Name: Valerie Plowman
Babies: Nursed 4 babies on a schedule
Blog: BabyWiseMom.com
Valerie discusses how she started feeding on demand with her first born and how, she too, had trouble with breastfeeding as many of us do. She turned to Babywise and was able to see the benefits, when used in conjunction with breastfeeding, right away! She discusses the benefits below:
When my oldest was born, I figured I would just go with what felt right when it came to all things parenting. Surely I could just go off instinct and things would work out, right? Well, breastfeeding did not start out so well. I didn’t know what I was doing and my son didn’t know what he was doing–I have had some “born nursers” since and he was not one of them. We visited lactation consultants to no avail. I found myself a few weeks in hoping he would give up and refuse to breastfeed. I wasn’t going to quit because I am stubborn, but I hoped he would. Not that I didn’t believe in breastfeeding being best. I did. But life was that dreadful.
He didn’t give up. I turned to Babywise. Things immediately improved and I was a believer! I breastfed him until he was 13 months old (I started weaning him at 12 months). I then breastfed my next three children for a year each, all on a schedule.
Being on a schedule helped me understand my baby’s cues. I didn’t wonder if every cry was a hunger cry or not. My baby started sleeping better and with some predictability. I had other fringe benefits, like my leftdown regulated. Before the schedule, I would letdown randomly in public and have a wet shirt (even with my nursing pads). Once I started a schedule, that didn’t happen anymore. When my three girls were born, they were content babies right away. I was able to plan our days accurately. My older kids could still continue doing what they did for the most part because I could schedule around the baby accurately. Sure, we had to adjust things and we became firm believers in the carpool, but life was not majorly disrupted.
My children all slept through the night while breastfeeding. They all started at different ages, but my girls, who started breastfeeding on a schedule from birth, all slept through the night at much younger ages than my son (between 2-4 months instead of 6 months).
There are so many benefits to breastfeeding on a schedule. Your body becomes regulated and your baby’s does to. As a result, life at home becomes regulated, which means baby joins the family dynamics instead of blowing them up.