Babywise
Evia had her 1 month check up yesterday. She gained 2 lbs and 1 inch since birth. Wow-I must be doing something right with this breastfeeding thing! She is already holding her head up for a while and cooing. Blaine changed her diaper last night and said he was shocked that her "chicken legs" were gone. For any of you new mothers out there (and I have alot of friends right now who are pregnant) I was given a book that I highly recommend. It's called "On Becoming Baby Wise" by Gary Ezzo. I didn't implement its philosophy till Evia was about 2 weeks old -since that is when I was given the book-but I swear by it. As many of you know, the twins were just shy of 6 months when they came home, so the newborn thing is new for us. You hear so many things from the nurses at the hospital, your pediatrician, ideas from Le Leche League, etc... and it can be SO confusing!!! Basically, the book recommends a Feed, than Awake, Than Sleep cycle. Most parents/moms, feed their baby, than lay them down to sleep or allow them to sleep at the breast/bottle. This is opposite to that idea. They do not advise demand feeding, but use a parent educated approach to assessing what your baby needs as far as hunger, etc... By 3 months, close to 90% of babies are sleeping through the night. The babies are happier and less fussy because they are on a predictable cycle and are getting a good eat/awake/sleep pattern. Also, another key ingredient is to make sure the baby gets a FULL feeding every time and no "snacking" at the breast. There is way toooo much to write here, so get the book!! Evia now eats almost every 2 1/2 to 3 hours like clockwork and wakes once, sometimes twice, a night. She was waking every hour the first 1-2 weeks, nursing sporadically, and I was dying of exhaustion!
3 comments:
Ann, I was way too spoiled with my kids. I did the demand feeding, but we would "hold them off" when we could. Kimber was good at that. They were literally sleeping through the night at 1 month. I remember that Cara was only 1 week old when your grandma and grandpa and Leo and Deloris had their anniversary celebration. I was so very tired that night and Cara slept 7 hours that night. She knew her mom needed some sleep!
Sooo glad you and Evia are doing so well! I didn't follow Baby Wise, but a similar approach from "The Baby Whisperer" and that was very helpful, too. I had the twins in a good routine no later than 1.5-2 months and we still keep a pretty steady routine now. It makes life MUCH better for everyone!!
I used the Baby Whisper and it was very similar. It seemed to work really well for us, especially letting them know how to go to sleep on their own. With Braeden it was a bit harder, he was a bit spoiled and I let him fall asleep on my lap or at the breast...leading to worse sleep habits later on. I swear the twins together are much easier at bedtime and naptime because of it.
Glad things are going well!
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