ARE YOU BABY WISE?

Two little lines with a whole lot of meaning

 Finding out I was pregnant was one of the best days of my life! I couldn't wait for my husband and I to grow our family and welcome a much anticipated baby into our world.  However like most first time moms I found my self questioning everything baby!!!  One question I was really curious about is when do I feed baby, when do they sleep and how the heck do I find structure in what seemed to me was going to be a baby dominated life. 

  It was at my baby shower with all my closest friends that a few mommy's told me I had to get this book called Baby wise.  "It would change my life" so they said.  Of course I had to find out what all the hype was about, so a week later I had it in my hand, ready to learn how I could become "Baby wise."



  This book was simple and easy to read. It had very good logic behind it's purpose and offered a simple step by step on how to get your baby to sleep thru the night, give structure and routine.  In a nutshell the book is about putting your baby on a 2 1/2-3 hour routine in the beginning, PDF (Parent directed feeding) and giving your child the gift of sleep. 

A typical schedule could look as follows:

7 am- First feeding of morning, followed by playtime/wake time then put down to nap
10 am- next feeding, playtime/wake time, nap
1 pm- feeding, playtime/wake time, nap
4pm- feeding, playtime/wake time, nap
7pm- feeding, possible playtime, lay down to sleep
10 pm- final feeding of the day, put directly back down to sleep

(For the first 8 weeks your baby will need to eat no longer than 4 hours after the 10pm feeding. Although most newborns will let you know when they are hungry, if you happen to have a sleepy little one make sure they don't go past this 4 hour mark.)

You basically continue this routine which will ultimately help establish the following;

• Stabilizes your milk production for breast feeding
• Gives mom and baby a routine in their day, allowing for necessary planning when outings or errands are to occur
• provides a sense of stability to your baby. You no longer have to wonder "what does my baby need" "why are they crying"  If you have fed them, changed them, and are now laying them down, their crys are simply their way of learning how to self soothe.
• By allowing them to not learn to associate feeding with sleeping, you're giving them the gift of becoming an independent sleeper. 
• While feeding they are getting a good quality feeding rather than cluster feeding and snacking

  The emphasis of all of this is getting your baby into a routine of a nice long nights sleep.  The one thing the book makes valid points on is it's not just healthy for mom and dad to get back some much needed rest, but as well as the baby.  They are human just as we are and just because they are still young, they need sleep just as much as adults.  There doing a lot of developing and learning when their awake, which also means their little minds need time to recoup and rest.  Teaching your baby how to sleep thru the night allows them to find structure at an early age. 

  I now have a 3 month old beautiful baby girl. I've come a long way from her first day home and now. The one thing I have found is there is a difference in a text book baby and reality. My daughter didn't come out with all the guidelines the book said were going to make it so much easier. She did however have a mom who was informed and ready to face some sleepless nights, some really tough feedings and some resistance from those around her because she knew what would become best for her child.  I had my own husband talking me out of doing the steps the book provides.  He liked to call it my "bible," lol but I knew what I was doing,and all the while I kept my mommy instinct in high regards. 

  The toughest part of following this book is helping the baby start this routine. Newborns just want to sleep!!! Can you blame them? They've been thru a lot, and to be honest, I was right there with her! So when I had to wake her cause 3 hours had passed I found I had to be pretty creative in ways to keep her awake during her feeding. My husband would help and flap her little arms like a chicken (gave both of us a good laugh being sleep deprived) I would grab a bag of frozen veggies and put them on her legs or back just to get her to wake up. I would undress her before I began and talk to her to keep her on high alert with the noise.  All of these were YES, EXHAUSTING, but I knew would pay off! There were days when we would fall of track a bit in the times, but adjusted just fine to the next one. She sometimes just wasn't that hungry, so in contradiction a bit to the book we would let her sleep a little longer than 3 hours, and wake her at about the 4 hour mark. 

  At about 6 weeks I noticed she was starting to only wake at 2am for a feeding and then we would put her directly to sleep again, and because she had started to become such a great independent sleeper, she would do so with little to no fuss at all.  Due to starting her 7 am feeding everyday since she was a week old she actually started to be hungry on her own at that time, and so would start the first of our days feedings no matter if she just ate at 4:30am or 5.  When 8 weeks came around she was sleeping from 10 pm to 2 am, getting a feeding and then sleeping until about 6:30.  That's when we started breaking her of that 2am feeding. Instead of offering her the bottle right away we offered her the pacifier and a little rocking in mom or dads arms.  We did this for a week straight and it was NOT easy let me tell you, since you would have to repeat every 15 minutes or so until she fell back asleep. Nonetheless by week 9 I had a baby that would lay down for bed at 10pm and wake up a little later each night on her own, from 2 am to 4am to 5:30 until one day her dad and I both woke up at 7am and realized (dun, dun, dun..) SHE HAD SLEPT THRU THE NIGHT!! Woo Hoo! Not only that but she also started during the day getting hungry on her own around the 3 1/2-3 hour mark! 

  She is now 14 weeks and has her last feeding at about 8:45-9:00pm. She wakes up between 7:30-8:30 happy and smiling from a solid nights sleep.  I never let her go more than 12 hours due to her being a breastfed baby, but the book does say if your baby is formula fed they can go 13 hours. 

  Let me tell you, in my experience this book was such a great foundation for me and baby! Our update at 14 weeks is this; I have a very happy, content, well rested and routine baby.  I can almost always predict why she is fussy or what she needs. My milk production is amazing!! I have a very established milk supply and I am very confident I can provide my baby with breast milk all the way up to a year, which for me was of utmost importance.  I have less worry when planning events since I can plan around the times I know she will be hungry and ready for her feeding.  Being she left the hospital losing more than 10% of her body weight, the doctors were concerned of her eating enough, and gaining weight. I can proudly say she never lost more weight, and is now in the 55th percentile for her age group in both weight and height requirements, all of which I attribute to her solid feeding routine. 

  To sum up my experience with Baby Wise I would HIGHLY recommend it to moms, and even am following up on the books that they wrote to take you through their toddler stages.  I already tell my friends all about it, and some have applied to their own babies. I am so thankful to my friends who told me about it at my baby shower, and my husband who once mocked me calling it my "bible" even admits, I was right and he is really impressed with my dedication to it. Which leads me into my final statement.. Stay dedicated, informed and always intuitive when it comes to following this book. You will most definitely be challenged, and question if it's right for your baby, and all I can say is put your instincts and baby first of course, but don't give up.  In the end, and just a few short weeks you will have such a well established sleep for both you and baby you will be glad you followed it, and crowned the tile of being, BABY WISE :) 

  Good Luck and Congratulations on your newest addition to the family!