The Duffy Family

Babywise is a Bust

Babywise is a method to get a baby on a schedule. You can get the book anywhere and I will say that it is wonderful...if that's the only baby you have. It is based on the fact that babies thrive off of predictablility and therefore if you regulate their day to be composed of the routine of "eat, play, sleep" then you will have a happy and predicatable baby who more than likely sleeps through the night (12 hours) way early. Well, I did this with both Eli and Ella Kate and they did great. I could tell you EXACTLY what time they would get sleepy, how long they would sleep and how long they would eat and play before getting cranky and ready for another nap. They were sleeping 12 hours at night by the time they were 10-12 weeks old. I had it down. I will say it was a bit more challenging with Ella Kate because I was learning how to juggle two different schedules. Now, here is Noah and babywise is IMPOSSIBLE once you throw the third child into the mix. Poor thing, he just has to go with the flow and sleep on the go. He rarely sees his crib before bedtime and if he does, he's not sure what to do in it. He'd rather be in his swing during the day. And I tell you what, that child can sleep through Eli and Ella Kate banging drums, marching through the house singing "I'm in the Lord's Army" at the top of their lungs. It amazes me! So, although I don't have the most predicatable child, I have a happy child as long as he is fed when he's hungry, changed when he's dirty, and snuggled from time to time. Oh, and he's well on his way to sleeping 12 hours...just a few weeks later than his siblings. Last night he didn't make a peep until 7:00 this morning. He also took a 2 1/2 hour nap this morning IN HIS BED!!! That was great, but I'm chalking that one up to the 50 mg of Benadryl I had to take for the welps I broke out in last night (for the 3rd night in a row). Apparently, I'm allergic to Oxyclean (the detergent booster) but that's another story. Anyway, I'll end this entry with a picture of my sweet little Noah...sleeping how he always does...with his hands folded together. We might not do it "by the book", but we make it through and I'm pretty sure he isn't suffering :)