As a brand-spanking new mom.....I needed the routine more for me than for him. I needed a checklist/guide/helpful hints, etc.
I have read the book twice.....and I'm not sure why it's so controversial. The author encourages you to love, nurture, fed and most importantly be a mama (not a machine) with your baby.
I digress.
Day 1: Jaxon Riley is born. We soaked it all in and loved on him all day. He wanted to eat all day....so we fed him all day. Our only focus was to give him a full feeding (keep him awake while eating), burp him and swaddle him. Check and check, we won parenting that day.
Day 2: Here we go on this new journey. We survived in the night. The goal for today was again, full feeding, burping, pooping. He needed to eat every hour and a half to two hours. If he was asleep, we didn't wake him to eat on the clock.....we fed him when he told us he was hungry. Because the hospital wakes you up every two hours anyway, this was easy.
Day 3: We are headed home! Let the games begin! It's getting REAL here folks! No more nurses to ask questions to or to check in on us. We are REAL parents now. We have a hungry little man on our hands......and he means business.
If he could stretch his feedings to 2 hours, we let him. If he was hungry before then, that sweet boo bear was fed. We had the same goals as we did in the hospital, FULL FEEDINGS. That is all. We are focuses on routine, not timing at this point.
We also began our "nightly" routine with him. This is our routine....not to be confused with timeline. We are so not on a timeline yet.
Routine:
Bath- which on day 3 of his little life, that consisted of a bath wipe.PJ's/lotion/clean diaper
Eat
Bedtime
Our little man is modest. He HATES to be changed or bathed. So- to help calm him down after his bath, we feed. One of the main points with Babywise is finding what works for your child and put it in a "routine" for them. Some moms say eat then bath, but at this point, that doesn't work for us. The main and hardest goal to achieve during the first week is keeping the little munchkin away during feeding time. I have talked, rubbed his feet, removed his blanket, sat him up, etc. to keep those little eyes open. The whole premise of Babywise is to keep him awake while he eats during the day.......so he will learn to sleep during the night. The only time you don't want him to be awake while eating is at night.
Babywise in 3 words:
EatWake
Sleep
Some moms don't like the idea of waking up their sleeping baby during the day to stay on schedule for the babies to sleep at night. I'm straddle the fence on this one. Sometimes I wake him.....other times I stretch that time and use that sleeping baby to wash clothes, shower, meal prep, make the bed, etc. Since it's week one.....and I'm not gonna sleep anyway, and we are not sleep "training" yet.....I'm fine being straddle the fence.
Day 4: It looked a whole lot like Day #3. I don't let him cry it out. He is so little and I'm learning him, and he's learning me.......he lets me cry it out....so it's only fair that I don't let him!
Day 5: With each new day, we are learning more and more. And, our sea legs are becoming a little more stable. On this day, I tried my best to keep him more awake and alert during the day. We strolled the neighborhood, and while I want him to nap, it's ok if they are light naps right now.
Day 6: This was Fathers Day. We celebrated the day with both sets of Grandparents.....and neither wanted us to wake him up to eat. But, because we live with the munchkin, we did. I mean, I'm waking him up to eat....who doesn't wanna wake up and have their breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc ready to go??
Day 7: Hip Hip Hooray! We survived our 1st week with the new guy! I think we'll keep him after all!
Week one tips from a Wanna Be Babywise Mom:
-Establish a routine, not a time schedule
- Full Feedings- Keep the munchkin awake while feeding
- You are the mama.....you do what YOU think is best for your baby.
