Get one mom’s thoughts on Babywise after using it for 6 years with three different children. Find out her thoughts and if there are regrets.
It is a time of big changes at my house. Brayden starts full-day school this week. Kaitlyn starts half-day preschool three days a week starting next week. It is a time in life that causes you to pause and reflect on what you have done so far in life as a parent and what you want to do in the future.
Can I first start out by saying, WOW! Where has the time gone? I know we all hear it from the nice older women we run into daily–enjoy it. It goes by so quickly. Brayden is 6! In another 6 years, he will be 12! Another 6 and he will be about to leave the house. Time really does fly right by. Soak up every minute.
I know most of you have children younger than mine. I also know there is a lot of information on the internet that offers good experiences with Babywise babies, but not so much Babywise children. So I want to take the moment to say, as I have said in the past, I have no regrets. I am so very glad to have raised my children the way I have so far.
Are my children perfect? No! Of course not. But I think they are pretty darn fabulous.
They each have unique personalities with fun quirks. They each have their strengths along with their weaknesses. They are each so very fun. They are very social and each one loves to be the center of attention (yes, it is as exciting as you might imagine with three “centers”). Not to say every Babywise baby will turn out to be attention-seeking socialites–each child has a natural disposition. I happened to get three of them (which I think is an anomaly of sorts).
Our children have a lot of fun with each other. At least 80% of their playtime is spent laughing. There is some room for talking, a little room for silence, and of course at times room for bickering.
But I know some critics of Babywise like to claim a Babywise baby will grow up to have no personality or to be anti-social…whatever they can think of. They can’t really focus on the supposed negativity on the baby side since enough of us have openly shared our lives with babies. Now they are looking to the future where fewer people are able to share. Okay…rambling…back on track.
Overall, they are great kids. I can take them in public or send them off to school without being concerned over how they will behave. They are confident people. They are smart. Like I said, they are pretty darn fabulous.
I only hope the next six years of my parenting life goes as well as the first six. We will put in the thought, study, prayer, and effort to get there. I love my children and I know they love me. As I reflect, I am happy with where we have been and hope to only improve on that in the future where we are going.
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Great post! Thanks for the reminder 🙂
Mine are a bit younger but I know what you mean! My oldest will start kinder next year, #2 4 and preschool. I am kind of sad already thinking about it! But I just wanted to mention about BW children. We had family here and I used to get some "comments",etc when younger but there has been a complete turnaround by them. All I hear is how good they are, how sweet, how well-behaved,etc. It's so nice to see the long-term rewards and even though they may still not fully understand it or all the philosophies, everyone agrees with the end product:)
That is so true Yvonne. Everyone loves the end product it seems 🙂
Parenting is a huge and wonderful job. We can only pray that what we have taught our children will be carried over into life. We have one child going into 6th grade and another into 9th.
Parenting is such a joy yet so scary on one hand. I just pray that the principals with which we have instilled in our children carry over to life.
Great post.. and best wishes for the challenging years to follow 🙂
That's one question I want to sincerely and honestly pose to someone who is anti-Babywise-How do you explain my child? She is lovely, vibrant, intelligent and by all standards an emotionally healthy child. How did she get that way if I raised her using the BW method?
So true Natalie!