@coreysnipes @adriano @skyfaller @Lyle It was "only dad will do" all the way through for us. He knew who had the milk but that was about it, and it left mum feeling rejected and exploited. I suspect that it's because dad was the one who looked after him in the hospital while mum was woozy and exhausted.
What I really mean by this is don't worry too much about babies who aren't following the "everyone knows that..." rules. Whatever happens, happens. They're individuals. Parents are individuals. Guidelines are about population averages, at best. Often about ideologies rather than about people at all.
I was also lucky to have a nurse disabuse me of sleep regimens. She looked at baby, then at me, and said "You let him sleep late, don't you." I stood my ground and said "He sleeps around 10 or 11 every night." She said, "I can tell. The peaceful babies always sleep on their natural schedule instead of having their parents force them into something not right for them."
And then there was the paediatrician who told us, a day after birth, to do whatever felt right because he's been looking after babies over the world and, with his retirement coming next week, he thinks that the most important lesson is that babies are raised in all sorts of ways and generally turn out well.
