I am appalled at both the selfishness and selective stupidity of the modern woman in regard to raising babies. From my own experience with the many mothers groups I have attended, and information I have gathered from documentaries on TV, the internet and books, I see that too many women are using 19th Century methods to feed and look after their young. In a modern world where we are obsessed with what is best for our health, how is it so many women do what is worst for their children?
The 4-hour Breast Feeding Routine.
The practice of feeding your newborn baby every four hours is absurd. If one actually bothers to look at the biology, evolution, and all sorts of other science behind breasts, breastmilk, and babies, they will realise the absurdity. My annoyance is with the women who take this advice and put it into practice without thinking whether or not it is good advice. I believe they do this because it suits them. It gives the mother more free time, it teaches the baby to go longer without feeds. But at what cost? Obesity, insecurity, a dwindling milk supply which must then be supplemented by formula...
Supplementing with Formula
All too often I have painfully listened to a mother say she gave up breastfeeding at X months because she ran out of milk. I don't want mothers to feel guilty so I say nothing, but silently I know that in most likelihood she was wrong. The main cause for a low milk supply is the feeding routine rather the mother's inability to produce enough milk. Many things can be done to increase the supply; feed on demand, don't suppliment with formula, alteration of diet, reduce stress levels, and more. We have evolved to feed a baby when the baby cries. Babies have evolved to cry when they are hungry because it gets them food. We are going against millions of years of evolution when we create unnatural routines for the feeding baby, and of course in those circumstances things will go wrong.
Controlled Crying
Unfortunately the "in thing" at the moment is controlled crying. This is where the mother gets the baby to sleep by leaving it in the cot for longer and longer periods to cry and "learn" to sleep on its own. Look it up on the web and you will find the majority of sites praising the method, research showing that it actually helps the infant to sleep better, etc, (but at what cost?). Read information from an organisation which is truly concerned with the physical and mental health of the baby rather than passing on uninformed advice and you will find quite a different view.
With all the above topics a mother should not take the advice of one person or organisation but take in information from various credible sources and make the decision themselves. However, the problem will always be that many working mothers are selfish and they will choose the advice which suits them. Lets hope I'm wrong and the issue is more about getting the information out there.
The best place for breastfeeding related advice is the Australian Breastfeeding Association: www.breastfeeding.asn.au
