My family has officially moved out of the baby stage since my daughters are now five and three years old. Having done Babywise with my oldest daughter since she was 3 months old and my youngest daughter from birth, I am still reaping the benefits of Babywise even now that my girls are preschoolers.
We have just completed our first year of homeschooling and I can see that already having my daughters on a schedule has helped tremendously with incorporating homeschooling to our daily routine. My girls are used to their routines and they thrive off those routines. I am not worried about how I will be able to do Kindergarten with my oldest daughter in the fall while still having to keep up after a 3 year old! I know between my youngest daughter’s Room Time and naptime, we will be able to accomplish my daughter’s Kindergarten school work. There is a time for everything within our days, thanks to the structure and organization of Babywise. Doesn’t that just sound pleasant? It is!
I have several friends right now that have just recently had babies. Some of them are very interested in learning Babywise. It has been absolutely amazing and beautiful to watch one of my friends, a first time mom, gain the confidence she needed through implementing the Babywise principals with her newborn baby.
Babywise just makes sense! Why not give your baby order and stability in their days? Why not get your baby on a feeding schedule so that you are essentially feeding them before they can even have the chance to cry because they are hungry? Why not help your baby learn to sleep, a life skill that will benefit your child for many years to come?
I have many friends who parent in many different ways. Obviously as long as baby’s needs are being met, it doesn’t matter what methods you are using to meet their needs. I have friends who use the Attachment Parenting method successfully. It works for them. I have friends who use the Babywise method successfully. It works for them.
I have noticed something pretty profound. There have been several times where I have heard of an Attachment Parenting family say they regret using the Attachment Parenting methods with their baby. However, I have never heard anyone who is implementing the Babywise principals say that they regret doing Babywise with their babies! Even families whose baby’s aren’t quite the textbook Babywise baby say that they are still glad they use Babywise because they still are able to see the benefits to their baby and the family as a whole.
If you are a first time mom who feels like they are simply just trying to survive day-to-day with their newborn baby, I strongly encourage you to learn the Babywise Principals and start putting them to practice. I can promise you you will find some structure and order to your days quickly and you will no longer feel like you are just treading water every day!
Babywise gets a bad reputation. That is true. However, I believe the negativity that is aimed at Babywise comes from not truly understanding Babywise and it’s principals. Before you turn your nose at Babywise, educate yourself. Don’t just go off what other people tell you about Babywise. Research for yourself. Educate yourself. Chronicles of a Babywise Mom is an excellent resource to begin your research. The Babywise Friendly Blogging Network is another great place to look for information as well. You can find the links to those blogs on this blog.
Life with a baby doesn’t have to be chaotic every hour of the day (and night!). You can find consistency, predictability, order and structure again with Babywise.
Elaine