When I was pregnant with my first child, I literally knew no one my age who had young baby. At the time, my mom worked at a local military base. She talked to me all the time about several families there who had children who were just the most well behaved children that she had ever seen. She spoke to them and found out that they all have one thing in common – babywise. She was such a believer in the results that she saw in these older kids that she bought me the book. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I read it with an open mind. I am a teacher and an overly organized person, so from the start, this just seemed like a perfect fit for me. My husband and I talked it over, and we agreed that we would both be happier with a schedule for our baby.
Our daughter, Lorelai, was born in February 2009, and I started babywise two weeks after she was born. While I did go along with the guidelines in the book, I felt like I was doing a “loose” interpretation with her. We did it – we just weren’t super hardcore with her. She was having trouble napping? We’d just hold her. Wanted to go out and about? She could just nap wherever we were. Wanted to go to dinner with friends? She could just go to bed a little later. So while we were doing it, we weren’t really DOING it.
In October of 2011, I got pregnant again. I knew from the get go of that pregnancy that I wanted to be much more strict with our babywise plan. Lorelai was two and, because we were more relaxed with her, I felt like we were still dealing with issues that we shouldn’t be. And I knew it was my fault. Again, my husband and I talked about it and decided that we were going to go big or go home. We were going to do this the right way! In June of 2012, we welcomed a beautiful (big!) boy into our family. From the time that Cooper was born, my goal was getting him ready to start babywise. We put him down sleepy, but awake, in his own bed starting the day that we got home from the hospital. We focused on full feedings in those early nursing days so that he fell into a natural schedule. When he was two weeks old, we started the process again. Luckily, with Cooper, I was able to stay home with him until he was a little over three months old. We prepared all of our family (my children are blessed to stay with my mother-in-law when I am teaching) to let them know that things were going to be MUCH more strict in the way things were done. If they came over and it was nap time – too bad. If we were at their house, we would be leaving to make it home in time for bed. We. Worked. So. Hard.
And the funny thing is, it really wasn’t that hard. It was hard to stand our ground at first, but it wasn’t hard to give Cooper that stability. We now have a newly-turned one year old that is a breeze to be around. He is happy. He is silly. He is relaxed. He knows what to expect from every part of every day – and he loves it. I am so thankful for second chances. It was amazing to be able to see what we would like to do differently, change it, and love the results. Even as a working mom, it IS possible to have a babywise baby! Our family runs so smoothly because we all know what Cooper needs and when he needs it! It gives us the freedom to have fun, enjoy each other, and not sweat the small stuff!
Robyn @ Life, Love, and Lorelai – robynmullican.com
I have two children: Lorelai, 4 years and Cooper, 1 year