I am a mom of an 18-month boy and a 2 month girl. I am trying to get her on the babywise schedule for a few days now, but have not been successful. Mornings will go great and then when I try to wait the three hours to feed her in the afternoon-she ends up waking up an hour to 1 1/2 hours too early from her nap acting like she's starving so the schedule is messed up and if you are that off it's hard to go back to the regular schedule. I am doing the schedule mainly to help regulate her sleep because it is way to sporadic at night. Anyone out there successfully tried the Babywise schedule? Anything that helps?
Okay, thanks for all of you who sent positive advice about the Babywise schedule. Her schedule is getting regulated during the day-so I'm hoping that the sleep issues soon resolve. To all of you who sent such negative responses-before you report me to Child Protective Services-I DO NOT STARVE MY CHILD!! She is on formula so I can see that she gets plenty (and before I get criticism for the formula, I had to stop breastfeeding at 1 month old b/c I had gallstones and pancreatitis and was on a lot of unsafe meds for baby). So, sorry to be so negative, I did receive a lot of good advice about being flexible and how Babywise worked for others-I just do not like to be accused of starving my child just b/c I would like a little order in my life (and sleep-a must have for a busy toddler).
I may not be a ton of help, as we use a routine instead of a schedule, but this MetroMoms event may be of use. It's called Dreamy nights.
http://www.metroplexbaby.com/MetroMoms/2008/20080327_Drea...
Your 2 month old is waking up early for a reason. Feed her and throw out your BabyWise book.
I agree with the others. Throw the book out. Ezzo and Babywise have long been criticized. There is nothing wrong with a routine (a pattern of doing things). But to put an infant on a feeding schedule is absolutely nuts. I promise you, she will soon be sleeping thru the night. Cherish the private moments you have with her (even at 2 a.m. lol), because it goes by SO fast. More than anything, she needs the feeling of love and security, whether thats being snuggled in your arms, nursing, or a warm bottle.
Hi there! I am a first time mom to a ten week old baby boy. I have not heard of "Babywise" but my son is on the E.A.S.Y. (Eat, Activity, Sleep, Your Time) plan from the Baby Whisperer book. He has done great on it and has really benefitted from a predictable day. Now that we are past colic he is very flexible, but I would say we still stick pretty close to the plan. You should look into it. I would recommend it to any mom!
I don't know anything about the Babywise schedule, but there is one thing that I've learned with a 23 month old son and a 2 1/2 month old daughter is there will always be times when they get off schedule especially this early on. I too have been trying to feed my daughter every 3 hours. She was doing good on it all last week, but this week...not so much. It's every 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours all over again. She may be going through a growth spurt.
Just a thought...I used Babywise as a wonderful guideline, but I think you still have to come up with a schedule that works for you and your baby. I think the important part is that you have A SCHEDULE. Like your child, my son did not exactly adjust to the Babywise schedule by the letter, so we made adjustments here and there. I don't see any point in fighting some of your baby's natural tendencies or fretting because you are not 100% on the BW timeline.
I took the theories of Babywise to heart and between 2 1/2 to 4 months, we worked out the kinks and found a schedule that worked beautifully for us.
Good luck & God bless!
I'm a mom of a 3 1/2 year old boy and a 7 month old girl. I did Babywise with both. It took a lot longer to get my daughter on the schedule than my son. My question would be are you keeping her awake long enough befor her afternoon nap? If you are, just relax, feed her if she's hungry, adjust your evening feeding schedule (don't try to get back exactly on schedule, just try to get bedtime around the sametime everyday.) Also what helped me more with my daughter most was to think of it as a routine more than a schedule; I think the order is much more important than the timing. My daughter had the opposite problem and wanted to sleep longer in the afternoon. She did much better at night when I let her sleep longer in the afternoon. So be flexable and give it some more time; it will come. You'll have to be to deal with 2 kids anyway
Please read Healthy Sleep Habits for the Happy Child. You can get it at Target. Babywise is very controversial and is not based on any science.....Routines are great and teaching your child to sleep is very important and there are lots of ways to do it, but educate yourself on what will work best for your family and your child. A two month old baby needs to eat very frequently and expecting her to sleep very long periods either in the day or night is not reasonable given her age. Also, bioligically, sleep organization does not start to occur until closer to four months! I read Babywise and every other book on the market regarding sleep training and I really think this book is the most balanced and well researched one out there! We followed his guidelines for my daughter and she is a great sleeper! We are now working on my sons sleep habits and so far things are going well! Good Luck!
Ezzo has been widely discredited for both his methods (he doesn't have a background in child develoment or any related field) and his theology (Ezzo was ex-communicated and many churches have abandoned his methods). I agree with one of the previous posters, feed the poor child and throw the book out. She could very well be going through a growth spurt and needs the extra nutrition. Please see http://ezzo.info/ for further info on this.
yes, we used Babywise successfully, but it didn't happen overnight for us to get the plan in action. Also, don't worry if your baby sets up her own schedule a little. She's the baby and knows when she's hungry so though it is a schedule/routine, your baby is still in charge along with your discernment of her needs. Is she past the point of needing to eat every 2.5 hrs instead of 3 hrs? I recall that on a 3 hr schedule that our baby would have been awake 1.5 hrs also before napping for 1.5 hrs. someone else mentioned, is she going down for her afternoon nap too early? Is she getting a full feeding each time? BabyWise worked wonders for us, and our baby is happy and likes his routine even now at 9 mths.
Instead of every three hours I did every two. I know that really ties down your schedule b/c it is hard to get any errands run or projects completed in just the small amount of time between feedings but it really helped my 3 girls sleep better at night earlier in their nursing days. Hope this helps.
If you know your baby is hungry feed her! Your momma instinct is God-given and don't let any book ever put you in bondage over what you know is right for your child. You know it is wrong to keep a baby hungry so you don't do it. What is the problem? Don't worry about some book when your mommy instinct is in disagreement. Google "Babywise and failure to thrive" it may help change your thinking. Don't ever let any book or anybodies opinion over-rule what you know is right in your soul.
I also wanted to mention- not sure if you breastfeed but breastfed babies do typically have more feedings than formula fed b/c breast milk is more well used and therefore quickly digested. My son had to breastfeed every 30 mins at times b/c I am very small and he was very big (and healthy) and still is. He would not have grown nearly as much if I had made him wait to eat.
Hi Shelly,
I did Baby wise with both of my boys and they were sleeping through the night by 7 weeks. I didn't take all of their advice but understood the concept and it worked great. Sounds like you are just now starting the schedule.(?) If that is the case I would suspect that it's going to be a bit rocky if she is use to of being fed more often or by demand. If so be more flexible at first until things smooth out. If she is used to of being fed more often than 3 hours then what I would do is stretch her feedings out only by 30 minutes at a time instead of just going for 3 hours at first. Example: If she is used to of eating every 1 1/2 hours then stretch her to two hours at first. Then after a few days stretch it out again by only having her wait 30 minutes longer again. She'll get used to of knowing that a feeding is coming at certain times and it will help to keep her more content and teach her to eat well at the times that she eats instead of doing some "snacking". Keep that up until you have reached your 3 hour point.
Or she could be going through a growth spurt. It's hard to tell if you just changed her schedule. If you think that is possiable then give her an extra feeding during the day to add more to her daily intake without having to feed her during the night. So in other words you be feeding her more often during the day but still keep your nights sleep. :)
I sure hope this doesn't sound too confusing to you! I love the idea of baby wise though some have some strong feelings against it because it comes across as insensitive to babies. I think that by have a feeding schedule it really helps babies to be more content by keeping them on a more constant feeding program than just letting them get to the point where they are screaming for food on their own. I commend your effort and please don't think they are fruitless. In time you will see the harvest of your dedication to seeing this through! :)
C.
