Parenting

There are so many books and theories on parenting these days. Sometimes I wonder if I should follow them. The thing is, like all theories and school of thoughts there are always opposing camps so at the end of the day it is me who has to decide what is best for my child.

I was rather determined to practice the PDF(Parents- Directed Feed) theory initially. The greatest attraction for this is the promise that babies will sleep through the night sooner than most others. Some boasted 9 weeks. WOW! I really was tempted. Can you imagine the freedom and sleep it brings if baby could sleep from 10pm to 7am? I tried. I failed. I don't know. Maybe because I wasn't whole-hearted in the approach. I have my doubts as to whether I need to put myself and baby through such regimes. So along the way I just could not press on. Maybe deep down I am contented enough that Hannah is just waking up once a night near dawn. To me, that was good enough already although I am greedy at times. I want a couple more hours till daybreak. So... the verdict is this. Hannah is now 10 weeks old and she has yet to sleep through. Well occasionally she does.

I was rather bothered at first. I kept counting how many weeks she was. Wondered how long more she'll need before that long anticipated 'sleeping through' comes about. I asked around to check how long others took. I started comparing. I began to wonder if I should seriously embark on the journey of PDF now. IT went on for a while.

Finally, I asked a mother of 4. And her comments made sense to me. Her kids slept through only at 4 years old! But she was not resentful about that lost of sleep. Her theory and advise for me?

" Always remember that the Lord will give you wisdom and understanding for YOUR children and yours alone. We are not called to parent someone else's kids. Neither are other people given authority to parent ours. So take advice in your stride and listen only to God, our only authority."

How true. This pdf theory is so BIG in our church that it seems to be THE WAY. Maybe it isn't. We need to look further and open our eyes and ears to not just how parents in our church bring up their children. There are successes everywhere else too. And we know our child the best. They may be successful but their way may not work best with our child. And it depends on our heart. I choose to follow my heart and find peace in that. And if Hannah is going to take 4 years too to sleep through, I will pray to God for strength and joy to accompany her through those years of night feeds.

I am liberated.



ps: Latest update... Hannah's 6.5kg to date.