*I want to start this post by saying I don't judge. Unfortionately at this point and this topic I'm not sure I can honestly say that. I do not want to be insulting or mean, everyone has their point of view, I simply feel that sometimes they are wrong... Please accept my apologies on any diffences of opinion on this topic and don't hate me.
"My child baby wakes up at least once during the night for a bottle, what do I do?"
So, what would you do? I would feed my kid. Especially if they are under a year old. They are waking up for a reason, and if they are hungry, then how can you not? My doctor is clearly a fan of the on demand feeding policy, and I stand behind it for my own personal reasons. The other side is the group who feel they don't need food then, even though you know they are hungry, so let them cry it out. Are you friggin kidding me??? You KNOW your child is hungry, but YOU have decided they don't need to eat, so they can go without and CRY themselves to sleep, of HUNGER? I can not say I will ever agree with this. Ever. If they are hugnry, feed them.
My theory on how to help these moms is to refuse them food sometimes. I eat in the middle of the night. I know friends who sneak into the kitchen for that last piece of cold pizza at 2 am, and I know some moms who get used to the snack at night when they baby eats so they eat. What if you woke up at night and I said you can't eat. I personally end up sick if I don't eat, but that's just me, maybe you are different. I've known a 5 or 6 year old wake up hungry in the middle of the night, would you let them cry themselves to sleep too? The simple fact in my mind is that if a baby is crying there is a reason You don't need to agree with that reason, but you do need to take care of your child. We spend thousands trying to erradicate childhood hunger, but moms are regularily allowing their child to cry because they are so hungry, until the child's body literally becomes so exhausted from crying and being hungry that they fall asleep. How in the pretty world God made is that ok? Or recommended? How do doctors and families encourage that?
If they wake up and they aren't hungry, they won't eat. If they are hungry, feed them. I want to be there when one of those moms is told she can't have that donut with her coffee because the server doesn't think she needs it. Or that she can't have that coffee at all because, well, coffee isn't necessary to life, so go without. I can't imagine being so hungry that I'm actually crying and being told by someone who has plenty of food available that I can't have it because THEY want to sleep so THEY don't think I need it. How do you know? Maybe I'm so very hungry that it takes HOURS to fall asleep. Apparently that's ok too. Apparently sometimes your child feels so hungry that it keeps them awake and crying for hours, but the mom will get over it, the mom will be ok. Sure. Because they get to eat. I know it's heartbreaking for a mother to hear her child cry, but for crud sakes, it's not like the kid is doing it for fun. They need something. They are crying for a reason. Fix it.
That being said, I know it's hard to be up all night then work the next day. I know it's hard to give them everything they want and not feel exhausted. Go to bed earlier, eat more, sleep more, and put your childs' needs in front of yours. They have tiny tummies that can only hold so much, so they eat more often. My daughter slept for 6 hours at night fairly quickly. I was extremely lucky and I know it. Then she would have a growth spurt and I'd be up 3 times at night to feed her. Then I worked all the next day. When she was done her growth spurt she'd sleep through the night. I never did, but she would. That's life.
Then children get older and parents decide that because they have a special diet that the children should too. No carbs, no meat, no something. These are probably the same people who spend hundreds or thousands a year so their children can have all the clothes and toys they want, but food is restricted. How have we come to this???
I feel like I've ranted, and for that I'm sorry, but I have been hungry and I know how it feels, and I've been sick from hunger. I don't ever want my child to know how that feels, and I do my very best every day to make sure she has enough to eat. Not having food to feed my child, her crying because she's so hungry, those are my nightmares, and people are doing this to their own children nightly. These children are living in my nightmare, and I don't think that's fair. Especially when I read that they expect these children to sleep 12 hours straight...
"My child baby wakes up at least once during the night for a bottle, what do I do?"
So, what would you do? I would feed my kid. Especially if they are under a year old. They are waking up for a reason, and if they are hungry, then how can you not? My doctor is clearly a fan of the on demand feeding policy, and I stand behind it for my own personal reasons. The other side is the group who feel they don't need food then, even though you know they are hungry, so let them cry it out. Are you friggin kidding me??? You KNOW your child is hungry, but YOU have decided they don't need to eat, so they can go without and CRY themselves to sleep, of HUNGER? I can not say I will ever agree with this. Ever. If they are hugnry, feed them.
My theory on how to help these moms is to refuse them food sometimes. I eat in the middle of the night. I know friends who sneak into the kitchen for that last piece of cold pizza at 2 am, and I know some moms who get used to the snack at night when they baby eats so they eat. What if you woke up at night and I said you can't eat. I personally end up sick if I don't eat, but that's just me, maybe you are different. I've known a 5 or 6 year old wake up hungry in the middle of the night, would you let them cry themselves to sleep too? The simple fact in my mind is that if a baby is crying there is a reason You don't need to agree with that reason, but you do need to take care of your child. We spend thousands trying to erradicate childhood hunger, but moms are regularily allowing their child to cry because they are so hungry, until the child's body literally becomes so exhausted from crying and being hungry that they fall asleep. How in the pretty world God made is that ok? Or recommended? How do doctors and families encourage that?
If they wake up and they aren't hungry, they won't eat. If they are hungry, feed them. I want to be there when one of those moms is told she can't have that donut with her coffee because the server doesn't think she needs it. Or that she can't have that coffee at all because, well, coffee isn't necessary to life, so go without. I can't imagine being so hungry that I'm actually crying and being told by someone who has plenty of food available that I can't have it because THEY want to sleep so THEY don't think I need it. How do you know? Maybe I'm so very hungry that it takes HOURS to fall asleep. Apparently that's ok too. Apparently sometimes your child feels so hungry that it keeps them awake and crying for hours, but the mom will get over it, the mom will be ok. Sure. Because they get to eat. I know it's heartbreaking for a mother to hear her child cry, but for crud sakes, it's not like the kid is doing it for fun. They need something. They are crying for a reason. Fix it.
That being said, I know it's hard to be up all night then work the next day. I know it's hard to give them everything they want and not feel exhausted. Go to bed earlier, eat more, sleep more, and put your childs' needs in front of yours. They have tiny tummies that can only hold so much, so they eat more often. My daughter slept for 6 hours at night fairly quickly. I was extremely lucky and I know it. Then she would have a growth spurt and I'd be up 3 times at night to feed her. Then I worked all the next day. When she was done her growth spurt she'd sleep through the night. I never did, but she would. That's life.
Then children get older and parents decide that because they have a special diet that the children should too. No carbs, no meat, no something. These are probably the same people who spend hundreds or thousands a year so their children can have all the clothes and toys they want, but food is restricted. How have we come to this???
I feel like I've ranted, and for that I'm sorry, but I have been hungry and I know how it feels, and I've been sick from hunger. I don't ever want my child to know how that feels, and I do my very best every day to make sure she has enough to eat. Not having food to feed my child, her crying because she's so hungry, those are my nightmares, and people are doing this to their own children nightly. These children are living in my nightmare, and I don't think that's fair. Especially when I read that they expect these children to sleep 12 hours straight...