Love this

My friend Holly sent me this. So true!

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well - Virginia Woolf

There are many areas of parenting that cause controversy and when to feed a baby is one of them. There's two schools of though: either to feed on demand or feed on schedule (usually 3 or 4 hourly). When Tahu and I became parents we made a series of decisions from our gut instincts. We went with what felt right to us and a big one was when to feed Knox. We chose to demand feed. Now I've just finished a (terrible) book called Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracey Hogg. In this book she talks about how if you demand feed your baby, by 3 months old your household will be chaos. You will have no time for yourself or time with your husband/partner, your house will be a mess, you'll probably not be able to find time for a shower, the baby will rule, you'll never get to go out, you'll constantly be feeding the baby. Basically demand feeding is the worst decision you can make. I am pleased to say that at 3 months (and actually at all months), this was not the case for us! By demand feeding Knox  he is happy, not hungry! We always have dinner together, we have time to ourselves, we go out when and where we want. Knox is a huge part of our lives but he does not "rule" our lives. I am not constantly feeding him! I can also confirm I do find time for showers!! I was shocked to read such strong things against demand feeding from someone who clearly had never tried it!

Now we chose demand feeding by our instinct, it felt right to feed him when he was hungry and to learn his schedule and what suited him from him, not from a book. And I'm so glad we did. But there is also strong scientific research to back up what we have said! In another book I read called Baby on Board by Dr Howard Chilton, he discusses how a breast takes 30 minutes to fill and a baby's stomach takes 35 minutes to empty (using ultrasound to determine this). Now why would I feed my baby every 3 or 4 hours if I know his stomach has probably emptied at 35 minutes?

He also talks about the make up of breast milk from humans and other animals comparing then how often the babies are fed. For example, a rabbit has a very high protein content in the breast milk and feeds their babies once a day. Then going through other animal and how often they feed and when you come to humans they have the least amount of protein and this indicates that human babies should be fed very often, probably half hourly! As the baby grows and is able to drink ("eat") more then the times between feeds increases. Babies shouldn't have to wait 4 hourly for a feed!

Of course parenting is a very individual thing and everyone has to make their own choices and so there's plenty of people who will totally disagree with this post but that's ok. I just wanted to be an example of how demand feeding and/or going with your gut instincts is awesome and can totally work well.

And that's the end of another installment of Why I Do What I Do.

Why I Do What I Do

This saying pops into my head a lot these days. I'm a new parent and I think I'm doing ok but learning more all the time.

I get given a lot of advice and I always give what I'm told two tests. Firstly, is it logical? And secondly, does it feel ok? What's my natural instinct telling me about this. And so I pick and choose what I follow and then I feel like if I have to explain it, it comes under the title: Why I Do What I Do.

And so I'll try and write posts so I can remember and learn and I'll tag them with that title so it's easy to find them. I've written my first one which is about breastfeeding in public. I'm sure there will be more!

Inspiration right when I needed it

I am incredibly lucky to be able to breast feed Knox. It was painful at first but so easy right from the first moments. He's a natural! Because of this I feed him whenever he needs it or if its been a couple of hours no matter where we are. My theory is that it's better to be breastfeeding in public then to have a crying baby! But I feel weird about it. I'm nervous of what people think and say. I worry! But if he needs food then he needs it! So I've fed him standing in a very long queue at the post office or on the chair for old people in the chemist and all sorts of unusual places. And I'm super subtle about it because I want you seeing my nipple even less then you want to see it! But I just feel weird.

So yesterday I was browsing Instagram and found this picture of a singer that I really admire (love!!) breastfeeding her wee girl in a restaurant in Paris. And I felt great. Like it's not just full on breastfeeding nazis that feed in unusual places. I'm ok. I don't have to worry so much. What a relief!

How strange though that a celebrity breastfeeding in a restaurant has done more for me then any other person feeding their baby in public!

Oh I'm also that person giving her baby a bottle as she walks around ikea!

But I think this is ok. I think it's great actually that Knox will feed and sleep anywhere anytime. As long as he has me we can go out anywhere. In fact I'm writing this post in Melbourne. At the tender age of 9 weeks he has already travelled to another country and he was an absolute star on the trip! Just grizzly from when we landed but he got over that easily.

So I will remind myself of Pink and this picture next time I feel weird. And I'll be ok!