from parental guidance. Healthy, full-term babies typically are born with
the capacity to achieve seven to eight hours of continuous nighttime sleep
between seven and nine weeks. Whether or not your child achieves this is
determined predominately by the philosophy you adopt for feeding.
Why the feeding philosophy? Because every philosophy and sub-
philosophy of parenting has its own corresponding conclusions. A feeding
philosophy represents more than just passing on nourishment to a baby; it
represents a complex value system with its own set of expectations and
beliefs about what is best for a child. These beliefs ultimately define and
direct mothering responses. What a mother expects and anticipates her
baby to need or achieve will influence what she can and will do with her
baby. Mothering expectations direct mothering responses and those
responses produce cause-and-effect behaviors. It is that simple.
That is why we believe parents should study the results of every
parenting philosophy as much as they study the philosophy itself, then
decide what approach is best for their family. Your approach to feeding
(demand versus routine) will have a profound influence on your child’s
biological rhythms, ultimately affecting the establishment of healthy
sleep patterns or sleep disturbances.
For example, mothers who follow the AP approach to parenting see
completely different behavioral results than Babywise moms. That is
because the philosophy drives expectations, expectations dictate methods,
and methods bring about conclusions. One of the most apparent
conclusions of the PDF approach is the establishment of stable nighttime
sleep patterns. Chelsea, our PDF baby, will establish healthy and
continuous nighttime sleep sometime between the seventh and ninth
week. She will probably be sleeping ten hours a night by week twelve.
Her cousin Marisa, on the other hand, will still be waking two or three
times a night to snack. To her mother’s dismay, this pattern is apt to
continue for two very long years, with mutual discontentment.
A second characteristic of PDF babies is the outstanding payoff
associated with a good night’s sleep. These PDF babies are characterized
by contentment, healthy growth, and optimal alertness. People on the
street will remark on a Babywise baby’s happiness. These parents
nora
(Nora)
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