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March 2011 Moms
LovingStepMom
member
For Outside Moms: (XP: Baby Wise Question...)
LovingStepMom
member
Hi ladies...
I went to my step-daughter's soccer game this morning and was speaking with other mothers/ They asked if I got the Baby Wise book and I said "no, not yet."
One mom told me she implemented it at 1 week and her baby started STTN at 7 weeks and the other mother did the same and her baby started STTN at 9 weeks old.
To date..I have been doing everything per my little man's schedule. i feed on demand, etc. These mother's swear I should not do that.
What is your opinion? I thought it would be best to start a schedule after 12 weeks old as a minimum.
TIA!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: For Outside Moms: (XP: Baby Wise Question...)
When you read the book, you will see that it does tell you to start pretty early (within the first few weeks) but that there are "stepping stones" to ease LO into the schedule. The first week is all about establishing your milk production and simply getting LO to take full feedings (no snacking). If this is done, the book says LO will most likely progress to feeding every three hours or so on his/her own. Then you basically just pick your starting time for each day (ours is 5:30 am) and time your feedings according to LO's needs (we are every 3 hours). The exception is that after your late night feeding (11:30 for us), you let LO sleep as long as he/she wants to. This is how you eventually get them to drop the middle of the night feeding. I have been doing the Baby Wise schedule with DS since he was one week old, and there are already some nights where he will sleep from 11:30 to 4:00 or so (a nice long stretch of sleep for me!). Keep in mind there are differences for breastfed and formula fed babies....BF babies cannot go as long between meals so you may have to wake them up to eat sometimes. DS is formula fed so we can go a little longer. The book also goes into how to drop the late night feeding when LO gets older so he/she is truly STTN!
Sorry this is long but that's kind of "Baby Wise in a nutshell." I don't think it would work for every baby but it works great for us. I will be returning to work when DS is five weeks old so some sort of schedule is a must for us. I will say that he has a much harder time and is fussier when he gets off his routine. It's worth reading the book if only to see if it fits your parenting style! GL!
This.
I don't do "Baby Wise," but I am a SUPER schedule oriented person and the idea of being random for months drove me crazy with DD, so here's what I did... I made a 24 hour spreadsheet schedule (broken out in 1/2 hrs, but I am really *that* anal and also they had these when DD was in the NICU so it seemed normal to keep doing it, but hourly would be fine), then I started tracking awake, asleep, feedings and diapers. The first two weeks or so were really random, but then I could start to see patterns in sleep/feeding emerging, and I would reinforce these normal patterns of hers a bit. About every 4-6 weeks or so, her pattern would've shifted enough that I would have to adjust my planning, until about 6 months when she started sticking to a pretty regular routine for months at a time. The benefit was that at least for a few weeks at a time I could best judge when to schedule a Dr's appt or go grocery shopping, and I could encourage one longer sleep cycle at night and know to go to bed when I'd get the longest rest : ) So I didn't force a certain schedule onto DD, but I was able to tweak her natural rhythms enough to make my day productive and to encourage a longer night sleep stretch, whether it was earlier in the night or later. I felt like this was a happy medium between superimposing a set of times on DD vs. having every day be random, and it allowed me to leave a "likely" schedule for a caregiver if I was away. All that said, I can understand how people who work and have LO's with caregivers/daycare would be more inclined to follow something like Baby Wise; I'm a SAHM, so I could afford to have my schedule flex as my DD went through growth spurts and changes in sleep/eating patterns. (Incidentally, my DD was bottle fed but just straight breast milk - I had to EP - and even with a tiny appetite and not being a good feeder, she was STTN by 12 weeks.)
I am trying to follow it... somewhat. I feed him and then keep him awake during the day. Now, he does this on his own. At night, he falls right asleep after feedings. This has helped him distinguish between night and day.
I feed him every 3-4 hours and make sure he stays awake (at night, when he's sleepy) long enough to eat 3-4oz (he's been eating that for 3 weeks now). I am FF, BTW.
I think Babywise is helpful and it makes sense... all kids do better when their lives have order. I see this in the classroom every day. I mean, think about it- don't you like to have some idea of what's going on in your life and what's going to happen when?
I'm a very open minded person, and I can see why some people have issues with Babywise. Of course it's controversial, it's a form of parenting... just like attatchment parenting, etc.
Here's what ticks me off about people on these boards- something may not be "your cup of tea," but don't flip out on someone if it is theirs. Every mom and baby are different. Don't knock something if you haven't tried it, and don't belittle those who do something you may not. Babywise isn't child abuse,
Life of mrsjanks
I don't see anywhere in this post the words child abuse. There is a lot of controversy about this, and I, personally, would never expect a newborn, or even a 4 month old, to be on a strict schedule based on my needs.
This wasn't directed at you... but some people on TB make it seem like child abuse.
And if you actually read the whole book, nowhere does it say to have your child on a strict schedule. But you can successfully create a loose schedule with a 1 week old... we did it. He eats within an hour or so of the same times every day. If he's hungry between times, we feed him sooner and then work to get back on schedule by moving feedings 15 mins or so either way the rest of the day.
Life of mrsjanks
It isn't just on the bump that people believe some of what this book preaches is tantamount to child abuse. The AAP has discussed how it can lead to failure to thrive in babies. And I, personally, do not believe a 1 week old should be on a schedule, but rather should be fed on demand. I don't need to read the book to know I believe that.
If someone wants to read and follow the book then do so, but the OP asked opinions on it and I don't believe in it.
This!
And keep in mind that Babywise is NOT the same as hyperscheduling. That is made very clear in the book. If baby is hungry, baby eats. No questions asked! It simply gives you a game plan for providing order and structure to the baby's life and yours. Some babies need this, some don't. Some moms need this, and some don't.