The Chronicles of a Babywise Mom

Since mentioning how Braylen is a Babywise baby, I thought I would give you a little recap on our experiences. My aunt Barb raved about this book called Babywise and said it is such a wonderful tool to use when training your baby to be on a routine. I read it while I was pregnant and learned a ton! Everything about the book was new and completely changed my thought process on how to raise a baby. Some new terms for me were PDF-parent direct feeding, and ODF-on demand feeding. PDF is what Babywise teaches meaning that it's the parent that ultimately guides, trains and directs feedings, sleepings, and playtime. ODF, which is what most parents do, and is also why you see and hear about soooooo many sleep deprived moms, is just that-feeding your child on demand. Whenever they cry, you feed them. Even if you just fed your newborn 30 minutes ago, you do it ago. There are so many things that determine these two terms and there are many studies to go along. PDF really made sense to Guy and I. And it worked! 


All through college I babysat kids. The youngest was a 3 month old baby, named Ella, and I remember giving her a bottle while trying to get her to sleep-per her mom's request, although I had thought that is how you should put a baby to sleep. The routine for babywise is to feed your baby, play with them, and then put them down for a 1 or 1.5 hour nap. You do this every 2.5 or 3 hours everyday and your babe will be sleeping through the night in no time. And YOU will be sleeping through the night. I can't tell you how much of a difference just one night of rest makes. Having Braylen on a schedule was such a blessing. It may not be the best thing for every baby but it was for us. I couldn't resist adding some pics of Bray sleeping when he was a little babe.

There are, of course, many experts (and peers) who disagree with Babywise. One reason is that you train your baby to CIO-cry it out! People argue that you are not loving your child by letting them cry. This was this hardest thing for me to go through as a new mom. As part of PDF, you allow your child to CIO if they are having a difficult time with naps or bedtime. However, you let them cry for 10 minutes (that's it!) and then go and check on them/comfort them. Do this for a day or two, and you're babe has learned to self soothe themselves. Even though 10 minutes may feel like 10 hours, it is so worth it for your baby! And because Braylen rarely cries, we know that when he is crying, it's because he's hurt, sick, etc. We know what each cry means. People have always told me that he is so well mannered and that he never cries! I say well you're not with him everyday :) but it is true that he is a very happy child. That is because he is well rested, well fed, and ready to explore. 


I hear moms say a lot that when you have a baby, your world revolves around them. I love Braylen more than anything-he is amazing. But he is not the center of this family. Our lives have not stopped now that he is apart of it. He has come along side us as we strive to love Jesus and love those around us, especially our YL students at Boone. Bray comes with us to games and YL outings. He sings with us in campaigners. He stays up a little bit later at night, while we meet for bible studies. And he loves it! Putting Braylen on a schedule has taught him this principle and has given us the flexibility to do ministry. 


I know that this option may not work for everyone but it's important for me to share our experience so that we can remember what it was like raising a baby-and to maybe help other mom's out there who may need to try this technique. Remember that when mom is happy and rested, so is everyone else in your family! 


Check out this mom's blog called Chronicles of a Babywise Mom. She has everything you need to know about the schedule. 


And! so that when I look back and Braylen does not nap anymore, I can remember the "good ole days:" Braylen at 33 months takes one nap a day from 1pm until around 4pm. And sleeps from 8:30pm until around 8am.