Why I’m a Babywise Mama

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I’m not afraid to admit it. We are a Babywise household. I have already crossed paths with quite a few Babywise opponents, but they aren’t raising my child–I am.

Before I go any further, let me preface this post by saying:

No, I don’t starve my child. If she is hungry, I feed her.

No, I do not let her cry it out for hours on end, nor do I do think that a few minutes of fussing before falling asleep will traumatize her or give her abandonment issues.

No, I do not expect my child to conveniently fit into my life/schedule. But it sure is nice to know approximately what time my child should be hungry so I can plan MY schedule around her!

My daughter had a rough start and spent the first couple weeks of her life in the NICU. I was surprised to realize that life in the NICU closely resembled the schedule described in “On Becoming Babywise.” In fact, it was a much stricter version than what I read about in the book because we could ONLY touch her and feed her every three hours at hands-on time.

As you would expect, my daughter quickly acclimated to this regimen and would start stirring from sleep roughly 5-10 minutes before her next hands-on time. She would start rooting around like clockwork! I even thought to myself, “wow, finally a perk to having a NICU baby–somebody else got my child on a feeding schedule for me!”

But of course, nothing is that easy! When we got her home from the hospital, she was exclusively breastfed (with the help of a nipple shield) and she acted like she was hungry all of the time. She quickly turned into a fussy baby (one Pediatrician even called it colic, but I disagreed) who would nurse for 60-75 minutes per feeding! I promptly threw Babywise to the curb, thinking that my daughter was starving, and fed her on demand. After a few weeks of my daughter nursing for 8+ hours a day without gaining much weight; sleepless nights; and uncontrollable crying if she was anywhere but our arms, I pulled my book out of the drawer and started from scratch.

I quickly realized that my daughter was crying because she was overtired, overstimulated, and in need of a schedule. Within a few days of going back on Babywise, I was not only able to put her down during nap time, but we were also able to get rid of the nipple shield and reduce her nursing time to 20-40 minutes per feeding!

Now that we have a routine, I know what to expect from my daughter–I know what she needs and when she needs it. I know she will be hungry every three hours (except during the night, where she skips a feeding!!); I know that she can tolerate being awake for 60-75 minutes at a time, but if she gets too close to the 90 minute mark, she will have an absolute meltdown; and I know that she will fall asleep within 5-10 minutes of me putting her down (usually without a single tear shed).

I realize Babywise isn’t for everyone, but it sure works for us. I know, without a doubt, that my daughter and I are both happier when we have a routine.

 

Did you ever try Babywise with your kids? How did it go?

If you don’t use Babywise, what does your daily routine look like?

 

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Alana Livingston
Alana is a small-town Oklahoma girl who now resides in Edmond with her husband and 1 year old daughter. She has a bachelor's degree in Business Management and an MBA in Marketing. Alana quit her job as a Marketing Director to be a SAHM when her daughter was born. She is a former Foster Mom with a huge passion for foster care. Alana loves to spend her time playing with her daughter, binge watching Netflix and Hulu, practicing yoga (practice being the key word), and hanging out with her husband.

3 COMMENTS

  1. We were doing the eat, wake, sleep schedule but now he easily and happily stays awake for 3 hours between naps, but certainly won’t go four hours without eating so it kinda turned into eat, play, eat, sleep type thing. I like a routine and it seems to help my kiddo as well, but I know lots of babies who will just fall asleep when they are tired without a fuss and to those mamas I say bless you and your non-routine!

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