needs. If a baby has siblings, a plan will allow mom and dad to have time
they need as well. Everyone wins with PDF.
With PDF, feeding time, waketime, and naptime cycles are both
routine and predictable. Though a routine is always predictable, what is
predictable does not necessarily establish routine. For example, Chelsea’s
mom follows the principles of PDF. This means approximately the same
amount of time passes from one feeding/wake/naptime event to the next.
So interaction with baby is both predictable and routine, an important
first step in establishing continuous nighttime sleep.
Marisa’s mom is following AP-type demand-feeding. As a result,
interaction with Marisa is very predictable. Marisa cries and her mother
responds by offering her breast. However, this reaction is far from
routine. The time lapse between nursing varies greatly. One hour may
pass this time. Then three hours the next. Followed by thirty minutes.
Then another hour. Although feeding Marisa is predictable, it is also very
erratic. We believe such erratic interplay between caregiver and baby
throughout the first several weeks prevents sleep/wake cycles from
organizing. Marisa simply can’t get it together and get in sync with the
outside world.
To truly grasp the many benefits of an infant routine, you must first
acknowledge two popular misconceptions. The first states that an infant
routine detracts from meeting a baby’s physical and emotional needs.
This is a misguided assumption that schedules are incompatible with
love, care, concern, and successful breast-feeding. Nothing could be more
untrue. The second misconception is that an infant fed on demand will
usually be happier, healthier, and generally more secure than one fed
routinely. The inaccuracy of this last statement is revealed in the PDF
plan.
More Than Just Feeding
For better or worse, parents are the greatest influence on a child’s ability
to sleep. Expecting babies and young children to sleep through the night
is very realistic. But this all-important life skill is rarely achieved apart