Ideally, your baby nurses for six months exclusively. It’s no coincidence that the World Health Organisation and many professionals recommend it. To achieve this, on-demand breastfeeding is key.
Breastfeeding on demand means
✅ your baby is not fed anything other than breast milk,
✅ and she can breastfeed on any cue,
✅ breastfeeding is not time-limited or restricted in any way,
✅ the baby does not receive a pacifier or bottle.
Just enjoy your baby without watching the clock!
If you asatisfy your baby’s needs it makes everyday life so much easier and smoother, despite the fact that there is no clock to watch. A schedule sounds good because it promises predictability. But, in reality mothers who watch the clock have no more predictabilty in their life than those who watch their baby. This is because the schedule does not reflect the baby’s needs, so it takes time and energy to get him or her adopt to this external order. If it is successful at all, because sometimes it’s just not happening however hard you try. And even when it is working any disruption and it takes forever to get back to the routine all over again.
From time to time the stability promised by a certain routine is not delivered. And even in the „settled” periods in between, any unexpected and extraordinary event shakes things up in a bad way. Because life with a baby is not predictable. The expectation of a schedule may have been born out of the need to fit the baby into the parents’ way of life, but in reality the birth of a baby is bound to upset the normal flow and completely reorganise the family.
The freedom of inner security
If you are keen to breastfeed on demand, we encourage you to take this route! Because breastfeeding on demand and watching your baby does not create confusion, but real security from coming from your heart. You will always know what your baby needs and she will trust you, rely on you for support, thus you will be able to handle any situation. Even if you can’t tell in the morning whether your baby will be nursing or sleeping at 4pm, you know that you will be there to give her what she needs.
And a breastfeeding baby will also have a routine, even if you don’t stick to any rules and watch the clock. You will roughly know when she sleeps, when she is more alert, when she nurses more often or less frequently. And as she grows, there will always be new habits, a new routine and that is natural.
There is a lot of freedom in being able to watch your baby not the clock. Forget about the schedule! TIt works for so many families, even if there are several children in the household.
There are no negative consequences of not following any schedule or routine, because all your baby needs is your presence and care no matter the time of day.