Just One More Reason to Meet Your Baby's Needs

It seems like I'm constantly reading about more and more studies that suggest that responding to a baby's needs yield positive results in later years. This new study found that newborns fed on demand were smarter as children. On average, these babies scored 5 points higher on IQ tests when they were 8!

What I like is that this study divided the parents into three groups- those that set out to feed on demand and did, those that set out to feed on a schedule and did, and those that set to feed on a schedule and failed. No one failed at feeding on demand. I imagine this is because, although it is exhausting to feed a newborn around the clock, it is pretty simple. Your baby is hungry, you feed him or her. 

Honestly, I am not even sure that I understand the concept of a newborn on a schedule. How do you feed a baby that isn't hungry? You certainly can't nurse a baby that isn't hungry. This leads me to believe that a baby eating on a schedule must not be eating when he or she feels hungry, so that he or she will be hungry at the right time. Why wouldn't you feed a hungry baby? I can't imagine telling hungry newborn Lilly that it wasn't time to eat yet. I imagine this is why people do fail at feeding a baby on a schedule. Now, I bet they are glad they did.

Here is my fed on demand baby!

Another neat thing, is that results didn't depend on if the babies were breastfed or bottle fed. I know there are women who wanted to breastfeed and either couldn't or felt like they couldn't for whatever reason and struggle with guilt about the fact that they aren't or didn't breastfeed. But all parents can respond to their babies needs and feed them when they are hungry, regardless of feeding method, so it is great to read about something good that ALL parents can do for their hungry babies. It also brings positive attention to on demand bottle feeding, because when I did all my preparing-for-a-baby-reading while pregnant, I mostly read about feeding on demand and how beneficial that was for establishing breastfeeding.

I eat when I am hungry, most of the time. So, I feed Lilly when she is hungry. Yes, I still nurse on demand.

6 Months of Exclusively Breastfeeding!

My baby girl is six months old today. This marks six months of exclusively breastfeeding. Worldwide less than 40% of babies are exclusively breastfed for six months and in the US that number is less than 15%. I remember when Lilly was only three weeks old and I was struggling with an oversupply. She would scream at me when I tried to feed her, because she was drowning in milk due to a very forceful letdown. I turned to the internet for help and I was assured that if I just stuck with it by 12 or 13 weeks my supply would even out and things would be okay. Over and over again women wrote that I would be glad I did. But 12 weeks was over 9 weeks away and I just didn't know if we could make it. We did. Those faceless women on the internet were right- I'm so glad that I stuck with it. I am so proud. Proud of me. Proud of Lilly.

When we struggled with almost every feeding, I wondered if I was torturing my baby by not just giving her a bottle. However, now Lilly loves nursing. Sometimes, she nurses almost all night long. I feel like breastfeeding is magical, like I can solve all of Lilly's problems with a little bit of nursing.

Although I am so proud that we made it to six months of exclusively breastfeeding and so excited that today is my baby girl's half birthday, I am also feeling a little bit sad. My goal is to let Lilly self-wean, whenever that might be, but today marks the end of exclusively breastfeeding. Although I would gladly delay solids a little bit longer, my husband really wants to let Lilly try solid foods. I agreed that tonight she can try avocado at dinner. I'm excited to see if she loves avocado as much as her mommy and curious to see if she will figure out what to do with it once it is in her mouth. She puts everything in her mouth, so I'm sure she will put the mushy avocado piece in her mouth. After that, I'm not sure what will happen!