"Claire, he's not a machine."
This is a phrase with which I'm very familiar. Colt says this to me when I need a little slap back to reality.
I love Babywise because it helps you problem solve. Why is he so fussy? Why are his naps so short? Why is he acting hungry when I just fed him an hour ago? Following the principles of Babywise helps you find answers.
Because of this, I have developed an obsession with answers. Sometimes I find ridiculous answers for things that just don't need answers. Sometimes the real answer to fussiness is, "He's a baby. And babies cry." Our children are not robots. Just because they do something one time doesn't mean they're going to do it like that all of the time.
For example, remember that time I said Duke had phased out the 3rd nap? Well, I was wrong.
Duke barely makes a peep when we put him down for naps. But lately, we'd noticed a lot of crying (and sometimes screaming) when we'd put him down for his 3rd nap. That's how we knew something needed to change. As it turns out, we were just putting him down too early and he was still happy and ready to play.
Sure, Duke had gone a few days without having a 3rd nap and he did fine. But he wasn't done with it. What I realized is that he didn't need a long third nap. He needed a cat nap. Rather than sleeping 1.5 hours, he really just needs a 45 minute nap. So, now we put Duke down 30 minutes to an hour before his dinner time feeding. He gets a little nap and we get a little break.
Because Duke is on a schedule, it's fairly easy to see when a change is happening. I think getting this 3rd nap right has been a pretty tricky change. Without the 3rd nap, Duke would be up for about 6 hours in the evening and that is just way too long for him. So while I'd love for him to be done with it, I know that he still needs it. When did your baby drop the 3rd nap?
I think Ashley has talked to me about you! You were one of their many friends pregnant at the same time as us. Fun to see your little guy!
ReplyDeleteYes! Well, thanks! Fun to see your little boy too. :)
DeleteI found your blog on pinterest when I typed in babywise. Our little guys are about the same age since mine was born Oct 2011 as well. I literally laughed out loud when I read this post "he's not a machine" I remember when my guy was born and I was trying to implement babywise (and still sometimes now when he has an off day, etc) my hubby telling me "he's not a robot. You can't just expect him to do whatever you want or to be consistent every single day" haha Glad there's someone else who needed reminding about it as well. :)
ReplyDeleteHaha How funny! I definitely have to remind myself of this often. Thanks for reading and stopping by!
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