We are using a daily routine method recommended to us by a teacher of mine. It's called Baby Wise. If you've ever heard of it, it's a book written by Gary Ezzo, and it's all about getting your child to sleep through the night. I wanted to try this out ever since my teacher talked about how she can spot a baby-wise baby a mile away because they're so well behaved. We bought the book months ago and have been studying up and preparing to use the recommendations in the book. Here's how it works:
The point in to teach your child to learn to fall asleep on his own, without needing to be rocked, swung, fed, sung-to, pacified, etc... Mr. Ezzo suggests we change the order of the daily routine from the normal, wake-feed-sleep to the feed-wake-sleep. We have been making sure little Porter gets a full feeding every 2 1/2 to 3 hrs, then we keep him awake as long as he'll allow, and when he gets fussy, we know he's not hungry, so we put him down for his nap (usually 1 1/2 to 2hr nap). The first week was really hard, cause we didn't know if he was eating enough, or what he needed. As the 2nd week started, Porter started regulating himself to do these things naturally. His body is responding to the 3 hr. feedings, and he stays awake more. He (usually) goes down for a nap without fussing. At night, he sleeps for 4-5 hr. stretches, and would sleep more if I didn't wake him up to feed him. He is such a good baby! The only hard part is not knowing if his happy disposition is because of this routine, or because that's how he is. He is very predictable, and it's helped us as parents have the confidence in knowing we're giving him what he needs and determining his needs. Every day gets better and better!
Now, just to clarify. We're not those kind of parents who stick to the routine "do or die", for all those concerned. We are flexible, and we do understand that somethings are more important than naptime and "on the hour" meals. For now, we're very happy and we'll keep you posted on how its going.
