Blog From A Broad

rassin' frassin'

I'm not going to go on another lengthy diatribe about "Bringing Up Baby", but I really had to point out one thing. This "My babies sleep from 7-7" boast from Claire Verity makes no sense to me. To get babies on her routine, she initially does a combination of starvation (giving a scant amount at the penultimate feed so that the baby eats much more at the last feed to "last them through the night") and sleep deprivation (not allowing a nap later in the day so that the baby is exhausted by 7pm.) During tonight's episode, we learned that she advocates giving solids to 10 week old babies so that you can drop the night feed.

Still with me? I am prone to rambling these days, I do apologise.

What I'm wondering is, what's the big deal with an 11pm feed?* Mia has worked out her own little schedule and tends to feed roughly every 3 hours during the day until 7pm, then has another feed at 10-11pm, and that's it until 6 or 7 in the morning. I feed her, make and eat supper, have a bit of lazy lounging time with my loving husband, I take her upstairs when I'm ready for bed, give her another feed snuggled up in our lovely comfy cozy bed, and that's it until morning. How would my life benefit (or more importantly, her life) if I didn't take those 8 minutes to give her that last feed before I go to bed? Seems a lot of fuss just to drop one feed that isn't really a hassle for anyone.

And while I'm here, I'd just like to say: four months on the booby! WOOOHOOOOO! A few months ago, I couldn't imagine that I'd get to a point where breastfeeding is enjoyable. Why on earth did I ever think formula feeding was easier? Baby cries (or is simply ready for a feed), baby is latched on and feeding within seconds, baby finishes a feed and there's nothing for me to wash up or purchase at a later date. I like that a lot. Especially the no washing up bit. I thought I was going to wean at 6 months, but now I'm not so sure. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

*(I'm not talking about babies who still wake throughout the night. That sucks; I remember that vividly with Jack and he still has crappy nights sometimes. I'm talking about babies in Mia's situation whose only night feed is at 11pm.)