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.