The child who is fed 
according to the clock, not to his internal hunger cues, learns to eat more 
than he really needs when he does get fed, in order to "stock up" because 
the next time he's hungry, he may not get fed. To us, the feedings are 
predictable (every 3 hours). To the baby, who can't tell time but only go by 
his own inner hunger, the feedings are unpredictable - when I'm hungry, I 
may not get fed. So he develops a pattern of overeating which can cause real 
problems later in life. That's just one example.

There are also many babies who simply don't do well on schedules. 
Researchers on temperament found that some babies are simply irregular - 
they seem to have a different kind of metabolism and so need to eat and 
sleep at varying intervals. These babies are born this way, and being put on 
a schedule makes them miserable.

Finally, you mentioned something about mothers being reassured if the baby 
has a "good" feeding and then doesn't need to eat for 3 hours. I think this 
creates a real misconception about what a good feeding is! Mothers equate 
breastfeeding with bottle feeding and think it is desirable for their 
breasts to "fill up" and then the baby will have a "good" feeding. But we 
know that the baby fed on demand is able to adjust the fat content (and 
other components) in the milk to meet his or her needs, and that the 
two-minute feeding on a breast that doesn't feel full is as "good" or even 
better than the other kind.

What I try to do is give mothers good information about normal baby 
behaviour, individual differences, how breastfeeding works and how to fit it 
into a busy life. Then the mother can make good decisions for herself and 
her baby - which may end up not being the same as the decisions I might 
make, but that are at least based on accurate information.

Teresa Pitman 

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