Here is a great summary of Babywise life from 5 weeks to 19 months old.
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We started Babywise when Holden was 5 weeks old after hearing about the book from a friend. It was such a relief to lay Holden in his crib and leave the room. Beforehand, I would lay him down, get him back up, lay him down, get him up, and this would continue through the night until we were both exhausted and crying.
I believe Holden could immediately sense my newfound confidence. We started out by using the Eat/Wake/Sleep routine. Holden started on a 3 hour schedule and did fabulous eating full meals. He cried for a few minutes after laying him down for naps, but never longer than 10. We used no paci, no swaddle, and no noise-machines in hope that he would learn to sleep prop free. By 8 weeks Holden started sleeping through the night (from 11pm to 7am). He has not woken in the middle of the night since that weekend, and he is now 19 months old. At 3 months Holden was sleeping from 8pm-8am, eating every 4 hours, and taking consistent naps throughout the day. Already I received many compliments on how happy he is. When he wasn’t sleeping or eating, he was very content to “play”.
We started Pack-N-Play time and Blanket time at 5 months. This worked very well, we started at 10 minutes and worked up to 30 minutes. I believe this helped Holden to play independently and know that I was coming back for him even if he couldn’t see me. Now at 19 months this is a huge blessing. Holden will play in his room alone for up to 40 minutes and play on the living room rug (our blanket), while I cook dinner so I am not tripping over him, or so he doesn’t get burned.
At six months we started solids and high-chair “training”. I continually pulled his hands down and out of his mouth and he very quickly learned to not put his hand in his mouth while I was feeding him unless he was eating finger foods. If he acted up in his highchair I would turn it around, and the behavior usually stopped immediately. I would say I have one of the calmest highchair eaters I have ever seen. He doesn’t arch to get out, he doesn’t throw food on the ground, or make a mess in general.
Nap transitions were always rough, but I feel like since I was so in-tuned with his tired cues and sleep needs, we were able to figure out what he needed and adjust accordingly. He now sleeps 8:15pm to 8:15am and takes a nap from 2pm to 5pm every day.
One of the biggest benefits to using babywise was after we put in all the hard work regarding sleep training, we can now be more flexible and adjust the schedule where we need to get out of the house, travel, and do fun things, all while having a happy baby!! It’s a lot easier to skip a nap here and there with a well rested baby.
Babywise has saved my sanity and I could not imagine having a whiney/tired baby all the time. I loved knowing how every day would go (for the most part). I know when I can run errands, when he’ll be hungry, when he needs to sleep, and that is so much better than not knowing and getting caught out in public with a screaming baby and a stressed out mama!
When I first started I got a lot of backlash from different people saying my baby would need therapy, he would have trust issues, and we would all in all not be a close family. I am happy to say Holden is a MAMA’S BOY! We have so much fun together and even when I have to discipline or correct him, he keeps a happy heart and accepts consequences. We did not go through separation anxiety nearly as bad, and he will stay with friends or family without a problem…doesn’t seem like he has any issues relating from babywise whatsoever! I couldn’t be happier with the results, and I will be using babywise with all of our children.
I wanted to add that although there is a lot of opposition concerning Babywise and breastfeeding, I personally never had supply issues and successfully breastfed Holden for 14 months.
Colleen
I just found this site. Thank you!! 🙂 I am a new mommy to a 5 week old cutie. He was born on the 3 hour cycle of eat, awake, sleep so I'm having no problems there. He just doesn't like the going to sleep part. Stories like this are giving me the courage to implement BW this week!