BabySchedules

Kids need structure and predictability. We have found that our son is happiest when things are predictable and he knows exactly what's going to happen next. Right from birth we stuck to a predictable schedule with him. We also fed him at the same time each day, he played after ate and then slept again. He quickly fell into a predictable pattern and was one of the happiest kids we had ever been around. We made a habit of playing with him after he ate each meal. When he was very young it often meant just keeping him awake and showing him things. After he got a bit older we really encouraged him to get time on his own after eating so that he learned how to entertain himself. We wanted him to be independent and able to be on his own without constant attention from us.

Don't get me wrong - we CHERISH our time with him and love being with him. We just want him to be independent and be able to have fun on his own, keep his mind occupied without having to be entertained by others.

We also vowed to keep him from watching commercial TV until he reaches the age of 7. So far, he has not watched TV yet and he's almost 4 1/2 years old. We watch occasional videos, but we prefer to read, play with legos, and do anything other than watch commercial TV. He'll have his whole life to be able to watch TV if he decides to do so. In the meantime, there's so much to experience, learn and play with while growing up. He has a great attention span and is happy as a lark without TV.

Not all kids are the same! Some parents will be unable to use the "babywise" approach. The hardest part for me was training my son to be able to go to sleep on his own. There were two nights when he cried himself to sleep and I was in the other room with a pillow over my ears so that I couldn't hear him. Those two nights were very difficult. I think that the longest he cried was 10 minutes each night, but it seemed much longer than that. After he made it through those nights he was able to comfort himself and go to sleep on his own. We still rocked him all the time, but did not rock him to sleep. We wanted him to be able to get to sleep on his own. He started sleeping through the night at 10 weeks and woke up extremely happy every morning. I believe that we were better parents because we were not sleep deprived for a long period of time.

Our son is 4 years old and goes to sleep at 8:00 PM. Of course there are times when we're out or have company and he doesn't go to sleep right on the schedule, but he gets a very glassy look to his eyes right at 8:00 because his body is so used to having a routine. His life is very predictable and he's a very happy, sweet kid.

I believe that kids thrive with routines and predictability. There's enough unpredictable/new things in their young lives to deal with as they grow. Sticking to a schedule makes life for everyone in the family easier in our home.

More to come...

Hello This BLOG is written to help new parents get their babies on a schedule. My husband and I followed the book entitled, "On Becoming Baby Wise" by Gary Ezzo and had great results with our son. The book gives very practical suggestions on how to get your baby on a schedule and how to arrange the schedule to get your baby used to becoming part of your family instead of running your family. It also gives practical sugestions for getting your baby sleeping through the night at a very early age. Our son started sleeping through the night at 10 weeks and has been a great sleeper ever since. He's now 4 years old. Gary Ezzo is a graduate of Talbot Seminary and School of Theology and is the executive director of Growing Families International. Growing Families International has been widely criticized on the web for some of the parenting practices outlined in his book. This BLOG addresses what I feel are the positive aspects of the "Baby Wise" philosophy. I am not a Christian and I am not associated in anyway with Gary Ezzo. I'm going to offer what I found to be the best parts of the Baby Wise approach and what worked for our family. Schedules with infants can be taken to extremes and cause emotional and/or health problems. It's up to the parents to pick the most sound aspects of any advice given for child rearing. I hope that some of my thoughts will help you with your parenting adventure.