Oh No!!!! - Page 2

[mavery]

It seems to me it would be totally reasonable to say to the mom that whatever her feeding philosophy, it is not practical in a daycare center to be crying for long periods of time (as someone else already said) and ask her to provide an extra "insurance" bottle to give the child if she seems to be hungry, or to ask her if she would consider modifying the schedule slightly to work in an extra feeding so the child can be more content at daycare.

[Potty Diva]

nate~ This is research per say, it comes right from the book of babywise!

Yesterday I called the pediatrician's office that the family goes to, and most families in our town and asked what was typical for a 6 week old's feeding schedule.

The nurse said that for every hour equals 1 oz. of forumla (read: not breastmilk). So if she is being fed every 4 hours she should be getting about 4-5 ounces, not 6 ozs. She asked if she spit up alot and I said tons. The reason: to much forumal at one time, she's not able to keep it down with her under-developed esaphagus (sp?). She also said she had not heard of ezzo. I asked about demand feeding and she said of course breastfed babies should be fed on demand because breastmilk digests much faster and that formula is filled with " other" ingredients which a new baby is not able to digest fully or adequately (her words, not mine).

I haven't talked more about it with the primary caregiver, but plan to today.

[lisser]

I worked in the childcare industry doing various things from daycare to private care for about 10 years before I became a mom.

I always took the parents instructions as *guidelines* of what a typical day *might* be like. Since, as a care provider, I needed some sort of basis to work from. But, I always did what seemed best for the child, at the moment, even if it was different than what a normal day w/ the parents might look like. I would feed the baby when she's hungry. If the mom only gives you *just enough* formula for the "scheduled" feedings, maybe a notice should be sent out that babies need to be sent with *more* formula than they need, in case of emergency, or if they are having an extra hungry day/growth spurt etc.

The mom cant *force* you to stick to her schedule, though she could always change daycares.

Lisesr

[aywilkes]

Originally Posted by sunnysideup

I would just assume that by "encourage these times" the mom does not mean force those times. If this baby were in my care, I would try to follow the mom's suggestion, but if baby were hungry or unhappy I would assume the mom would want me to help her baby in whatever way the baby wants.

good thinking!

[paquerette]

Originally Posted by Potty Diva

She asked if she spit up alot and I said tons. The reason: to much forumal at one time, she's not able to keep it down with her under-developed esaphagus (sp?).

So wouldn't the obvious answer to this be smaller amounts less often!?

Wouldn't someone at your place of employment be a mandatory reporter? I know that's a drastic measure, but this child is literally starving!

[sarah_bella1050]

Honestly my dd was on a "schedule" when she was a newborn. By this though I mean that I had to wake her up every 3 hours to eat or else she would sleep for 5-6 hour blocks and then be up all night long. She had her days and nights mixed up. She was hungry or cried, she was NEVER denied food, but technically it was a schedule. Maybe that's what's going on with this baby. I have read the first part of Ezzo (didn't know what it was as a new mom) and what I understood was that you have to have a complete schedule, it was really riduculous. It was something like wake, feed for 30 minutes, then play for 30 minutes then sleep for an hour and a half. With specific times and everything. If this mom was really doing Ezzo you would have gotten a MUCH more detailed schedule. I really don't think that is the case. I would have the daycare provider talk to the mom and ask just exactly what "encourage" means to her. Does it mean that they are not to feed the baby if it's hungry and not the scheduled time? Or is it just a guideline b/c the baby is trying to be a day sleeper?

[mavery]

So, this thread got me wondering about Ezzo, which I have heard a lot of bad stuff about but have never read, and yesterday in the bookstore I picked it up and browsed through a few sections. While I totally don't believe in the overall approach, it is NOWHERE near as rigid as I had expected based on what I had heard. The feeding scheduling for small babies incorporates flexibility - e.g. if you think your baby is truly hungry before the scheduled feeding, you feed them, but you're aiming towards a regular schedule. Anyway, the op already got plenty of feedback, I just wanted to mention this.

[mommy68]

I agree with the others. Also, maybe her pediatrican had a reason to tell her to feed her child every 4 hours. I guess they would just have to ask her why she chooses to feed the child that way.