So this post is mostly for me. I want to have records of how Jack was doing and what his schedule was so that I can look at it months and years later. And I know that if I write it down somewhere, I will just lose it.
Plus, if anyone else is doing babywise, this might help them with their own schedule.
Okay, Jack is 2 months tomorrow, and we are on a 3 hour schedule:
7 a.m. -- wake up and eat. I'll let him sleep until 7:30 for this one. Usually he is up around 7 or 7:15.
8:15 or 8:30 -- go down for a nap.
10:00 -- wake up and eat.
11:15 -- go down for a nap.
1:00 p.m. -- wake up and eat.
2:15 -- go down for a nap.
4:00 -- wake up and eat.
5:00 -- go down for a nap.
6:00 -- wake up and eat. In the next two hours, we give Jack a bath (not every day, just when he needs one), get him ready for bed, etc.
7:45 or 8:00 -- eat, go to bed.
10:30 ish -- dreamfeed
4:30 a.m. ish - Jack wakes up and eats. I unswaddle and change his diaper, then reswaddle.
A couple of explanations:
The 4, 6, 8 feeding schedule at night is called a "cluster feed." Jack is sleeping longer at night, but I still want to make sure he gets 8 feedings in a day. Thus, we cluster feed.
A dreamfeed is just a night feeding in which you don't wake up the baby. I started doing it a few weeks ago. At first I wasn't sure it really was worth it, but now I like it. Part of the reason I was hesitant was that I have to stay up a little later. I would really rather go to bed at 10. But it is better (at least for me) to stay up later rather than be woken up twice at night. It makes a big difference in the way I feel. Also, I pump for the dreamfeed. It lets me see how much he really is getting, plus Bech can help with it some nights.
He's doing really well on this schedule. He was off a little yesterday, so he ate earlier some of those times. I think it's because he is sick so he hasn't been eating as much at some of his feedings.
One great thing is that we haven't had to do much "cry it out." For naps, I watch for tired signs: yawning, red eyes, maybe a little fussiness. I then take him upstairs, swaddle him, and put him down. When he was 4 weeks old, he cried for 2 days (and even then it was only for, like, 3 or 4 of the naps and only for 10 or so minutes). He cried a few times while we were home. But here at our house, he never cries for naps.
This week he has been waking up early for naps. Again, I think its because he's sick. He'll start coughing and then wake up crying. Thursday and Friday, I decided not to fight it when it happened (because he only had 30 minutes left for those naps), brought him downstairs, and put him in the swing. But Saturday morning, he woke up 30 minutes early, I went and soothed him (but kept him in the crib), and he fell back asleep!
Also, I think Jack is getting close to extending his nighttime sleeping even more. Right now, he is at about 5 1/2 hours consistently. He has done 6 hours twice. But he either doesn't eat much at his middle of the night feeding or he doesn't each much for his 7 a.m. feeding. So he is close to needing just one of them. But I am not going to try to make him drop one yet. He is doing so great for his age! I think in the next 2 or 3 weeks he will drop one on his own.
A few final notes:
If you are interested in Babywise and read this post, I would encourage you to try it! Some people think that Babywise means not feeding a baby when he's hungry. But if Jack is really hungry, I feed him, no matter what the schedule is. I have had a couple of times this week already where we have tweaked the schedule because he was hungry. But for the most part, he sticks to the schedule.
What I love about Babywise is how it affects me and how it affects Jack. I am an ordered person. I like to have a plan and a system. Babywise creates an order that I can somewhat depend on. I say somewhat because you do have to allow for your baby's changes. Jack might be going through a growth spurt and that throws everything off for a few days, for example. But overall, I know that I will feed him at the times listed above. I know that I will have free time during the day while he naps.
I also love how Jack does on this schedule. He is such a happy baby! He gets enough sleep and enough food (definitely enough food as evidenced by his 95th% weight!). He is smiley and so fun. He rarely fusses. He rarely just cries (other than waking up in the middle of the night and sometimes early from naps). He is, as my mother says, a "dream baby." And some of that is just his personality. He really is just an easy baby. But I think a lot of it is the schedule. I know Babywise is not great for all babies. But it is great for Jack.
4 comments:
i think i would have liked baby wise had we had the book with us in Malawi. remember how i used to sing to eli every night (3-5 songs!) and then he would still cry a bit at bedtime?
i think there were definitely some bad habits that we formed. with lazzy, we did nothing but put him in his own crib at 8 weeks and he has slept through the night (12 hours) without a fuss ever since.
it's crazy how each baby is so different!
you guys are doing so great with jack. i'm so glad he's a happy easy baby. you'll need that kind of baby for when you are back in class!
I'm so proud!!! It works and I swear by it!!
Everyone says Babywise babies are 'so easy' and 'so happy' and 'you really got lucky' but they are trained to know that their needs are met and will be met and that there is structure in their world. I'm so so glad it is working for you!
I recently ran into a mom from storytime who I hadn't seen in a while. The last time I had seen her she was asking me a lot of questions about Adele's sleep habits and was amazed when I could give her our exact schedule. She made it a point to tell me how big of a fan she now is of Babywise and how thankful she was that I had encouraged her to read the book!
Jack is adorable! Seriously so cute!
Google directed me to your post entry and I got every answer that I was looking for!
I've been following the Babywise approach 12 years ago, when I was an AuPair in America and my hostfamily wanted me to tend to their new born daughter accordingly. I was 20 years old, and thought it was the greatest thing in the world!
Since then, I've come across many negative comments about Babywise. Many of them, I think, jumping in hysteria on the schedule approach, without even trying to get the whole story. They hear "schedule" - and off they go.
I got to be part of watching the most beautiful, happy, content baby of all time. It was pure bliss taking care of her!
Back to my topic ... you address so many of my questions. You mention cluster feeding, which I have not heard of before and thought not to really go with the Babywise approach - and yet it does.
You write about dreamfeed, your schedule, not being "on" schedule;) .... and your conclusion: "I know Babywise is not great for all babies. But it is great for Jack".
Thank you so much! Very well written!
HI there, can explain your 6pm wake feed.
do you keep Jack awake until 7:45 then feed him and put him to bed? What do you do for that hour and 45 minute besides bath him. I am having a hard time with scheduling my little fellow.
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