Getting Little Bug on the eat/play/nap routine that Babywise teaches was a lifesaver for me! There are so many unknowns for a new mother and the eat/play/sleep routine answered many of those questions for me.

I can remember Little Bug being on a good eat/play/nap routine around 4 or 5 months, however I felt frustrated because she wasn’t eating and napping at around the same times every day. I really wanted to get her on a consistent eating/napping schedule.

I soon learned the problem! 

Deciding a WAKE-UP time is key. One of the mistakes I made that didn’t allow me to establish a good, consistent schedule with Little Bug was I didn’t establish a wake up time. You want to start the day at the same time (give or take 15 minutes, but not more than that). Pick a time that you know baby can do. For example, if baby consistently is wide awake at 6:30am but you are not wanting to wake up until 8am, well, you are going to have to compromise! Obviously you can’t make baby wait until 8am to get up if they are ready at 6:30am, but a 7am wake time, that you eventually hope you can push to 7:30 or even 8, is a reasonable compromise for both baby and mom. In fact, 7:00am is the average “wake-up” time for most Babywise babies.

I was starting the day with Little Bug whenever she woke up. Some days she was awake by 7am and other days she was awake closer to 8am.

When I set 7:30am as her wake time, we finally fell into a consistent schedule and it was heavenly. I loved knowing what was coming next and so did Little Bug. Setting her wake time at 7:30am did mean that some mornings I had to wake Little Bug at 7:30am to start the day. It wasn’t long though (because all her feedings finally stabilized because they were happening at just about the same time every day) and Little Bug started naturally waking at 7:30am.

Naps fell into place once feeding times were established. She would nap around 9am, 1pm and 5pm.

Next time, I won’t forget to set a wake time so that every thing else can fall into place!

Why worry with getting baby on a consistent schedule?

Well, for me, it was a necessity for my sanity and as I soon learned, it did a whole lot of good for Little Bug too.

She knew when it was time to eat, play and sleep. There was order and consistency to her day, which is something babies thrive on. Her every need was met before she even had to think about asking.

People often say that Babywise babies are very happy babies and rarely cry. I found that to be true. Little Bug rarely cried as a baby. She had that normal evening fussy time young babies typically have, but beyond that, she didn’t cry without me knowing exactly what was wrong with her.

I don’t like unknowns and so much of parenting is an unknown! However, having an eat/play/nap routine adds a measure of calmness to the entire household!

- Elaine