On Becoming Babywise PREVIEW

I'll call this a preview because I'm not actually done with On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam, but it's so good I want to write about it now.

My sister recommended Babywise to me when I became pregnant, but she had talked about it before. You see, her kids are virtually always in good moods and smiling, and I can see the love she has for them so clearly. Yet, she has them on a schedule. This schedule allows her to have a routine for them (and her). It allows her to still have time for her husband too. And while I can clearly see that her kids love her, they aren't afraid to be without her either.

The difference between Babywise and other philosophies is that Babywise doesn't make the child the center of the home. Instead, it maintains the parents as the central and most important part. Kids need to see this. I loved this statement: "If something happens to mom and dad, every child intuitively knows that his or her whole world will collapse." I can say this of my own upbringing, as I'm sure others can too- when things with mom and dad's relationship was off, everyone felt it. (I'm not talking about a specific occurrence, just the general idea)

Some people might not like this idea, but Babywise authors call it "we-ism." Instead of the child growing from infancy with a me-first attitude of on-demand feedings, the child realizes they are part of a greater family unit. When more siblings coming along, the transition is easier because it wasn't all about them to start with. Sure makes sense to me.

Of course, the authors are not advocating that you don't care for your child when it has needs. Of course you need to do this. But you can help the baby establish it's eating, sleeping, and waking patterns. My sister's kids were sleeping through the night after a couple of months. As a mom who will have to go back to work in the fall, I NEED that. In fact, it's the only way I will be able to survive.

So, on to chapter four now. I hope this preview was thought-provoking, and I will write more when I finish, and more after I have my baby in a few months to see how applying the philosophy works out.

Here's a pic with hubby. Just about two months left!