BREASTFEEDING SCHEDULES

There is no set rule that a child should be fed only on demand, or only when the clock indicates feeding time. As such, a child demands milk when he is hungry and should be fed then. Generally, a clock schedule should be prepared as a guideline for feeding the child and not just to be followed to the tee. The clock schedule can work as an indicator as to whether the baby’s daily needs are met. But, if your baby has 6 wet diapers a day and you’re not giving extra water, he is getting enough. If you’re nursing as needed, 7-11 times in 24 hours, your baby is getting enough. If the mother feels that the child does not demand milk often enough during the day, she can feed him more according to the clock.

Does the infant have the ‘right’ to demand feed at night? Discussion on the topic seems endless. If an infant is hungry, however, he has, we think, the right to be fed. This is a rule with some exceptions.

For the first weeks and months of life, the infant certainly needs ‘round the clock’ service. But as he becomes older, he has to learn that in spite of what it may have been led to believe it is not the center of the world. It must wait its turn, at times. The mother may, astonishingly enough, have other things to do as well as look after it. The infant must accept a compromise between its own, overwhelming demands, and what is possible for the mother – this is part of the socialization process.

For mothers who sleep with their infants at night, feeding may not even be a problem at all. In fact, the number of night feeds for the first three months has been shown to be almost equal to the number of feeds given through the day. But if the mother does find it a problem, she may try to persuade her infant to forget about it, by pretending not to hear the cries of hunger for a couple of nights. Some mothers can bear to leave their babies to cry, others cannot bear it! Some infants are particularly hungry or particularly persistent – and some mothers are softer than others are.

All that can be said is that a compromise between mother and child has to be made – as in the case of many other of these questions. No one has yet shown that any lasting harm (or benefit) results whoever ends up dominating the compromise! But from a purely nutritional point of view, a normal child, fed on demand during the day, does not need to be fed during an 8-hour night interval – at least not after the first three months.

After the age of 3 months, if the baby wakes up at odd hours at night after being fed satisfactorily according to the schedule during the day, warm water (20 – 30 ml) with ½ teaspoon sugar can be fed to the baby in a sterilized bottle so that he sleeps off. In this way, the baby will slowly adjust to no milk feeds at night. Also, the baby will slowly get used to bottle feeding. But, cow’s milk should not be introduced through bottlefeeding at least till 4 months of age.

Some children 'turn the clock' – i.e. they feed in the morning, then they may sleep for 6-7 hours in the middle of the day. During the night they are fresh and happy and want their parents to be the same. In this case you have to try to turn the clock back. The mother should wake the child several times during the day, and she may be able to teach it that the consensus of the rest of the humanity is to sleep at night and wake by day.

Hence, as time goes on, each mother sees for herself that breast-feeding is possible and that it is not a fragile and haphazard process but a simple function, which she herself can control. This increases her self-confidence, which makes uncomplicated breast-feeding even easier. As time passes, breast-feeding becomes more of an everyday routine.