Moving from the book

Dear Lactation Specialists and Peds Nurses,

I know that the new guidelines are to wake your child every 3 hours or less to feed.  I know that the baby is very important.  I know that there are some children that HAVE to eat every 3 hours because there is not enough milk or they are not good feeders or whatever...

But part of your job is to evaluate parents and how they are getting along with the nutrition of the baby.  I am not dumb.  My child is not yet a full 7 days old and is already back to birth weight.  She is clearly feeding well and mom is making enough milk to feed Carter and 2 other children.  Given that, I am respectfully going to tell you to take your "wake up your baby to feed" advice and share it with someone else.  If she goes 4 1/2 hours between feedings, I am not worried.  As a matter of fact, I long for that. 

So thank you for your education.  Thank you for being caring.  But please, if you want to be really good at what you do, know that there is a lot more than just book knowledge and you need to learn to adjust recommendations according to situation. 

Thank you.

-Bogart.