Babywise

I am crazy about sleep! To this day, Emma has never missed a nap and Josh has only missed three or four (and only because he was still napping multiple times a day).

When Emma was born, my dreams of having one of those perfect sleepers from the beginning were shattered. Shortly after reading the book Babywise, Emma became a Babywise baby and I found my groove. I am definitely a scheduler, a planner, and order should be my middle name. I loved a majority of the concepts in the book and adjusted the ones I didn't quite love but understood. Shortly after implementing a schedule with Emma she began sleeping like a champ and by 6 weeks she was sleeping through the night and by 9 months, her naps were extremely consistent. The girl does not fight sleep in any way and when she is tired, she will ask to take a nap. She has never truly fought bedtime and is in bed every night by 7:30 (except those rare occasions, which we have only allowed 4 times). She is a true Babywise baby!

When Josh was born, my dreams of having another perfect Babywise baby were shattered. Josh slept so perfectly for the first month of his life that I was completely thrown off. He didn't seem to need any sort of schedule because he created a perfect one of his own. After a month this perfect schedule came to a screeching halt and again I was completely thrown off. I tried my hardest to stick to a schedule with Josh but despite my best efforts, he did what he wanted. All of a sudden he wouldn't nap and when he did it was 45 minutes at best. He began waking up multiple times a night and I was frustrated.

Josh challenged all my notions on sleep and schedules and I am glad that he did. I truly had to determine if this was the way I was going to be with all of my children, I have learned that sometimes what works for one does not work for another. I thought long and hard about dropping the Babywise routine altogether and trying the go with the flow routine but in the end, I just couldn't do it. The main principle of Babywise just made too much sense, that my baby needs sleep and it's my job to foster it.

Josh (as a newborn) never adhered to a schedule the way Emma did and I learned to be much more flexible with the entire thing. He did begin sleeping through the night at 12 weeks but change anything on him during the night (stuffy nose, lost binky, helmet on his head) and you hear him crying out. At almost 17 months and with me being home all summer, his naps have finally gotten consistent. I have accepted that Josh is just a different type of sleeper than his sister but know at heart he is a Babywise baby.

Call me crazy or neurotic, it's okay. I believe this is what's best for my children and when people tell me I am lucky because their child gave up napping at 2, I know luck has nothing to do with it. I have fostered sleep in my children through Babywise, (which I used to think was the only way but I have learned that really any way that works for you is a good way) and maybe just maybe on day I will allow them to stop napping! :o)