[TulipMama]

Is it 2 1/2 hours from start to start or is it 2 1/2 hours from the end of the first nursing session to the start of the next? Just curious. I haven't read babywise but thought I had heard that. It would make a big difference between what they call 2 1/2 hours to what I would call 2 1/2 hours (from start to start).

Depends on which edition you read. *wink*

Both are referenced in Prep for Parenting, 5th ed, 7th printing, summer 1997, pg 114: "The time between feedings can be measured from the beginning of one feeding to the beginning of the next, or from the end of one feeding to the end of the next." On page 27 of the outline guide, "For the first four to five weeks: . . . the usual time between each nursing period should be no less than 2 1/2 hours from the end of your last nursing period to the beginning of the next. Any time increment between the 2 1/2 hour mark and 3 hours is acceptable." (Bold in original.) Similarly on pg 28 of the outline guide, "Between weeks five and eight: . . . each nursing period should be no less than 2 1/2 hours and no more than 3 1/2 hours from the end of the last feeding to the start of the next."

I believe that in the latest editions it's standardized, from beginning of one feeding to beginning of the next feeding. But I haven't read all the notes and outlines to be able to state that is the case categorically.



For us the goal that was communicated in the baby and toddler materials was three meals a day with the family, and perhaps a before-bedtime nursing/snack/glass of milk. The focus was *family mealtimes* and predictability. That said, a mid-morning snack or mid-afternoon snack could be incorporated into a toddler/preschooler routine. (Hmm. . . which ended up as more times for eating for toddlers than 4-month-olds, who in one edition, were having four feedings, four hours apart. . .) Even though routine and predictability were stressed as important, on at least one of the toddler tapes (and perhaps in the book, but I remember it on a toddler issues tape) snacks were taught as "extras" and toddlers shouldn't feel they are "owed" a snack--so mid-morning/mid-afternoon snacks were optional. Confused yet?

Anyway, the over-arching theme that was communicated in theses materials was that if a parent can control a child's routine, a child's environment, a child's relationships, a child's behaviour--then the child would be better placed to have his heart in a good place.

Oh, my FTT son quickly gained weight when I stopped nursing and started feeding him high-calorie formula (still, idiotically, on the Ezzo routine) and the pediatrician no longer was worried and monitoring his growth after several months. About a year later, however, we moved and had a new pediatrician who was also concerned with his growth, and my son was placed on a high-calorie, nutrient dense diet. Yup, we had always done the "full feedings" that are stressed in Ezzo's materials. But my son needed more frequent feedings as an infant and toddler (but I didn't see that then--I thought that the Ezzo routines were healthiest. . .)





(Elizabeth and Kathy--there is an Ezzo phrase I'm thinking of that I can't remember. . . I know you know what I'm talking about. . . Something related to having moral momentum, not having spiritual inertia, ready to receive the Gospel. . . what is it?)