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So, I wanted to share our experience. My husband and I didn’t find each other until our early/mid thirties, so we were anxious to get our family started. Our first daughter was a babywise success. She is now 22 months old and is a great sleeper, a very pleasant kid, and quite obedient. It wasn’t always easy. I second-guessed myself a lot. There were days when I HATED babywise. I cried while my daughter did. My poor husband had to comfort us both. But, it got better. It worked!!! Eventually, with consistency, she became a great sleeper, and thanks to the other babywise principles, she has also become a confident, happy, mostly obedient little lady.
Seventeen months later, almost to the day, a set of twin girls arrived. My life was consumed with feeding babies for the first while. One of them had some medical issues and feeding was a real struggle. Because of her issues, she has been slow to sleep through the night, and is just getting there now. But the consistency of the schedule made her a very pleasant baby, anyway. Everyone comments on how alert and happy both of the twins are. They also comment how delightful, pleasant, and obedient my 22 month old is.
For me it was a little easier the second time. I knew what the results would be. I knew all of the crying was going to be worth it. That they were just learning. Crying it out is hard. Horrible. Being consistent is hard. Doing it with three kids under the age of two is hard. I am not a “perfect” babywise-er, but because of babywise (and the support of your website and my wonderful husband) I feel like a confident mother. My life and house are not chaotic. There is peace, order, and love here. Honestly, I thank Heavenly Father pretty much every day for directing me this way, because I couldn’t handle this without it.
As a sidenote, it is trickier with twins. My girls are not identical, and are really different. In a lot of ways, but it has been good for them both. For all of us. We hope to welcome several more children into our home before my biological clock runs out of time, and we will use babywise principles with them too. I know babywise isn’t for everybody, but is sure has been awesome for our family.
Thanks for all the effort you put into your blog. Val, I know you don’t know me, but I feel like you are my friend. Thanks a bazillion!
:), Emily, Tyson, and the little ladies
P.S. You wrote a post about diaper rashes and how some kids just get them more than others. I can attest to that. One twin has darker skin than the other. She has had only a little redness one time. However, the other twin is very fair and has quite sensitive skin – eczema, etc. The sensitive skin twin (say that five times fast!) seems to get a rash at the drop of a hat. We are just healing up from a sad, blistery rash. Also, she has had four, FOUR yeast rashes in only five months. Ugh. Skin type makes a BIG difference in diaper rashes in my opinion.