on-demand feeding

There are two main theories when it comes to baby feeding: On-Demand/Cry Feeding and Mealtime Feeding.

ON-DEMAND/cRY FEEDING

This is essentially sticking a breast or bottle into the baby’s mouth whenever they cry, instead of trying to figure out why they’re actually crying. Yes, this often quickly eliminates inconvenience of crying, but we have to remember that babies cry for many reasons besides being hungry.

Every cry is not a hunger cry. They cry when they’re tired, hot, cold, dirty, scared, overstimulated, sick, in pain, etc. When we “solve” every cry by feeding, not only are we teaching baby to have an unhealthy relationship with food (eating solves all my problems..sound familiar?), but we’re never allowing them to eat a full meal.

If a baby is crying during the day, and it’s not due to one the above reasons, and it has not yet been 3-4 hrs since their last feed, they’re likely crying due to over-tiredness, not true hunger, especially if they were up all night eating.

If they’re eating every hour or two, they’re just snacking, but never getting a full enough belly to sustain the long stretches of sleep they need. So they’re having to wake up all night to eat, which exhausts them, and then they get over-tired and fussy during the day, so we feed them every time they cry, and it becomes a never-ending cycle. Essentially, we are creating those demands.

Mealtime feeding

This is exactly like it sounds, where baby learns to take their feeds during regular "meal times" during the day. This is how their bodies and ours are naturally designed to take in nutrients. Meal times were created to be a time when family and community members gather, rest from their work, and enjoy one another over a rejuvenating meal. Babies are designed to be included in this from the start.

This leads to better sleep, because when we cut out all the little snack feeds throughout the day and night, baby learns to fully fill their bellies at each meal, naturally leading to longer stretches of daytime and nighttime sleep. They no longer cry to eat in the night because they're able to get all of their nutritional needs met during the daytime hours.They use nighttime to digest those meals/rest their bodies/develop their minds and immune systems instead of having to keep eating at night.

This is actually the child’s natural, innate rhythm. Our bodies are designed, in both childhood and adulthood, to eat (and sleep) at roughly the same times each day. Our digestive juices know to start working right before mealtimes (that’s why your stomach growls) and our bodies know to start producing melatonin before the time we normally go to bed, making it much easier to fall asleep. If those times vary from day to day, we’re not working with our body’s natural rhythms.

In sleep coaching with me, we will talk through what those rhythms are and how to teach them to baby.

You’re WORTH getting the sleep you need and I’d love to walk alongside you to make that happen.