Hi. I am Laura S. I am a first time mom and my baby boy is now 4 months old. A co-worker of mine gave me the Babywise book when I was pregnant. She commented “some people think its mean, but, whatever, my baby sleeps through the night.” At the time, I had no idea what she was talking about (nay-sayers to Babywise method I would come to find out.) I read the book while still pregnant and found all of it very informative and the method seemed pretty simple. I glanced at a few other “method” type books but had heard so many success stories from people in my life about Babywise that it was worth it to give it a try. People said they had kids sleeping through the night anywhere from 6 to 10 weeks old. That was perfect since I would be returning to work after 7 weeks. So I read the book and highlighted some key points and tucked it away until my baby was born.
Come February, we have a beautiful 8.5lb boy via C-section. He was very good from the beginning. While still in the hospital, I tried to remember what I had read and when I should start training my baby. I started breastfeeding but it was all so sporadic that I was worried about the schedule. Well, a week after being home from the hospital, I had gotten an infection underneath my incision and had to have surgery. Long story short, the incision was reopnened, drained and stitched back up. That set back my recovery, I was struggling with breastfeeding and being a brand new mom (and all of the emotions that come with THAT!), I feared that all my plans for having a baby sleep through the night were out the window. I was seriously panicked. My baby was almost 4 weeks old and I had not done a thing except manage to keep him alive. Luckily, I found this website and others that support Babywise and learned that most don’t even start training until 4 weeks! I was ecstatic.
I immediately started following a schedule of eat, play, sleep on a 3 hour schedule. I needed to get it down solid because I was returning to work soon and I NEEDED him to sleep through the night (for my own sanity 🙂 It was kind of hard (and tricky) at times but it seemed to be working. I must also note that we have a very well-mannered baby. He has always slept well and did not have any issues with breastmilk, formula, colic, reflux, etc so that made it all that much easier for us. (Of course there were nights that were hard, but my overall experience is good). My baby would sleep 6 hours at night and wake only for a 4am feeding. Then, the night before Easter, the little man slept through the night for the first time. It was a little inconsistent at first but he is now regularly sleeping through the night. I was able to return back to work and many people would ask “Are you getting any sleep?” and they would be in total shock because I would say “yes, my baby sleeps through the night!”
At 12 weeks, I had to stop breastfeeding and switch him to formula but this had no negative effect on him and the schedule. It is so nice because at any given time during the day, if he starts to get fussy, I can tell you why. All of the caregivers at his daycare absolutely love him because he is so happy and well mannered. The only times he really cries is when he is hungry, wet or sleepy. The rest of the time he is smiling, playing and interactive with everyone. He is still on a 3-hour feeding schedule and we are looking to move him to 4-hours as we start to feed him solids.
We were blessed to have a good baby and we were successfully able to get our babe to sleep through the night. I believe that it is a combination of a good baby and babywise that allowed this to happen. I do not argue methods with anyone (who has time for that?), but I do recommend Babywise to all of my friends who get pregnant. It may work for them, or it may not. It worked for us. My baby is now 4 months old, formula fed, happy, thriving and healthy. I am so glad my co-worker gave me the book and that I chose this method. I can only say good things about Babywise and that if it doesn’t work for others, I can only hope that something else does becuase a happy baby that sleeps through the night is a wonderful thing!
Thanks for letting me share!
