People just want their sleep. Moms want their sleep. That's why I did Babywise to begin with. I was pulling my hair out and losing my mind and turning into a crazy monster woman. (This is no joke. Just ask Colt.)
There are so many things to remember when reading that first book and it can be really overwhelming. I started Babywise around week 3 and the first couple of weeks I was doing it, I skipped over one very important thing: consistent waketime. Lately, I've had several conversations with different moms about this very thing, so I thought I'd write a bit about it.
People, this is the magic ingredient. This is when we turned a corner and Duke began sleeping longer and longer at night.
If you don't have a consistent waketime, your schedule won't look the same every day. Yes, your routine can stay the same. But your schedule will not. (I talked about the benefit of having both here.)
So what does this mean? It means that you pick a time that you want your morning to start. I wanted to get up at 8:00 a.m. So, no matter what Duke did the night before, I had to get up and feed him at 8:00 a.m. If he ate last at 5:30 a.m., I fed him at 8:00 a.m. If he ate last at 7:00 a.m., I fed him at 8:00 a.m. (Yes, if that happened, I pretty much would feed him, burp him, and then feed him all over again at 8:00 a.m.) It wasn't fun and it was exhausting ... but it was worth it. When he was 6 weeks, I started implementing consistent waketime. By 8 weeks, he was sleeping 7-8 hours at night. Since that point, he's only added to the amount of hours he sleeps at night.
And let me say, this is not easy. There were many mornings when 8:00 a.m. would come and all I wanted to do was keep sleeping. But if I wanted consistency and longer hours of sleep at night, I had to do it. Soon enough, his little tummy realized that he would eat at 8:00 a.m. and he didn't need to wake and eat before that point.
(Side note: If you have schedule/Babywise questions, I'd love to help if I can.) Just be sure to implement this magic ingredient. You will be glad you did!
I have a question - so if the little guy is still asleep at 8, do you wake him?
ReplyDeleteAnother question, if he eats at say 6:30am and then doesn't want to go back to sleep do you still put him down to cry it out?
Just some questions! My baby is waking up at 5:30/6:30am every day and then going back to sleep, but her next wake up time is not consistent.
Yes, if he was still asleep, I'd wake him. That way, it kept us on schedule and he knew what to expect. :)
DeleteAs for the 6:30 a.m. question - I'd try crying it out a few times first. If it consistently isn't working, you could try starting the day at 6:30 a.m., but then gradually trying to move it later by, say, 10 minutes. So maybe after a couple weeks, she'd be able to make it a little later.
I think with time, you could move her morning wake time so that the day becomes more predictable. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thank you!
ReplyDelete