what is the difference between

RoAnt05

baby wise, healthy sleep habits happy child and the happiest baby on the block?  I have read the last two and neither is really working for us so I am wondering if I should read baby wise too. 

mommy_bear

I liked Babywise but have not read the other books. I can't really offer advice having not been in your shoes (with TWO) yet.

I must say, your lil ones are ADORABLE. Congratulations!

RoAnt05

what is babywise's theory?

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i have also only read baby wise and followed it with my son - he was STTN by 8w.

BW has a lot of controversy surrounding it- mostly b/c the author is a Christian and there aer these crazy hate groups out there spreading incorrect info about the book and methods to scare people away from it...

 this site gives some good info on BW myths and misconceptions- if you start to come across a lot of that https://www.parentwisesolutions.com/babywise/common-myths/

 This blog has some info on BW and twins https://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/02/babywise-and-twins.html

The book "Twin Set" interviewed lots of MoMs and it was the top suggested book for sleep training twins that they listed.

The basic principal behind baby wise is parent directed feeding - not feeding on demand.... it helps you get baby on a schedule for feeding, sleeping, etc.  It has you do a sleep/eat/play rotation throughout the day- in a roughly 3 hour period each time.  It was great for us- we always knew exactly what DS needed if/when he fussed by where we were in the rotation.

It also helps baby learn to fall asleep by self soothing (NOT cry it out as some people think)... baby learns to NOT need to nurse to go to sleep- since eating is not done before sleep in the rotation.

before anyone jumps in here and says it causes failure to thrive- I will let you know that it says over and over in the book that if your baby is hungry-
FEED him... no matter where you are in the cycle.... but we never had issues with that at all - my DS has always been 75-95percentile for weight.

The attachment parenting people hate BW b/c it promotes baby to self soothe a little more than average -ie) when baby starts to fuss in his crib, you don't run and pick him up right away- give him a couple minutes and see if he works it out on his own first, etc.

We loved it and plan to follow it with our twins - I'm giong crazy trying to find my copy so i can refresh myself actually, lol.  It's not for everyone- nor is any one particular sleep training method- so read it and take from it what you think will work for you and your family.

 

MrsARC1105

I've read all of them.  Are you looking to sleep train or to get on a schedule/soothe the babies? Your babies are too young for sleep training, but you can get on some sort of schedule w/o issue.

Were your babies preemies?

rispergirl

I haven't read BW, but I think I sort of fell into the basics of it on my own and it's works beautifully for us.  My babies naturally eat every three hours.  Playing and then napping afterwards is kind of what they were doing anyway.  When I heard about EASY (eat, activity, sleep, you), I realized we were pretty much doing it.  But it helped me figure out what they needed when they fussed.  If they've been playing and get fussy, I look at the clock and realize it usually is time for napping.  My babies are so happy on this and really only ever cry when they wake up hungry.  Also, I don't do CIO, but I when they wake at night I do give them a few minutes to see if they settle back down and often they do.  Generally they are very good sleepers and started STTN at 8 weeks (though in the last 2 weeks, DS has been waking to eat again).

I also read 12 Hours Sleep by 12 Weeks which I never hear about here.  It is a very quick read with, IMO, a common sense approach.  It's sort of like sleep training lite with just the concept that they need to eat enough during to day to sleep at night.

macchiatto

I've read the first two and watched the DVD of the third. Our approach is actually more The Baby Whisperer (which is pretty similar to Babywise but has been less maligned as Goldielocks points out about BW)--a routine of Eat, Activity, Sleep, You (as in, time for the parent to do stuff while the babies nap). Babywise is probably worth reading. I guess we've semi-followed it, but it's the #1 recommended book by the moms in my local MOTC so I guess it works for a lot of people with twins! (I know a bunch of parents of singletons who swear by it, too.) HSHHC methods worked fairly well for us though, especially the naptime advice; yours might be a little young for it (I know he doesn't recommend too much sleep training before 12-16 weeks so it might be worth revisiting in a month or two).