My name is Tiffany, and I have four boys, ages 5, 3, 2, and 1. I’ve appreciated many things about Babywise over the last several years. In the 5 years since our first was born, we’ve added three babies and moved – no kidding – FIVE times. Thanks, Navy. I’ll be honest and say that, Babywise or not, there are times of chaos and things-spinning-out-of-
In the past year, I’ve become especially thankful for the idea of naptime/rest time. I mean, I’ve always loved it of course. What mom doesn’t love alone time? Seriously. And an opportunity for a nap of your own when you’re pregnant and have been chasing three littles all morning? Divine. This year I learned to love it for a different reason, though. Two months after my fourth baby was born in May of 2014, I saw a picture of myself that I REALLY didn’t like. My weight was spinning out of control, I had no energy, and something had to change. I knew that using My Fitness Pal and exercising had worked in the past, but the problem was WHEN to exercise. I couldn’t get up and exercise early because, honestly, I was already up early nursing the baby before the older ones got up, and going to bed earlier so I could wake up even earlier was just unrealistic. Enter: NAPTIME! I started exercising for 45 minutes with Leslie Sansone’s Walk at Home program every afternoon during the kids’ naptime/rest time and logging everything I ate during the day. Thanks to that and nursing, the weight started to just fall off. I have lost 40 pounds since last July, and I’m now only 20 pounds from my final goal. I am literally in the best shape of my life, I’m 100% off of my blood pressure meds, and I have more energy than I’ve ever had, all after having four babies in four years! Without Babywise, I may never have thought to have a scheduled naptime. It’s been instrumental in the regaining of my health.
As fall approaches, naptime is going to be redesignated a bit. I’m going to be homeschooling my oldest, and most of his instructional time will happen while the others are taking their naps. He’ll have some rest time right at the end of their naps, after schoolwork. Since I’m no longer up early to nurse the baby (he’s 14 months old now), I get up and exercise before the kids wake up. Well, before they get out of their beds anyway. Any other mamas totally over this whole 5:30 a.m. sunrise thing? Ha!
I am truly thankful for Babywise and 5 years in, I keep finding new things to love about it all the time!