Babywise Schedule

Your 2 month old is waking up early for a reason. Feed her and throw out your BabyWise book.

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I agree with the others. Throw the book out. Ezzo and Babywise have long been criticized. There is nothing wrong with a routine (a pattern of doing things). But to put an infant on a feeding schedule is absolutely nuts. I promise you, she will soon be sleeping thru the night. Cherish the private moments you have with her (even at 2 a.m. lol), because it goes by SO fast. More than anything, she needs the feeling of love and security, whether thats being snuggled in your arms, nursing, or a warm bottle.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi there! I am a first time mom to a ten week old baby boy. I have not heard of "Babywise" but my son is on the E.A.S.Y. (Eat, Activity, Sleep, Your Time) plan from the Baby Whisperer book. He has done great on it and has really benefitted from a predictable day. Now that we are past colic he is very flexible, but I would say we still stick pretty close to the plan. You should look into it. I would recommend it to any mom!

1 mom found this helpful

Ezzo has been widely discredited for both his methods (he doesn't have a background in child develoment or any related field) and his theology (Ezzo was ex-communicated and many churches have abandoned his methods). I agree with one of the previous posters, feed the poor child and throw the book out. She could very well be going through a growth spurt and needs the extra nutrition. Please see http://ezzo.info/ for further info on this.

I may not be a ton of help, as we use a routine instead of a schedule, but this MetroMoms event may be of use. It's called Dreamy nights.

http://www.metroplexbaby.com/MetroMoms/2008/20080327_Drea...

yes, we used Babywise successfully, but it didn't happen overnight for us to get the plan in action. Also, don't worry if your baby sets up her own schedule a little. She's the baby and knows when she's hungry so though it is a schedule/routine, your baby is still in charge along with your discernment of her needs. Is she past the point of needing to eat every 2.5 hrs instead of 3 hrs? I recall that on a 3 hr schedule that our baby would have been awake 1.5 hrs also before napping for 1.5 hrs. someone else mentioned, is she going down for her afternoon nap too early? Is she getting a full feeding each time? BabyWise worked wonders for us, and our baby is happy and likes his routine even now at 9 mths.

Instead of every three hours I did every two. I know that really ties down your schedule b/c it is hard to get any errands run or projects completed in just the small amount of time between feedings but it really helped my 3 girls sleep better at night earlier in their nursing days. Hope this helps.

I'm a mom of a 3 1/2 year old boy and a 7 month old girl. I did Babywise with both. It took a lot longer to get my daughter on the schedule than my son. My question would be are you keeping her awake long enough befor her afternoon nap? If you are, just relax, feed her if she's hungry, adjust your evening feeding schedule (don't try to get back exactly on schedule, just try to get bedtime around the sametime everyday.) Also what helped me more with my daughter most was to think of it as a routine more than a schedule; I think the order is much more important than the timing. My daughter had the opposite problem and wanted to sleep longer in the afternoon. She did much better at night when I let her sleep longer in the afternoon. So be flexable and give it some more time; it will come. You'll have to be to deal with 2 kids anyway

Just a thought...I used Babywise as a wonderful guideline, but I think you still have to come up with a schedule that works for you and your baby. I think the important part is that you have A SCHEDULE. Like your child, my son did not exactly adjust to the Babywise schedule by the letter, so we made adjustments here and there. I don't see any point in fighting some of your baby's natural tendencies or fretting because you are not 100% on the BW timeline.

I took the theories of Babywise to heart and between 2 1/2 to 4 months, we worked out the kinks and found a schedule that worked beautifully for us.

Good luck & God bless!

I don't know anything about the Babywise schedule, but there is one thing that I've learned with a 23 month old son and a 2 1/2 month old daughter is there will always be times when they get off schedule especially this early on. I too have been trying to feed my daughter every 3 hours. She was doing good on it all last week, but this week...not so much. It's every 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours all over again. She may be going through a growth spurt.

If you know your baby is hungry feed her! Your momma instinct is God-given and don't let any book ever put you in bondage over what you know is right for your child. You know it is wrong to keep a baby hungry so you don't do it. What is the problem? Don't worry about some book when your mommy instinct is in disagreement. Google "Babywise and failure to thrive" it may help change your thinking. Don't ever let any book or anybodies opinion over-rule what you know is right in your soul.

I also wanted to mention- not sure if you breastfeed but breastfed babies do typically have more feedings than formula fed b/c breast milk is more well used and therefore quickly digested. My son had to breastfeed every 30 mins at times b/c I am very small and he was very big (and healthy) and still is. He would not have grown nearly as much if I had made him wait to eat.

Hi Shelly,
I did Baby wise with both of my boys and they were sleeping through the night by 7 weeks. I didn't take all of their advice but understood the concept and it worked great. Sounds like you are just now starting the schedule.(?) If that is the case I would suspect that it's going to be a bit rocky if she is use to of being fed more often or by demand. If so be more flexible at first until things smooth out. If she is used to of being fed more often than 3 hours then what I would do is stretch her feedings out only by 30 minutes at a time instead of just going for 3 hours at first. Example: If she is used to of eating every 1 1/2 hours then stretch her to two hours at first. Then after a few days stretch it out again by only having her wait 30 minutes longer again. She'll get used to of knowing that a feeding is coming at certain times and it will help to keep her more content and teach her to eat well at the times that she eats instead of doing some "snacking". Keep that up until you have reached your 3 hour point.
Or she could be going through a growth spurt. It's hard to tell if you just changed her schedule. If you think that is possiable then give her an extra feeding during the day to add more to her daily intake without having to feed her during the night. So in other words you be feeding her more often during the day but still keep your nights sleep. :)
I sure hope this doesn't sound too confusing to you! I love the idea of baby wise though some have some strong feelings against it because it comes across as insensitive to babies. I think that by have a feeding schedule it really helps babies to be more content by keeping them on a more constant feeding program than just letting them get to the point where they are screaming for food on their own. I commend your effort and please don't think they are fruitless. In time you will see the harvest of your dedication to seeing this through! :)
C.