I couldn't agree more with Teresa.  I think it's a fallacy that 
schedules give mothers more freedom.

When my babies were small, I found that *not* having a schedule was 
very freeing.  I could pretty much go anywhere at any time, knowing 
that whatever my baby might want or need, I had it in my arms and/or 
in my breasts.  I just let my baby do what he wanted (eat, sleep, 
play, quietly observe, etc -- in a sling most of the time) and we 
carried on.

I remember the mutual shock when a Babywise-follower and I had a 
pleasant conversation about how our days went.  She was absolutely 
amazed that I did not feel tied down by my baby, and I was likewise 
amazed at how tied down she felt by her rigid schedule.  (I know no 
one here was advocating rigid schedules; I'm just sharing this story 
for illustration.)  She really only gave herself a couple of windows 
each day to get out and do things, lest her baby fail to 
eat-play-sleep in the proper order or for the proper amount of time. 
There were no such worries for me.

As babies grow older, they're not so easy to tote around on a whim, 
and naptimes (for example) may need to be observed at regular times & 
at home.  Most mothers I know find that their children settle into 
regular naptimes with minimal or no imposed scheduling, and they 
(mothers) honor this.  I think this is a different situation than 
scheduling a newborn or young baby.

I would add that unrestricted breastfeeding does not usually result 
in overfeeding.  Babies take what they need and leave the rest, as 
long as the mother's milk production and the baby's nursing patterns 
are in sync with each other.

Margaret
mother of 3, LLLL, IBLCE exam-taker next month
Longmont, CO


At 8:31 PM -0400 6/20/08, Teresa Pitman wrote:
>To me, one of the lovely things about breastfeeding is that you 
>don't have to worry about whether baby is signalling hunger, wanting 
>to suck, wanting to sleep, wanting to be held, whatever. Just put 
>the baby to the breast. If he's hungry, he'll eat, if he wants to 
>suck, he'll suck, if he wants to sleep, he'll nurse to sleep, if he 
>wants to be held he'll probably just play around at the breast and 
>he's happy in your arms. It's all good.
>
>I actually think it's easier for the busy mother to know that she 
>can feed her baby very frequently (if that suits the baby) for short 
>periods of time rather than having to sit down and get organized 
>every three hours for a long feeding.
>
>Teresa Pitman

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