Reader Success Stories

BABYWISE IN GENERAL

  • AquaNet said…Hi there! Thanks for stepping out to write about this topic! I had the same encounter while searching on Google & found negative remarks which I felt were not justified because I had successfully implemented BW for my 10-month old baby. He slept 7-8 hours by week 8 and 10-11 hours by wk 12. While impkementing BW, I always referred to the book whenever I encountered problems to ensure that I followed the advice accordingly. Often times, I realised that I had not understood the system & once I set things right, the blessings usually follow. I have many friends whose babies are walking testimonies of the BW system. So to the BW parents out there, understanding the BW systems does pay off, and you will certainly see the fruit of your labour.Incidentally, I have recommended my friends who are also using BW to read your blog! Keep up the good work!January 23, 2008 11:26 PM
    Plowmanators said…Thanks for sharing your success. I have found that same thing to be true for me. Whenever something isn’t going right with either my toddler or my baby, a review of the book (whichever one I am in at the time) will often tell me that there is something I am doing that is contributing to the problem–most times causing the problem. A quick fix in myself easily fixes the “issues” with the child. January 24, 2008 10:28 AM
  • Lia said…
    I’m so glad I found this site! We’ve used Babywise with all three of our kids, and have had wonderful results.
    April 24, 2008 3:48 PM
  • Emily said…
    My 6 month daughter had some success this month. I would let her play alone but never in a pack-n-play. Decided to try it since she’s starting to crawl. She played in the pack-n-play for 15min without any problem! I’m going to try to extend it a little now.She is also sleeping 11.5 hrs now straight. She eats at 7:30PM, bed 8-8:30PM then eats at 7:30-8:00AM. I used your advice for 3-4AM feeding (never did a dreamfeed) and just fed her a little less each night. I realized after a couple of nights that I was just making her mad by feeding her a little so I didn’t and she just went back to sleep and has been sleeping straight for about 4 nights now.Thanks so much for your advice. It’s great being able to have uninterrupted sleep! I love your blog!!
    July 29, 2008 9:27 AM
    Plowmanators said…
    Thanks for sharing your success Emily! It is always good to hear the success stories. I am glad things are going well.
    July 30, 2008 3:13 PM

BLOG HELP

  • Niki said…
    I posted in a couple other areas about starting my 15 (now 16) week old on BW late. I must have been among the ones you were not notified of, but I wanted to post this and say THANK YOU for this site. Without it I probably would have just dealt with things the way they were. I was thankful that the colic had ended, but I wanted to get on a schedule. It was has been a LONG couple of weeks, but I think we are about there. I took a few days of “observation” before nailing down my schedule. I concentrated on days for a week before tackling the night.I had a few things going for me – he was great at going to sleep awake (not staying asleep though) and we had done away with the pacifier. He also had the eat, wake, sleep down. It’s just that the sleep part of that was lacking :)The days got better, then worse, then better like you said. We started CIO at night three nights ago. Last night he only cried for 2 min. and slept for 11 hrs with a dreamfeed. Success. I think we are on our way! I just wanted to say that it is possible – even when you start at 4 mon. I got the answers, support and confidence I needed to make this work from your site. Thank you for taking the time. You sound like a wonderful mother, wife and person. Just wanted you to know you are appreciated!
    June 11, 2008 1:15 PM
    Plowmanators said…
    Thanks Niki! I apologize I haven’t gotten your comments. I am guessing I am not getting about 50% of them. As you can imagine, I get a lot of questions each day. I am currently in the process of trying to get things in a position where I can more easily track new comments, but it is all taking time. Some day, you will likely get a message apologizing for me missing the comment once I find it :)I am glad you have had success. It is always possible. It sounds like you are well on your way. I wanted to make sure you knew about this post: Starting Babywise Late: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2007/12/starting-babywise-late.html Thanks for the thanks. I really do appreciate it. I also love to hear the success stories. So thanks!
    June 11, 2008 1:50 PM

CIO

  • Meredith said…
    wow – at 11 weeks old, my little one is going down for naps/night with just a few “wah’s“. It is incredible. His naps aren’t as long as I would like for them to be, but he is very happy and when his naps got shorter, his night got longer, so I guess that is okay. Anyway, I posted that first post about crying from one nap to the next feeding. It finally worked out. Just wanted to share my success for those who are still just dying over this issue!
    February 5, 2008 10:17 AM
    Plowmanators said…
    Thanks for sharing! It is always good to hear success stories!
    February 5, 2008 10:26 AM
  • Nathan and Rachel Greenfield said…
    Thanks for your answer! I am sure you spend A LOT of time answering everyone. I have to post my success story. The night I posted this question, while my son was crying it out and I was dying inside :), I started surfing through the website, before I knew it my son stopped crying and fell asleep for the night (maybe 30 min crying) and I spent hours reading up on everything. I read through the CIO bootcamp and decided to get serious about bed/naptime. My husband and I talked and decided we were going full force for it (before i was only letting him cry at bedtime but nap times I would let him sleep in swing or rock him until almost asleep) Anyway, I went hardcore and in just 1 week he has completely taken to our new system- it’s unbelievable!!! Each day he has cried less and less and NOW (after only 1 week) he cries for only 10 minutes (sometimes less) and then falls right asleep (and this is putting him in his bed at the first signs of being tired- i read the post about picking up on his cues, which for him is yawning and fussyness). Bed time routine has liberated us!! We moved his last feeding to 7pm and bathe him and get him in bed by 8 and the most he has cried in the last 5 days is 10 minutes but the last 2 nights- no crying!!! I seriously can’t believe it! My husband and I feel so much more freedom (and our son wasn’t even a fussy baby- I can’t imagine parents who are feeling trapped by a fussy baby). I KNOW that we have done what is best for him – I feel a new level of confidence as his mom (with him being our first- i found I was questioning myself quite a bit). Thanks for the website!!! by the way, I did shorten his awake time after I read about picking up on his cues and it’s really helped. I have a 10 week old baby who is sleeping through the night, who cries 10 minutes at the MOST at nap time, and who is a pleasant, happy baby when he is awake! What a blessing!!!
    July 22, 2008 12:57 AM
    Plowmanators said…
    Wahoo Rachel! I do spend a lot of time answering questions here…thanks for the success story. While I do get a lot of thank yous, I don’t often hear about the success, mostly just the problems 😉 It is nice to hear some good news!
    July 23, 2008 9:29 PM
  • fothupdate said…
    I’m a new mom of a 6 week old daughter. From the day we brought her home from the hospital we have been BW all the way. After the family stopped holding her 24/7 we had to CIO. It wasn’t easy, but so worth it – She slept from 10pm to 6am last night! There have been times we’ve had to “wing” because it takes time to figure your baby out, but a BW schedule helps you figure out your baby sooner. Not that she won’t surprise us with a challenge… Thanks for all your posts – they have helped with troubleshooting!
    August 8, 2008 9:17 AM
    Plowmanators said…
    Thanks fothupdate! I am glad things are going well for you!
    August 9, 2008 4:52 PM
  • jencwu said…
    Okay, so this whole mothering a newborn thing is like a rollercoaster! I just wanted to share a mini-success because it’s a huge success in my perspective and I’m excited about it! This last nap was the first “textbook CIO” I did according to suggestions on this blog. He ate a little early because our day kind of got started off earlier. So I put him down WITHOUT his pacifier (thanks Lorri!) after he was awake a little over an hour. He looked very tired. For about 30 mins after putting him down I wasn’t really hearing anything, he hadn’t cried at all and just made some little baby noices here and there. I peeked in his room and he appeared to be awake, so I guess he had been lying there the whole time awake but content, first time that’s happened for that long. He looked like he was kind of starting to doze, but I think I made the mistake of going in… even though he couldn’t see me I think he smelled me or something, because he then started crying. I let him cry about 20 mins, then went in and rubbed his head for a couple of mins and turned his lullaby CD back on, telling him “it’s okay, go to sleep.” I thought it wouldn’t work because he didn’t really calm down at that. But, about 10-15 mins later, he’s now asleep! I think God had mercy on me, knowing I was at my wit’s end 🙂
    August 22, 2008 1:27 PM
    Lorri said…
    yeah for you jencwu! hey that rhymes.Its good to celebrate the little things.
    August 22, 2008 1:59 PM
    Plowmanators said…
    Thanks for your success story! Hang on to it! You will have good days and bad days, but the good will start to outnumber the bad.
    August 26, 2008 7:59 AM
  • Nicole Flowers said…
    I had the worst day of all yesterday with the sleep training and I am sure I still have a few days ahead that aren’t going to be fun, but i have to say: I think the methodology is working. baby slept 5 hours last night and then another 4 after that: the longest he’s slept yet. before while I was following feed/wake/sleep, I wasn’t implementing daytime naps in his crib – I just let him nap wherever we were — car seat, swing, etc. I just hope this progress will continue and last night wasn’t an anomaly! Thanks!
    August 29, 2008 11:32 AM
    Plowmanators said…
    Nicole, I am glad you are seeing improvement. Know that there will be progression and seeming regression, but you are always moving toward progression.
    September 2, 2008 10:21 PM
  • my3sons said…
    Hi Valerie,Thank you for your help and encouragement. I remember reading in the book, “If your baby cries longer than fifteen minutes, check on the baby. Pat him or her on the back, possibly holding the child for a moment.” (p. 148) So I’ve been waiting until 20 minutes have passed, and then I’ll check on him, and if he’s still crying, I’ll soothe him, and then I’ll put him back down, and if twenty more minutes of crying has gone on, I’ll put him in the swing where he’ll sleep. I usually resort to the swing for some of the 5 p.m. naps. OK, just thought I’d tell you what worked for me, and maybe it’ll help someone else, too!Thanks again!!
    October 7, 2008 9:48 AM
    Plowmanators said…
    Thanks my3sons, it is always good to hear from others on how they have found success.
    October 9, 2008 1:11 PM
  • Mandy said…
    I would just like to say that I THANK YOU for not making me feel like a terrible person for starting CIO with my daughter at 8 weeks. It has helped us so much, i get her to bed within 5 minutes and she barely make a peep going down for naps (she’s 10 weeks now). She does still wake early sometimes, and isn’t STTN quite yet, but all of our sleep has gotten much better and I know its because she can soothe herself. She doesn’t hate me or think I am a bad mom and still smiles when I go to get her. I get so tired of many forums out there making me feel like a bad Mom for doing this..so just wanted to say thank you 🙂
    December 9, 2008 12:09 PM
    Plowmanators said…
    You are most welcome Mandy. I am glad things are working out well for you 🙂
    December 11, 2008 4:33 PM

DREAMFEED

  • Susanna said…
    Hi Valerie,Well my plan to drop the DF last night went well until about 3 a.m. My son turned over onto his tummy and his arms were all twisted b/c he was working himself out of his swaddle (btw, thank you for your thoughts on that in your other post). I decided to intervene which in turn awoke him and he thought it was morning. So he was bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to eat and play. I went ahead and fed him a full feeding.:( I really think that he would have been fine without the DF. It was just his darn rolling over. I think it is time to drop the swaddling b/c I’m scared of the consequences! It really does help him sleep!! Just wanted to share…thank you!
    May 13, 2008 8:08 AM
    Plowmanators said…
    Thanks for sharing that success! Keep us posted on the progression of it all!
    May 14, 2008 11:02 AM

FLEXIBILITY

  • Kate said…
    Hi!I just found your blog a few days ago. Your entries are very encouraging. I am a new mom. My son is 4 months now. I have attempted to implement BW since birth but have in no way done it perfectly. In spite of this, I have been pleased with the results. My baby did start sleeping through the night on his own around 9 weeks. Also, people are always commenting on his happy disposition. I know this is to the credit of him getting plenty of sleep at night and during nap times. I believe that my son got slightly spoiled over the holidays. His schedule was at the mercy of our travels, and family would give him immediate attention at the slightest peep. It didn’t bother me…I wanted my family to feel comfortable cuddling him whenever they wanted, being that we live so far away from them. All that to say, now that they holidays are over and that the new year has begun, I plan on getting even more serious about BW. I want to stick with my schedule and solidify my first feeding time. Thanks for taking the time to write your experiences. They are sincerely appreciated by this new mama.
    January 7, 2008 9:29 AM
    Plowmanators said…
    Thanks for sharing your success! I applaud you for letting your schedule serve you in your travels rather than serving your schedule. I am glad this blog can be of help!
    January 7, 2008 1:48 PM

NAPS

  • Jennifer said…
    Thanks for this easy nap fix (Easy Nap Fix: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/easy-nap-fix.html). I was wondering what was going on with my DD. After reading this post I can see what is going on with her. We were laying her down late. I work a very early shift and my husband would keep her up so that I could see her before her afternoon nap. I walk in the door at 1pm. Well, she needs to be in bed at 1pm for her nap. So, I told him this week to go ahead and lay her down and not to wait on me (her sleep is more important than me seeing her…if that makes sense). So he started that on Monday and by today she was out before I came in at 1:15pm. PTL! Thanks for all your good info on this blog. I am slowly reading through them all. Ha. So that is why my post are so late!April 10, 2008 12:54 PM
    Plowmanators said…
    Glad to help Jennifer. Before you know it, your daughter will be awake when you get home. Good job putting her needs before your own :)April 10, 2008 1:53 PM
  • Catherine said…
    Hi Valerie,Hope you are doing well. We are making good progress but I had a question. My son has been sleeping great 4/5 of his naps- actually now that we have moved waketime down to 30 min he has been sleeping 2- 2.5 hrs 4 naps a day! (3 on a bad day.)
    March 11, 2008 12:21 PM
  • krystal said…
    hello. my name is krystal and i am new to the blogging thing. but, i did a search and found your page and i need help!?! i am a mom of three and my newest is 7 and 1/2 weeks old and so precious. i had been having trouble with napping until finding this page. thank you for reminding me to put him down 15 min. earlier! it is amazing how much you forget between kids.
    April 15, 2008 5:58 AM
  • mommytoisabella said…
    I have been reading the information on this blog for quite awhile and have gained some valuable information. I started to do some research when my daughter Isabella had some problems with waking early from her naps. By reading some of the information on this blog I realized that she was overtired and I needed to start putting her down earlier which really helped.
    April 30, 2008 6:05 PM

SCHEDULES

  • Firecracker said…
    by-the-way Plowmanator, Thanks to your advise I was able to move his schedule to 30 minutes later at night in only a week! Thanks so much for everything.Danielle
    April 1, 2008 10:35 PM

SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT

  • Gabby said…
    I just wanted to follow up on my little one. He was on a different schedule Friday after stating with my mother in law. He ate at about 8:30 in the evening and went to bed right after, so I did not wake him for a dreamfeed that night. He slept until 6:00!! That’s very close to our 6:15-6:45 wake up window. I’ve adjusted his schedule to feed him later in the evening ( about 8:00) instead of waking him up to dreamfeed. I guess I was disrupting his sleep because he has made it three nights now. Yeah! We had to comfort him one night at about midnight, but it was not hunger that woke, so he went right back to sleep. I just thought I would share what worked. Thanks for your advice!
    March 24, 2008 3:12 PM
  • Catherine said…
    I also wanted to tell you an exciting update. My son, at 7 weeks, was making good progress to sttn. He had slept one night a week since 6 weeks 5+ hours. Then he would go back down to waking 2-3 times in the night. Once he stopped eating his first feeding of the morning well I decided to try what you recommended about decreasing the amount of food. At 7 weeks I did this for the first time. When he wakes he usually sucks well for 2-3, sometimes 5-6 min. then “comfort sucks” and I can definitely tell the difference. I started taking him off once he switched into comfort sucking. He wasn’t too happy at first but didn’t cry longer than a couple minutes the first night.Then, that week, we had 3 times where he slept 7.5 hours and one time 8!!! The very next night I heard him wake up, cry for about one minute softly, then suck his thumb back to sleep. He never did that before. I feel like decreasing the comfort sucking at night really helped him get the memo to self soothe! Thank you! This was great because it involves no night crying. 🙂
    March 26, 2008 6:20 PM
  • Lindsey and Nick’s mommy said…
    I fed him at 7 pm two nights ago because he was hungry early. By the 11 pm dreamfeed he was a lot more willing to eat a full feeding and thenwent 5.5 hours! YEAH! So moving his bedtime and feeding up 30 minutes proved to be the resolution. Two nights in a row he has done much better. Thanks again.
    August 14, 2008 7:14 AM
    Plowmanators said…
    You are welcome! I am glad you have seen improvement.
    August 15, 2008 2:42 PM

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10 thoughts on “Reader Success Stories”

  1. Dear Valerie, I'm sorry. I just had this book from my pastor on babywise as she saw that I'm struggling with my 10 months old son. Google on babywise and found your website too.I use to breastfeed my baby, and I'm the category of failure in breastfeeding and it leads to baby want me to nurse to sleep although no milk production. I think my padeatrician must be attachment parenting style, and she insisted that I continue to carry the baby and breastfeed despite I complaint I do not have. My baby now wake up 3 to 4 times at night and need me to nurse him to sleep. Will it be too late for me to use babywise ? Feel like crying when I read this book …, and hope that I have read it earlier. Any help on that ? How to implement step by step if started late at 10 months old now. Thanks a lot.

    Reply
  2. Hi there, There is a blog label called "starting babywise late" and that should help you with getting started late. No, it isn't too late to start. It never is. There are always principles you can apply 🙂 Don't feel bad and don't worry about the past, just move forward with the future.I don't really know what to tell you about nursing at this point. It sounds like you have sought help in the past and haven't gotten good help–at least help that has solved your problem. Have you tried using a pacifier instead of yourself? First, be sure baby is getting enough calories from liquid. If you don't have much milk, you will need to consider supplementing. Exactly what you do (or what I would do) will depend on how long you intend to nurse from this point forward.I suggest you start with eating every 3-4 hours, depending on your babies needs. Also, do the eat, play, sleep cycle. At 10 months, your baby will only need two naps a day, though. So eat breakfast, play, nap. Eat lunch, play, nap, eat a snack or dinner, play, eat dinner if didn't eat earlier–if so, a fourth liquid feeding, bedtime.Once you have that routine down, I would start to work on having your baby fall sleep on own. I would recommend Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child for that.Good luck!

    Reply
  3. I have 7 week old twin boys, and they are thriving on babywise!Here's our situation: We were in the hospital for 3 weeks (they were preemies) and the NICU nurses put them on a 4h schedule before we left. They were doing great on that schedule (happy, eating lots, gaining weight, sleeping great) but then we hit the 6w growth spurt. Eating more often put them back on a 3h schedule once the growth spurt was over. I was fine with that, but unfortunately they didnt seem to handle it as well. They were suddenly gassy, fussy, not sleeping, and had lots of reflux. We were up all day and night with them bc they were having such intense abdominal pain….it was awful.The doctor told us to go back to a 4h schedule since their little tummies seemed to be having a hard time digesting more often than that. We went back to the 4h, and they were feeling better and back to their normal happy selves by the end of the day. Obviously, they can't handle a 3h schedule!!My concern is that being on a 4h schedule so early is going to keep them from learning to sleep longer at night. I can't add more feedings during the day or cluster feed in the evenings bc their preemie tummies can't handle it. But I also don't think they can drop the 3am feeding yet since they are only getting 6 feedings in a 24h period. I know that the first rule of STTN is NOT to space our their feedings until they are sleeping 7-8 hours at night, but in this case I dont have a choice! How can I start teaching them to sttn without hurting their sensitive tummies?btw- their weight gain is phenomenal, so eating 6 times a day instead of 8 is not a problem, according to the dr. They are only 7 weeks and have already doubled their birthweights! They have gone from 3lb and 5lb, to 8lb and 10lb!Thanks for your help!

    Reply
  4. Nikki, I think this is a situation where you just need to be patient and wait it out. They most likely will not be sleeping through the night when most other babies usually would, but they will at some point. Just hang in there and wait for them to adjust. Also, keep in mind to calculate from due date rather than birth date when figuring out milestones they should be eating (like STTN). It sounds like they are doing great!

    Reply
  5. This is my first time posting a comment and not sure if I'm doing this right:) first thank you for all of your helpful insight on this incredible program! I've searched your blog in many areas and they have all been helpful and informative! I wanted your thoughts on what we are experiencing with our Joshua. I started him from birth on the 2.5-3 hour schedule but due to the fact that I had some major complications with recovery I didn't start CIO until yesterday close to his 6week mark. He has so far not extended any of his night time feeding and is consistently going 2.5-3 hours all day and night. Is he not extending his nights b/c we haven't started his day at a specific time each day or set a bed time? Is this pretty common for newborns to not extend until they are 6-8 weeks old? Also, with the CIO we've been doing it now for 2 days and each time he goes down and cries for at least 10-15 mins and then will sleep/be quiet for 10-20 and then cry again and then sleep again, is this common in the beginning with sleep training or am I missing his optimal time to put him down? Any help would be great! Thank you again for this blog! Blessings!

    Reply
  6. I am glad you like the blog!Most newborns doing BW will be going more than 2.5-3 hours in the night by 6-8 weeks of age–a lot are going as much as 7-8 hours. A set morning time and set bedtime are both very important to getting longer night time sleep.The crying pattern is not uncommon, but if my child were doing that, I would be working with waketime length–my assumption would be it isn't just right yet. Good luck!

    Reply
  7. We have a four-month-old son who was STTN for maybe two nights in a row once a week or waking up no earlier than 5 am for about a month. He recently started waking up at all hours of the night again (sometimes even as early as 3 am) after his 11 DF. I read that at this age they can go through grow spurts so we just chalked it up to that for about a week but now he is starting to sleep until 5 or 6 again. Our official start of the day is 7. He rarely has ever made that, (again maybe two times in a row once a week previously). I am at a loss as what to do. Before he was waking at all hours we tried CIO for about a week. We would let him cry for about an hour then give him a pacifier. Sometimes he would go back to sleep, most times he would not. So I would wait until as close to 7 am as I could and feed him. Then when he was waking all hours i would nurse him on one side and put him back down. Sometimes he would not go back to sleep for several more hours. I have several comments/questions. I thought CIO took between 3-5 days. We did it for a week (sometimes yes after an hour giving him a pacifier) and we still aren't seeing results. Now he is sleeping longer again (5-6 hrs only) but still nowhere near what a BW baby is supposed to be sleeping. He is on a 3 1/2 hr daytime schedule and DF at 11 getting to sleep at 11:30. Start of day is supposed to be 7 am.What should we do? And also if he wakes up at 3 am how long are you supposed to let him CIO, Until the start of the day feeding?Thank you for your help.

    Reply
  8. Cmills, CIO will only work if there is essentially no need that he is waking for. If he is waking out of hunger, cold, tired, discomfort, etc., no amount of CIO will help.I would suggest you see the post on nighttime sleep issue and see if you can figure out why he is waking up, then go from there. Good luck!

    Reply
  9. Hi,We followed BW with our first son who was sleeping 12 hours by 9 weeks old and has done great for the last 2 years. We welcomed another son 18 weeks ago and have been doing the same BW techniques since his 2 week but we are not seeing any progress and was wondering what we are doing wrong this time. Baby E eats every 3 hours during the day followed by play and then sleep. His naps range from 30 mins to an occasional 60 mins. He always cries when he wakes up and will not put himself back down nor will he go back down with my help (going in room and patting his belly). He and his big brother both use pacifiers. Little brothers pacifier falls out all the time during sleep. He can fall asleep without one but wakes up screaming when he realizes it is not in his mouth. He has his last feeding before nighttime at 6pm and is asleep by 630pm. He is still waking up at least once per night to eat and takes a full feeding. Last night he was up every 4 hours and up at least 10 times because of his pacifier.  We tried to CIO last week and that didn’t work. His crying over those three days went from bad to worse. By day 3 his was not napping but crying for 2 hours. We are exhausted here and do not know what to do. ANY help would be appreciated. Thank you for your blog! Just a note: Big brother and little brother were/are breastfeed.

    Reply
  10. JJK,It could be a pacifier problem. Some babies don't do well with pacifier. They need it so much that it becomes a major problem with sleep. If it is the pacifier, there are a couple of options. One is to totally wean. Another is to wait it out until he is old enough to reinsert himself, which usually happens between 6-8 months.You can also adopt a policy where you will only reinsert one time. But before you go down the pacifier path, study the posts on optimal waketime. It is possible he is up too long and unable to take good naps, which interferes with his night sleep.One word of encouragement–for an 18 week old to wake only once between 6:30 and morning is actually good, so I wouldn't worry if that is his norm.

    Reply

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