Babywise.

When I lived in Los Angeles in 2007, I worked for a HORRIBLE family as a nanny. The only good thing that came of that job, is one of my best friends who happened to be their assistant, and my knowledge of the baby scheduling system known as 'Babywise.' I fully attribute my son's amazing schedule and temperament to this system/book. There is a lot of negative feedback on this book out there on the web, and looking through the comments, I have come to realize that none of these people must have even read the book. They make accusations on low milk supply, failure to thrive, or crying babies not fed when they are hungry. Though out the book, seriously evert few pages, the books stressed IF YOUR BABY IS HUNGRY EARLIER THAN THE SCHEDULED FEEDING TIME, FEED THEM. Nowhere does it say to starve your child, to hyper-watch the clock and not allow feedings before that magic minute. If your child is hungry, feed them. End of story. 


That being said, in summary, the book is a flexible scheduling system that follows a Wake-Eat-Play cycle, which in turn leads to sleeping through the night at an early age due to excellent day time naps and eating and sleeping in the correct order.

Boston is currently 4 months old, he was born 4 weeks early so for sleep and development purposes we need to go by his adjusted age which is 14 weeks. His schedule at this time is as follows:

• 730AM Wake, eat, play (WEP)
• 830AM - 1030AM Nap #1
• 1030AM WEP
• 1130AM - 130PM Nap #2
• 130PM WEP
• 230PM - 430PM Nap #3
• 430PM WEP
• 530PM - 630PM Nap #4 -or- rest time in the swing
• 630PM Bath
• 7PM Eat
• 730PM Bed

He wakes one time during the night at 3 or 4 to eat, then immediately goes back to sleep. I have accomplished this by swaddling, and short periods of cry-it-out (CIO). Some parents are completely against that, and that's fine. But without CIO I would not have such a great sleeper & happy baby on my hands.

I will go into specifics on the aspects of Babywise individually in different posts, CIO, wake-time, nap tips, etc. Below are some links to the Babywise books, and a blog from a Babywise mom. 

On Becoming Babywise

On Becoming Babywise: Book II

Chronicles of a Babywise Mom