Feeding Time at the Shark Tank

You've been to the aquarium right?  You see that they feed the sharks at 10, 2, and 6 every day right?  Same goes for the zoo with the sea lions and flamingos.  Same goes for those ravenous little beasts we call babies too!  If the zoo employees came running with a bucket full of sardines every time the sea lions cried out you know what would happen?  The sea lions would be fat, lazy and demanding and the zookeepers would be exhausted, drained and would probably quit their jobs!

I'm not saying to starve your infant - that's not nice.  But making them wait until feeding time isn't starvation - it's you being a responsible mother (or father).  They aren't gonna starve if they wait 45 minutes I promise!  But if you leave them there crying you might go crazy.  This is a great time for dancing or playing, or talking - as long as the baby is in motion they usually get distracted from food.  They're hungry because they're bored.....like me eating a bag of chips while I'm watching TV.  Darn those chips!

As babies my kids were on a schedule - they ate at 8am, 12, 4, 8pm and then the 11pm feeding took them straight through until 8am.  That's right my daughter slept from 11 at night until 8am from the time she was two weeks old and my son at three because he spent his first week in the NICU.  Jealous?  You should be. When parents complain about a lack of sleep I just smile.  Sucks to be you!  Especially since between every feeding they slept for at least an hour each time also.  Sleep is so important - to me and them!

I was a bottle feeding mom though, too - I understand when you're a breast feeding mom that 4 hours is too long, maybe 3 in between instead?  Before you condemn me for not utilizing my ta-tas, my milk ducts don't work or I would have been on that team too.  Hey - it's free and healthy so I'd have been there!  I couldn't though so I settled for a bottle and a close snuggle. 

I'm pretty sure that me (and the hubby) keeping to a good schedule with the infant feedings lead to better sleeping habits, better coping abilities and happier babies.  Not to mention, happier less exhausted parents than most.  I do know for a fact that those feeding schedules lead to other types of schedules - like bedtime - and have contributed to my daily happiness ever since.  No sea lions barking orders out for tuna at my house!