baby wise

at a friend's suggestion, i read On Becoming Baby Wise while i pregnant.  i remember thinking that it sounded great and i agreed with the principals it laid out.  we are currently following baby wise and having great success with it. i haven't reread the book since promise was born, so i am not sure that we are following it to the letter, but we are following the principals.  my main resource is the blog Chronicles of a Babywise Mom

the foundational idea of baby wise is that we, the parents, are in charge - not the clock and not the baby. it suggests a schedule, but a flexible one.  the idea is that rather than feeding your baby every time she cries or only when it is "time", you asses the situation and decide what your baby needs. you also try to keep your baby on an "eat/play/sleep cycle" in order to train the baby's eating and sleeping habits.

there is a lot of controversy surrounding baby wise and i learned this after we had implemented the program.  with a little research, however, i think the negative press baby wise gets is simply because people have not read the book thoroughly.  rest assured - i always feed my baby when she's hungry, and i never leave her to cry in her crib for hours at a time. and this is in following with the book's teaching.

we are currently on a flexible 3 hour schedule with promise and it is working really well.  a typical day for promise looks like this:

730 - wake and eat
800 - diaper change and play (usually we read a book or something quiet)
820 - nap

1030 - eat
1100 - diaper change and play (tummy time/activity mat or bath)
1130 - nap

130 - eat
200 - diaper change and play (this play time varies more, just depends on what we are doing that day)
230 - nap

430 - eat
500 - play (time with dad - more tummy time, read a book, or go for a walk if the weather is nice)
545 - nap

645 - bedtime routine
700 - eat while dad does bible reading
730 - prayers and goodnight kisses
735 - bed
1000 - "dream-feed" (this is her last feeding of the day - ideally i don't fully wake her for this feeding, but that has only worked a couple of times.)


so far it is working great!  the first time promise slept through the night was around 7 weeks.  it was a fluke! the next time she slept through the night was around 9 weeks and she sleeps through the night more often than not now.

i like that our days are predictable.  granted, we  never stick to the schedule 100%. but, at least i can anticipate when she will need to eat and nap and it makes planning easier. it also keeps me sane as i am a scheduler. its part of who i am!  i would much rather have a schedule that gets changed than no schedule at all.

all in all, i am happy with our routine and with baby wise in general.  i bought On Becoming Baby Wise II this week and plan to read it soon so.