Contented Little Baby Book - Does it work?!

[missingmargarita]

I've been reading the Contented Little Baby Book, and don't really want to get into the rights and wrongs of it, but does it work?

It sounds like it might be hard to follow the routines as strictly as you need to, but does it work as well as she says it will?

I agree with whoever said there's a link with PND in some cases. There was a Jeremy Vine segment about it in December 2009 which was v enlightening, esp watching someone v close to me in meltdown as her baby did not comply.

It's great if your baby is easy going and wants to be in that routine. If it doesn't, it offers no help to get your baby there...

Ohhhh this is an interesting read. I mentioned this on the BF forum and got SERIOUSLY negative reactions from it.
I'm reading it following a recommendation from my obstetrician to try something similar.. Not necessarily to the letter but defo not 'on demand feeding'.
I bought the book in mothercare last week and the woman behind me in the queue had a quick rant about how cruel and evil the concept is!!

I have friends who it's worked for, k

It depends what you mean by 'worked'. I was all over the shop trying to implement routines and structure and trying to control my baby's patterns as I thought it would make me a better mother if I was 'in control'. It was HARD WORK and miserable and my life had to take a back seat.

With no. 2. I co-slept, used a sling and the baby just fitted in with everything I wanted to do. If I was going out I would offer a feed just before. If the baby had been awake for a while a feed would guarantee them falling asleep so I would plan work/chores/phone calls for that time. The baby was just easy peasy. I always got enough sleep as well as enough social time and could fit in all my older child's events and needs.

Now I feel immense guilt at the way I was trying to 'break' my first child and would never attempt it again.

Also, not feeding on demand isn't great. The whole point of demand feeding is that you meet your child's needs. Your body responds to the environment to deliver this. So for today for example, most breastfeeing babies will be feeding more and the mothers milk will be less fatty and much more watery, because her body knows exactly what the baby needs. If you deprive the baby because it isn't 4 hours yet there is a risk of dehydration and the mother's milk may not be thirst quenching enough when the baby does get it, or it might be too watery. Part of the 'environment' that the body adapts to is the baby's demands.

This is true of bugs and antibodies and stomach issues within the baby. Their feeding patterns tell the mother's body what kind of nutrition they need right now.

We tried it with ours when we were having trouble and it helped in that it solved whatever the problem was but we didn't do it for long - no need to - and we weren't rigid.