Amen to this! I remember an in-law who had a baby in the 90’s and the little one was so skinny! She was exclusively breastfeeding and had decided the baby should be on a schedule. The baby would cry, but because it wasn’t time for a feeding per the schedule, mom would not feed her. She would cry and cry and cry. Finally it would be feeding time and mom would breastfeed her, but the baby would unlatch, cry, try again, and repeat. At one point, my SIL (experienced mom) suggested she pump to see how much milk the baby was actually getting. It was not a lot. No surprise that all the stress was affecting her milk production. Unfortunately, mom was not real receptive to changing her methods. Finally the pediatrician told her she had to start feeding the baby on demand and supplementing with a bottle or she would have to call CPS. Crazy. The sad part was that her church was where she got this schedule idea (it was a book?). I think she felt a lot of pressure to get on board, but her baby was too little for a schedule!
Interestingly enough, a few years ago I was a CASA (court appointed special advocate) and my case had a newborn. The newborn had a GI issue of some kind and he actually did better on formula than breast milk. And this was after using milk from the milk bank not the birth mom. I had never heard of that before and I’m sure it is very rare.
Sounds like “babywise” - very controversial and a lot of folks consider it abusive. Tends to have conservative and evangelical churches endorse it. Lots of babies suffered
I just googled it to confirm if my memory was correct and it’s the only parenting book the American Academy of Pediatrics has said is dangerous to babies. Horrible stuff. Teaching “obedience” to newborns is just horrifying.
I was surprised and VERY thankful that the nursery is still open where I delivered considering it was pretty progressive! Plus my DH had a cold (that might have been worse than labor according to him) so he was more helpless than my newborn the 2nd time around.
Wait, a nursery where all the babies go away from the mums? We didn’t even have that when I had my oldest 26 years ago. I’ve only ever seen it on American TV.
I don’t think it is quite like they look on TV. It’s basically an overnight nurse watching/snuggling a couple of babies at a time. They bring them back every 2 hours to feed but they will watch them in between. There is definitely no viewing or anything!
I do think there used to be the big rooms where all the babies went and I guess even were displayed. But the “baby friendly” criteria really forced those to close and keep the babies in the room in an effort to push breastfeeding and help the moms “learn baby’s cues.” Which in my mind is a little over the top in that mom is still recovering and needs help! I didn’t feel like my nursery experience was any different than if I was at home sleeping and my mom or sister was watching the baby. Others can definitely chime in by the “baby friendly” stuff has creeped into “mom unfriendly” in my opinion. I think there is a “no pacifier” rule too?
I delivered in a birthing center slightly removed from the main hospital with only a midwife and some of the “cutting edge” (for America!) natural birth stuff like tubs and gas and air. Which I think is pretty different than most of the larger hospital experiences. I was very glad they didn’t close the nursery!
I don’t recall one when my youngest was born but then I don’t remember wandering too far from our room.
But when my eldest was born, that hospital had a unit with the big viewing window and rows of incubators. She was a preemie so the whole place might’ve been a neo-natal unit dedicated for preemies or maybe everybody went there initially.
It was a thing that the babies always stayed in the nursery except for brief visits with the moms. That was way back “in the olden days” - like, when I was born.
Then the nursery became kind of a “holding place” for the moms to rest a while, particularly in the overnight hours. Before nursing really took hold again, many babies would spend the entire night in the nursery being bottle fed; nursing babies would go out to moms for a short time to nurse and then they would send them back. Totally voluntary. Some babies never went to the nursery. But many families would take advantage of the opportunity to rest up before going home (wise, IMO).
Finally we arrived at the latest “Baby Friendly” era, where the goal is now to keep moms and babies together for 23 of 24 hours a day. Babies should only go to the nursery for procedures (ie circumcision), mom procedures (ie tubal ligation or other medical intervention), or necessary care (needing to go in the warmer or other interventions requiring close/constant observation by medical staff).
And just you wait - soon the trend will turn again. What’s old becomes new.
Yes when my oldest was born 22 years ago, I sent him to the nursery at night for the whole night because the wisest advice my mom ever gave me was to try to get a full night’s sleep for those few days to recover bc it’s the least full night’s sleep you’ll get for a while. The night nurse even offered me a sleeping pill if needed. Back then I shared a room with another mom, and you had to go down the hall to the shower room, lol. Hubby had to go home every night, there was no rooming in.
The nursery setup was the same when my middle child (17) was born, although at a different hospital, but by then spacious all in one labor/delivery/recovery private rooms with an en suite bathrooms were the norm. With sleeping areas for the Dad.
With my third, it was a tiny, tiny delivery room with a bathroom, an equally tiny private recovery room with a pull out chair for Dad, no nursery, no pacifiers, no formula without a massive lecture, the LC in your room 12 times a day, and no sleep whatsoever. I actually left early bc if I’m not gonna get any rest, I might as well not get rest at home without the people in my room all the time!
It’s actually pretty rare here now for a mum to even stay overnight - even if she gives birth in the early hours. Assuming a straightforward birth and healthy mum and baby of course.
17 years between 
I actually left early bc if I’m not gonna get any rest, I might as well not get rest at home without the people in my room all the time!