Send Me Your Babywise Success Stories

We are coming up on one of my very favorite weeks of the year. It is the week when I post your Babywise success stories. The stories of how your baby's sleep improved. How implementing a schedule has helped your family. How your sanity has been maintained thanks to predictability in life. 

I love having these banks of stories in order to help people have easy access to the good Babywise has to offer. There are so many people intent on bashing Babywise out there (and it seems most of them have actually never even read the book), that a search for Babywise can yield nothing but negative. These stories help people see the good. 

Each year, in an effort to provide more positive stories out there, I do a Babywise Success Stories Week. I publish the stories in July. I ask you, the readers, to provide me with success stories to share on this blog throughout the week. It can be as short as a paragraph, or as long as a blog post. It can be about Babywise in general or some specific aspect of Babywise (like Independent Playtime, for example). 

My hope is that as we provide these stories, parents who are wondering what Babywise is all about can find these stories and see that there are parents who use it and love it. They can see that those parents are loving, normal parents. If Babywise is something that makes sense to them, they can move forward in using it with confidence. 

To share your story, please email it to me at valplowman@gmail.com. Follow these steps:

1. Put "Babywise Success Story" in the subject of your email. This helps make sure it doesn't get sent to my spam folder.
2. Tell me the title of your article. If you do not include a title, I will title it for you.
3. Tell me how you want to be identified (for example, I could be identified as "Valerie," "Valerie Plowman," "Val," "V. Plowman"--whatever you want).
4. It would be fun to know the number of children you have and their ages, but that is not required.
5. Type or paste your article into the email. Please no attachments.
6. You can include an image for your article. Just send me the image URL for it--again no attachments. If you right click on an image, you can choose "copy image URL." You can also often just copy a picture online and paste it into an email. 
7. You may also include a link to your website if desired, but any questionable website links will not be posted (just had to include that).

You can start sending your article any time starting now! I don't have a firm deadline, but you have at least until July 10 for sure. I will respond to you once I have it scheduled and let you know what day and time you can expect to see it up. 

I look forward to hearing from you!

Follow this link to see previously shared success stories.

Share Your Success Stories 2016

I was shocked when I came to my blog one day to find a slew of negative comments. They all came from one person and they were so forcefully negative. They were patronizing and aggressive. I was quite taken aback. You see, I had started my blog as a place to save my "stock" answers I got from other moms who had babies born the same time Kaitlyn was born. I had searched it out looking for some advice for my reflux baby with Babywise, but soon found I was the one with experience. I answered a lot of questions, and you may have noticed the same few questions are always asked by new moms (and that's okay! We were all that new mom once).

To save time, I posted my answers on a blog. 

I didn't look at it much for a couple of weeks and came back very surprised to see someone had found me out and went to town with the negativity. 

I decided right then that this blog was going to be more than just a place to help the 20 or so moms I was interacting with in this group. This person pushed me right into making this blog a place a Babywise mom could come and find answers. Somewhere she could find encouragement. Somewhere she could get support and help.

I knew that all of those things were lacking on the Internet at the time. I knew what came up if you searched "Babywise"--and not one bit on the first page was positive. But I also knew that the fruits of Babywise were positive. I also knew there were moms out there who were successfully applying the principles and living happy lives with their families. I knew they were kind and loving mothers, despite what the search results would tell you of such people as would dare try to use Babywise. 

So I dedicated a fair amount of time to create this resource, and I continue to dedicate a fair amount of time 8.5 years later. Now when you search for Babywise, I should be at the top or toward the top of what you find. There are positive resources on the Internet! 

Many of you won't know how far things have come. There was a day that moms did not dare admit they did Babwise because of the lashing they would get. Look what happened to me! There are people who dedicate time to seeking out public Babywise moms and tear them down on contact. 

Fortunately, I am not one to be bullied. I am a confident person and I knew what I was doing was working and that it had improved our lives immeasurably. How unfortunate that a mom who was seeking help would be scared off of something like this before even knowing what it is about. I wasn't going to let that be the only voice out there. I would let my voice be heard loud and proud. 

As time has passed, more moms have stepped out and been willing to be a voice. As a whole, we Babywise moms don't tend to be pushy. We tend to be the type who have no problem with other parents parenting their own way. That doesn't bother us. What does bother us is being criticized for parenting our own ways. 

Don't be fooled. While Babywise parents have Babywise as a common link among us, we have many differences. Some vaccine. Some don't. Do you know what is crazier than that? We can talk about that topic in a group of Babywise moms and the conversation remains civilized. We talk about
circumcision, birth plans, and homeschooling all without name-calling or tempers rising. 

That is the kind of parent who tends to be drawn to do Babywise. We let people govern themselves. 

The downside to that is that we also tend to be quiet about our parenting style. People can compliment us and we just offer a small smile. We can see a friend bashing Babywise on Facebook and scroll on by. We can feel afraid to offer our own experience because we worry about the backlash we will get from our friends online. 

Each year, in an effort to provide more positive stories out there, I do a Babywise Success Stories Week. I do this in July. I ask you, the readers, to provide me with success stories to share on this blog throughout the week. It can be as short as a paragraph, or as long as a blog post. It can be about Babywise in general or some specific aspect of Babywise. 

My hope is that as we provide these stories, parents who are wondering what Babywise is all about can find these stories and see that there are parents who use it and love it. Those parents are loving, normal parents. If Babywise is something that makes sense to them, they can move forward in using it with confidence. 

To share your story, please email it to me at valplowman@gmail.com. Follow these steps:

1. Put "Babywise Success Story" in the subject of your email. This helps make sure it doesn't get sent to my spam folder.
2. Tell me the title of your article. If you do not include a title, I will title it for you.
3. Tell me how you want to be identified (for example, I could be identified as "Valerie," "Valerie Plowman," "Val," "V. Plowman"--whatever you want).
4. It would be fun to know the number of children you have and their ages.
5. Type or paste your article into the email. Please no attachments.
6. You can include an image for your article. Just send me the image URL for it--again no attachments. If you right click on an image, you can choose "copy image URL." You can also often just copy a picture online and paste it into an email. 
7. You may also include a link to your website if desired, but any questionable website links will not be posted (just had to include that).

You can start sending your article any time starting now! I don't have a firm deadline, but you have at least until July 11 for sure. I will respond to you once I have it scheduled and let you know what day and time you can expect to see it up. 

I look forward to hearing from you!

Follow this link to see previously shared success stories.

I might not have started this blog with the intention to take it where it is, but I am absolutely thrilled to be able to play a small part in helping parents be the best parents they can be. Babywise did that for me, and I am happy to pay it forward and do that for other parents. I hope you will contribute to the positive voices and help me create a successful #BabywiseSuccess week!

Final Success Story 2010

And our final Success Story today! Thanks to everyone who shared! Whew! What a week!

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It seems that taking care of Cooper got pretty difficult from about 9-12 months. This is really mostly my fault. I lacked structure to our day. Other than I knew what time he was suppose to eat and sleep, the rest of the day was a free-for-all. I had all his toys in random boxes and bins on the floor in his playroom. He could basically grab any toy he wanted to play with at any point. The result from my lack of structure in his day and his toys laying around at his disposal- a clingy child who did not know how to self-play or entertain himself for long. He also lacked discipline because I was not trying to create boundaries and guidelines to his day.


When Cooper was a baby, I had done Babywise with him to train him to sleep through the night. He slept through the night, 7-8 hours stretch, from about 9 weeks old. He slowly increase his sleep. By the time he was 5 months old he was sleeping 10 hours at night and by 6 months old he was sleeping 12 hours at night. He had regular nap times and things ran smoothly. Thank you Babywise! Babywise is a book meant for parents of infants 0-5 months old. Then the next book in the series is Babywise II. I bought the book and read it, but decided that I really did not need to implement all the things that the book suggested. One of the recommendations was that you put your 5-15 months old in a pack n play daily for a short period of time with a few toys. This structured time was suppose to teach a child how to play on his own and to develop mental focus since there are not a lot of toys. However, I decided not to follow this recommendation, because Cooper hated to be in his play pen or pack n play. Man did I pay the price for this later!

So anyways, I found myself with a cranky, clingy, can’t play by himself, undisciplined child and it was about to be the end of me. I decided that perhaps I should revisit Babywise II (5-15 month olds) and buy the next couple of books in the series, Pre-Toddlerwise (12-18 months), and Toddlerwise (14 months through 3 years-old). I also stumbled into a group on www.babycenter.com for mom’s who are currently implementing the babywise and other wise programs with their children. Between the books and the group I joined on babycenter.com, I have learned so much about how to structure Cooper’s day and disciplining him. Cooper is doing such a better job playing independently, he minds Chris and I much better now, he does not cling to me as much, and he seems to be in a better mood and happier!

Thoughts on discipline:

Before I reread Babywise II and picked up Pre-Toddler Wise. My main form of discipline was telling him “no.” If that did not work, I usually would look him in the eyes and gentle squeeze his hand to get his attention (not to the point of pain). The gentle hand squeeze did come from babywise. If that form of correction did not work, we did time out in his mini-pack n play for 30 sec to a minute. That would usually do the trick. I will say, even with all of those strategies in place, my discipline was still not working effectively. The problem was with saying, “no” over and over again. After reading through Pre-Toddlerwise and Toddlerwise, they speak about first time obedience. I am not going to get into that topic to much, but I will say that if Cooper does not respond after the first no, and I give him time to comply, then he get a brief time out. This quick and easy discipline strategy has saved me and Chris from saying, no over and over. He will 70% of the time obey us with the first no. He knows that certain things are off limits in our house too, such as the tv buttons, the stairs, and outlet plugs. He is usually good about not touching them! This is saving me a lot of piece of mind so I don’t feel like I am running around disciplining him all day long.



Thoughts on Structure:

As I mentioned earlier in this post, the only part of my schedule that I had down was the time Cooper ate and slept, the rest was free and open to whatever happened. The lack of structure created many discipline problems because he was allowed to roam around the house too much, and touch too many things. Pre-toddler and Toddlerwise would call this- allowing your child too many freedoms. I also had way too many toys out which was over simulating and he was not able to concentrate and just play with one toy. After reading the three -wise books, I made some adjustments. The first was, get all the toys off the floor and into bins. I only allow Cooper to play with a select few toys at a time. I also rotate the toys he is allowed to play with so he does not easily get board with his toys. The next thing I did was structure his day better. To fill in the times between eating and sleeping, I created the following activities: independent playtime, outdoor playtime/ walks, blanket time, table time (which is done in his highchair), TV time, story time, structured play/ learning time, family play time, free play time, bath time, and time to run errands. I have been following this schedule for about a month now, maybe a little longer, and it is great! Keeps Cooper from getting board, keeps me from going nuts trying to entertain him all day long, and has taught Cooper how to self-play and respect boundaries.

The two actives I cannot live without:

Independent play time and blanket time have been a wonderful addition to our schedule and have helped Cooper learn to self-play, develop better mental focus, and respect boundaries and my authority. Cooper plays in his playard every morning for an hour, I select the toys he plays with and rotate them so he is not bored every day. For the first week he cried a lot during independent play time. The crying slowly decrease and I am happy to report that this is the first week where I can put him in the playard and he happily starts to play with his toys! I think he even looks forward to this time. Blanket time I have only been doing for two weeks, but I think it is great! Cooper is told stay on a blanket that is no bigger than 3×4 and I give him very few toys. He started with 10 minutes of play and now we are up to 20 minutes of play on the blanket. It only took 2 days of me picking him up and telling him to stay on the blanket for him to stay put. He cried for about a week, but now no more tears and just play! I went to a restaurant last week and sat him on the ground while I was paying the check. I told him to stay put and Cooper did not move for 5 minutes. It was a very crowded restaurant with lots of temptations to allure Cooper, but he was able to resist them and obey me. I owe this to blanket time.

Final Thoughts:

I am glad I decided to crack down on discipline and structure his day! With twins on the way, I wanted to make sure that Cooper was a happy, compliant child. I did not want to chase Cooper around or having him cling to me throughout the day while I was busy with the twins at various points. I am able to get more done around the house such as laundry, cleaning, and kitchen stuff now because I do not have Cooper constantly clinging to my pant legs and wining or me running after him telling him “no” all the time! So thank you to the -wise series. You have saved my sanity and helped Cooper to be a happier child!

Susanne Foley
http://www.cbfoley.com/

Babywise Success Story

Here is a very honest story from a mom who adjusts Babywise to work for her family.

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I do babywise, at least some version of it. Today I linked to the tulip girl's blog. I followed some other links to read about people complaining about babywise. What I read made me feel these were people who didn't understand babywise at all. They read the suggested routines and made them the law instead of remembering they, the parents, know best. For me the schedules were a guide. They helped me know if, in general, we were on the right path. I did not set a timer. There was always leeway. I tried to examine all angles to determine what was best for my baby. I now have two boys that don't fight me to go to bed. My 3 1/2 year old might put up a slight fuss that he's not tired, but overall he goes down when it's time. Don't get me wrong. We went through our share of struggles with him and had to find what worked for us (locking his door for a while). My 1 1/2 year old just goes to bed. If he's not tired enough he plays around in his crib, jabbers, maybe reads a book, then goes to sleep. There are things I wish I'd done and things I wish I hadn't done. For me Babywise is not the bible... I already have one of those. It is a guide, just like all the other parenting books out there. And just like all other books and theories I study I take it in, think about it, and implement it the way that works best for us. Sleeping is not a problem for

I, however, am far from the perfect mom. I am not nearly consistent enough or calm enough. I struggle with behavior issues, especially with my 3 1/2 year old. He can be quite defiant. When I read the success stories I often feel bad about myself. I have to be very careful how seriously I take things. When we share our success stories we aren't outlining every detail and we're certainly not advertising what hasn't worked. I often read things like this, "we are told constantly that he is a happy, intelligent, well-behaved child." The book tells you that you'll get comments like that. I don't. My oldest has problems hitting. We are really struggling with this. We have a neighbor that won't allow him to play at their house because of it. I get ill every time he hits someone. I am not good at doing all I should though, so I guess I need to step it up. Anyway, I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I guess to say that not all successes produce perfect (you know what I mean) children. But I still feel like we are a success, at least for where we do follow babywise. Lack of success has come where I didn't follow it or wasn't consistent. But I'm still working on it and hopefully my children won't suffer too much because of it.
Kristin

Pre-Toddlerwise and Toddlerwise Success

 Here is a great story on the success of Pre-Toddlerwise and Toddlerwise.

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Since you have so many success stories from parents using Babywise, I wanted to share ways we have benefited from Pre-Toddlerwise and Toddlerwise. For starters, you must know that we started Babywise from day one with the eat, wake, sleep cycle. Our baby was sleeping through the night 7.5 hrs. by 6 wks and 12 hrs by 10 wks. We saw many benefits to Babywise such as structure, routine, independent play, and knowing our baby that are foundational to her growth now as a toddler.

My daughter is now 2 and here are a few things I have appreciated about PTW and TW and what they encourage:

Transitions - I had no idea how to transition from baby food to real food, how to transition from two naps to one nap, or how to transition from independent play in a pnp to blanket time and room time. These books (along with BBC moms) have helped me set right expectations and ease my child through transitions and routine adjustments. My baby was no longer a baby, I had to adjust to the toddler world with her.

Sign language - all of the signs such as "all done", "more", and "please" were helpful. The best sign we taught our daughter was "help." We notice she was having mini-fits and needed some way to communicate her need and frustration. I would have never thought through this if it wasn't for the why v. how perspective the books gave.

Obedience - Let me start by saying we are not there yet in this department! But I have learned so much! Some key things that the books help me keep in mind were the principles of instruction. I get a glimpse of what my child would be like without these when I'm not consistent in following them. Two big ones that have helped are eye contact (still in process) and "Yes, Mommy" which started out as a head nod. I think these helped her give us respect as parents and it helped us to process with her as she is learning morals.

All of these things have helped us as parents know how to parent "in the funnel." When we first started this adventure I had no idea that my child would need boundaries and limited freedoms that can be extend when she was ready.

Thanks to the Babywise series and Val's blog we feel like prepared (not perfect) parents. 

Rene'

15 months old- Babywise success story

This is a great overall look at the disposition of a child raised with the -wise series.

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15 months old- Babywise success story


My daughter, Christianna, was born in April of 2009. My husband and I implemented babywise from day one, and immediately began to see the results right away with her sleeping through the night. Wow, she sleeps and sleeps GREAT, but with her now being 15 months old, we see the other added benefits that babywise have brought to our family.

We have the privilege of having my in-laws watch our daughter while we are at work. They were on board and have continued implementing babywise while they watch her. The only thing is that my daughter is not around many other children her age, but does attend church every week where she plays in the toddler room. Truly, that is the only time she is around other kids. Let me tell you, she is the most confident child in that room. She has no signs of separation anxiety and immediately runs into the room with no problems of mom and dad leaving. She waves to us at the window and loves being around other adults. She is confident that we will return to get her, and in the mean time she is having fun.

I have learned from babywise to remain calm while disciplining. Before I react, I think about why I am upset, what did Christianna do wrong, and how am I going to react. Just those five seconds of thinking has helped me become a better parent who does not raise my voice. We are empathetic to her feelings, giving her a big hug and kiss when she is upset, but still stay consistent with our discipline. Believe me, there have been those times where giving in would have been much easier, but then that one phrase pops up into my thoughts, ‘do as you mean to go’. We follow the ‘do as you mean to go’ philosophy and this has been a BIG help with discipline. The consistency has proven to be effective. When she disobeys, it only takes a firm look and a change in tone for her to straighten right back up. She is learning boundaries and logical consequences from her actions and how she reacts.

I apologize I do not have the reference in front of me, but I remember in Pretodderwise, Ezzo states to use the phrase ‘I love you” alone. Never attach the ‘I love you’ to something. Wow this really put a dent in my heart. I remember that reference EVERY single time I tell my daughter I love you. I hear parents all of the time telling their children that they love them, but the word ‘BUT’ is attached to the ending. I want the words “I love you” to be special to my daughter and mean something. I hope by following this principle my daughter will feel loved and cherished. I know she feels loved as she is always hugging us and giving us kisses. She shows affection to her baby dolls and to other children by trying to give them hugs.

She is always happy and very well behaved. She adapts well to different surroundings, which I again contribute to babywise. Manners are a big deal in our household, and Christianna is very polite and says/signs please and thank you. I don’t know what I would do without babywise or without your blog. I thank you for your dedication, time and effort for helping all of the parents out there trying to implement babywise.

Sincerely,

Susan D. Hale

Babywise Success Story

Here is a great success story from a mother of two.

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I can only imagine what a different experience parenting might be without Babywise. I am so thankful to have had this resource in helping me care for the needs of my children. For my husband and I, parenting has been positive and enjoyable because we have felt equipped to guide and train our children every step of the way.
We began Babywise with both our kids from the very beginning. My daughter has been more difficult than my son, and our experience could have been so different if we didn’t know what to do. More often than not I had to wake my babies to feed them. They needed my guidance to eat often enough. I know it was successful because they have always been at the top of the chart for length and 50-75% for weight. I learned to watch my babies and read their cues. Instead of automatically feeding a crying baby, I learned to stop and assess the situation and then fulfill the determined need. If it was hunger, I fed my baby. If it was sleep, I guided in sleep. If it was pain, I searched for the cause. The eat/wake/sleep pattern helped in problem solving because I could eliminate some of those variables.

My children sleep well and with predictability, in general, and always independently. They are well-rested and happy. The comment we get most often is regarding their smiley and pleasant demeanor. They also notice my son’s good manners. I believe quality and quantity of sleep has contributed significantly to my children’s good behavior, happy demeanor and ability to learn quickly.

While sleep is a high priority, it is only the beginning of the benefits in the –wise series. Skills learned through independent and structured playtime have helped my children to focus on a task, understand boundaries, and play independently. The age-specific issues addressed in the other books of the series have been very helpful in proactive training. I could go into much greater detail on how the –wise books have helped with discipline and training. I can’t say enough good things! Our home is orderly and pleasant, and expectations are understood. My family is a success story!


Jenny

Success Story

Here is a very honest success story that includes the hard times.

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I consider myself a Babywise mom. My baby, a toddler now, and I are nowhere near perfect, but I'm so grateful for Babywise. Even before pregnancy was in the picture, I wanted to implement the Babywise principles that my parents introduced me to in my teens.. I had a lot of confidence in the principles and wanted to help my baby learn to eat and sleep and order her day. Once my first baby arrived, I was so glad I had the book, the blog and some friends (mostly online - thank you Yahoo/Google group!) with some experience.


It wasn't easy, but who said parenting is? Those were some long first days and weeks and months; they were hard. My daughter did great with the eat-wake-sleep cycle. She didn't always sleep as long as she was "supposed" to, but we managed. It was hard when she wasn't sleeping through the night by 8 weeks or by 14 weeks, a couple milestones the book had offered. We struggled a lot with reflux and short naps, but I persevered. The cycle continued and each day was new (and so was God's mercy!). I didn't let go of the sleeping and eating goals and it just got better!

Of course there were ups and downs, but as the months passed, she slept through the night. we dropped naps. We dropped the dreamfeed. She slept through her naps. She ate wonderfully (breastfed past 1 year) and topped the growth charts. She was alert and happy during the day. I am so proud of my little girl.

There were many crossroads where I stressed about "how" to do it. I cried, prayed, lost sleep and did my research. Then, it would just happen. We'd drop a feeding, stretch out a wake time, stop using the swaddle, and learned to do so much. I would look back and wonder why I had thought it was such a big deal. I learned I might hesitate, I might make mistakes and my baby might not live "by the book" - and it's ok! I was doing the best I could for my baby.

I especially credit Babywise with how well my daughter sleeps, how she goes to sleep, stays asleep, and wakes up happy. I am proud of how she is learning appropriate behavior at mealtimes and at play. She plays contently by herself each morning for almost 40 minutes. She thrives in the structure and flexibility and fun of our days.

Babywise isn't just for newborns, it's just the starting place for a growing child. I would recommend Babywise as a starting point for any new mom or mom-again (and the whole -wise series for any age). It takes a lot of work to raise a child and you need some solid tools to work with. Babywise has benefited my daughter and I am a better mom because of it.

-Katy

BW Sucess Story

And yet another Babywise success story!

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Several years before we had children I remember 2 women in my Sunday school class talking about this book, Babywise. They were raving about it so I put it in my memory banks for a later date. When I was pregnant with our first another woman at our church asked if I had my copy of Babywise yet. I knew her well and her children so that only lent force to my desire to read it which I did about 2 months before my DD was born. I even sent it to Afghanistan for my husband to read before he came home from deployment :) I am a by the book kind of girl and was initially frustrated with some portions of babywise, not becuase I thought the book was wrong but because my DD wasn't doing what the book said she should! Eventually I re-read and re-read again the portion about how no baby is ever exactly "by the book"! I had 2 wonderful BW friends from church who I believe I called every day for the first several weeks to keep my spirits up and talk me though this.

I never really felt like things were going that great until at 6 weeks at my sister's wedding (after a 2,500 mile car trip!) a couple remarked about how "lucky" we were that our baby was awake and not screaming. "The book said people would say that" I remember remarking to my husband! From then on I knew we were on the right track. She started STTN at 8 weeks and we dropped the DF at 12 weeks; people remarked constantly about how alert she was and how lucky we were.

There will still plenty of bumps along the way, like moving to a 4 hour schedule. After figuring that out on my own I finally read BWII where it explains the exact situation I was in. I thought ahead and read TW before my DD turned 1 and I am so glad I did. I am constantly told how happy my baby is and how lucky I am. I am quick to tell people that it is because she sleeps well and I keep her on a schedule. I give BW to all first time moms that I know and tell them that I am convinced my DD is the way she is because of the knowledge in this book!

In addition to being a huge BW fan, I am also a fan of your blog and the Google Group. I have learned a great deal from your posts and from conversing with other BW moms. I just switched my DD to a 1 nap schedule the day after she turned 14 months. I was so reluctant to do that b/c the book says 14 months is the earliest they should go to one nap. Well, after talking with several moms on the Google group who had the same issues with their LOs not taking a second nap I decided we would try it and it has been great! She sleeps later in the morning and after only 2 weeks is sleeping between 2 -2 1/2 hours for her nap.

Number 2 is due in October and many people have commented on how this next kid will be a terror compared to my "easy" first baby. But, I wonder if these are the same folks who told me that I couldn't put a baby on a schedule and that I was just lucky she slept so much (of course luck has nothing to do with it, they weren't there during the CIO weeks!). We are really excited about having 2 kids close together and I know that the principles in BW will make our whole family well rested and happy.

Thanks for allowing me to share,
 
Erika

Success with Babywise and Beyond

Here is another great story. Notice how well this mom balances teaching and guidance with showing love and treasuring every moment with her child.

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I learned about Babywise (or GKGW Coming Along the Infant Way) from my brother and sister in law. When I was pregnant they brought me the videos they had used along with the book. I adored how they were raising my 2 nephews (3 and 2 at the time) and was of course very impressed that both were such excellent sleepers. They were complete opposite is most every other way, but sleeping that were equally skilled at! I watched the videos, read the book and knew immediately that it fit well with how I wanted to raise my son.


Babywise strategies worked so well with my son. Learning to self-soothe was a huge lesson for him. With that lesson, I saw a huge improvement in his length of sleep for both naps and nights. I also loved how Babywise really encouraged parents to learn the different meanings for your baby's cries. They encourage you to work up to full feedings from very early on. Full feedings meant successful nursing for us all the way to 14 months of age when I decided to wean. His full stomach and good rest meant I was better able to learn the different cries and what he was trying to tell me. I could learn to meet all his needs without grasping at straws.

What I was surprised to discover was that the other BW books were just, if not even more helpful. There was so much more to learn that how to teach my son to practice good sleep and eating habits. Those lessons were necessary foundations but there was a lot more to tackle when my little guy started crawling, walking, eating on his own, talking, and all the in-betweens of those. He was basically taking those first steps from babyhood to childhood and needed me to help him make that transition as easy as possible. That's where BW II, PreTW, and TW helped. They taught me strategies (and in some areas reinforced strategies I had already practice successfully as a teacher) to minimalize the frustrations both for my son and myself. Structuring our days activities within his developmental ability, keeping my speech within his developmental understanding, keeping consistent, teaching him that mommy always means what she says, teaching those first steps towards self-control, lengthening his ability to focus, teaching him how to respond when frustrated, learning what it means to be part of a family,... the list could go on and on. Overall, the TW books helped me realize the importance of everything I do with and for my son, how much they will impact his development. I learned to evaluate WHY I'm doing things rather than just grasping at straws to fill an immediate need or problem. If I spend time considering WHY I'm doing what I'm doing, I can better determine if what I'm doing is truly helping him or hindering him.

I'm getting to watch a precious little baby develop into a precious toddler and soon a precious child, teen and man. Even better, I'm getting to help him make those transitions as smoothly as possible. I love that he knows I love him, that I'm here for him, that I will kiss those booboos and read that book (again!), and cuddle him after a bad dream (or just because he wants to cuddle.... who knows how long that will last, so I better get plenty cuddles in while he's interested!). I equally love to watch him keep trying to work a puzzle piece until it fits just right, not giving up out of frustration. I love how he looks at me intently when I'm explaining something to him. I love his contentment, whether playing alone, with adults or with kids. I love that he's showing confidence in himself and his abilities and in me as a mom. I love that when poor habits do surface (and yes, I'll have to admit that my precious boy has areas for improvement!), I can find a way to address them through what I learn in the series and the training can occur smoothly for us both. I love that foundations are set (and in some cases being set) that make the next stage easier for him. I don't want him to find my actions as a parent frustrating or hindering but enabling and encouraging for him. I love that BW and TW has helped me manage that in a practical way.

Becca

Success with Babywise

Here is a great story that shows how a mom listened to her common sense in the face of difficulties.

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Before getting married and getting pregnant I was a nanny for 4 years for two different families. One followed the AP style of parenting, the other followed a loose routine, similar to the Babywise style. While I adored both families and both sets of kids, I could definitely see which one I wanted to mimic in my own parenting.


When I was halfway through my pregnancy with my first child I started looking online for routines and sample schedules for breastfed babies. I'd of course never dealt with a brand newborn breastfed baby's schedule as a nanny. Unfortunately I found nothing! All I found were statements like "breastfed babies can't sleep through the night" and "breastfed babies will eat sometimes every hour or even every 30 minutes". I wanted to cry at the thought of breastfeeding constantly 24/7 for a full year! Nobody in my family had breastfed their babies but I was determined to do it. I figured I'd wing it and make up my own schedule. Then my mother-in-law, who breastfed her two babies, gave me two parenting books that were recommended to her by another teacher. One was On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo and as I read it I kept exclaiming to my husband "See! This is what I've been looking for!" and "well, of course, that's just common sense!".

When my son Tobias was born I started the routine in the hospital straight away. I woke him every 4 hours all that first night to make sure he ate, otherwise he would have slept straight through. My milk came in just 48 hours after giving birth and I attribute that to my efforts to get consistent, full feedings at least every 3 hours all day and every 4 hours all night. Once home we fell into a routine and it was wonderful. Everything went smoothly right from the start and I loved being a mom. Tobias gained weight so well and was such a happy, contented baby.

We moved across the country at 4-6 weeks after Tobias was born, which was quite the experience! Considering how complicated our move was (AZ to GA and then drive to MN with a newborn and 3 cats), things went pretty well. I was very tired but that seemed normal given the circumstances. I got a clogged milk duct during Tobias' 6 week growth spurt and we had to use formula to get him to go 3 hours between feedings because we had an 18 hour drive to do in just 2.5 days and I had to drive the car while my husband drove the truck. Once we got settled in our new home things settled down and Tobias got past his growth spurt. But I was still tired. Tobias slept through the night at 8 weeks, but I was still tired. My milk supply still hadn't fully recovered and I was losing too much weight. Everyone said it was normal, just feed more and my supply would recover. I did, I spent 3 days feeding Tobias "on demand" every 1.5-2 hours and eating oatmeal to boost my supply. By day 3 Tobias was screaming crying, way overtired, and my milk supply still wasn't recovered, in fact now I wasn't letting down well. He gained no weight that week. I put him right back on a schedule and supplemented with 4 ounces of formula and he became his happy, well-rested, well-fed self again, gaining weight just fine.

It wasn't until 4 months postpartum that I realized something must be very wrong with me, everything was off. I went to the doctor and turns out I had postpartum thyroiditis, which caused the weight loss, fatigue, and milk supply issues. Nobody had ever suggested a medical issue as a reason my milk supply was off! Once my thyroid levels evened out at 6 months I was able to breastfeed 100% with no supplementing for 1.5 months before my thyroid levels became off again. It was such a clear line, thyroid levels good=good milk supply, thyroid levels low or high=poor milk supply. I went on to breastfeed to 9 months before I chose to wean my son.

Thank goodness I ignored the advice of the attachment parenting, breastfeeding advocates that ignores aspects beyond demand feeding vs. scheduled feeding. I hate to think what could have happened if I had continued to demand feed and stubbornly insisted on no supplementing and that my body could fix itself with more feedings. I needed medical attention, a regular routine, and sleep! Babywise ensured those last two so I was able to cope with my medical problems and care for my son.

Now I'm pregnant with baby #2 and can't wait for him to arrive. I don't dread those newborn days because I know what to expect, I have a routine and am confident in my ability to use the Babywise principles to handle life's normal bumps in the road. Tobias is 2 years old now and thrilled to get a baby brother. He still sleeps well and is such a happy, loving little boy. He's a joy to be with, people offer to babysit him for free, he is incredibly intelligent, but more importantly than that he is kind, obedient, helpful, and trusting. I have been able to allow him freedoms because he obeys so well. He walks in stores beside us because he always comes when called, he sleeps in a big boy bed because he knows to stay there until we come get him.

I could probably write a whole other novel on just the benefits of Toddlerwise, but I won't :) For now it is enough to say that because he had healthy sleeping and eating habits so early, we've been able to move on to bigger and better things with him, like potty training, learning the alphabet, taking trips as a family, and preparing for a new little brother.

Manda

Thank you Ezzos!

Here is another story from a mom of a toddler.

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I started using Babywise since the day I brought my son home from the hospital. I don't know how much of our great sleeper we can attribute to Babywise and how much we can attribute to our good luck because we were blessed with a naturally very good sleeper. We never had an all nighter with Avery. Not even once.

I know that I need my sleep in order to not be crabby and impatient the following day so I REALLY appreciate the fact that we were able to get on a routine easily and quickly. I think it really helped me to be a much better mom. Especially when it comes to the toddler years where patience is much more needed!

I think my main favorite thing about Babywise is that it taught me to tune into my baby's cues instead of just feeding him every time he cried. I breastfed until he was 17 months old (about two months after I got pregnant) and I never had a supply issue. In fact, I donated ovwer 100 ounces to a breast milk bank because I had so much! Anyway, it was super comforting to me to know that my baby was always well fed because I took the time to ensure a full feeding at each meal. So if he cried or fussed shortly after that I used my motherly instincts and knowledge of my child to figure out what was wrong. That gave me great confidence as a mom. My mother in law has complimented me many times on the fact that I take the time to pay attention to my child and really get to know him.

Now that my son is almost two and acts like it on some days I still use that skill. There are times when I can tell that he is acting out because he is tired or hungry and there are times when I can see that he is just testing me and I need to really be on my A game. It helps me in the way I deal with him and it helps him to have a less stressed out, confused mom.

One of my favorite things about my son is that he is independent at times and wants to play with me or his daddy at other times. He is equally happy doing either. He can entertain himself, either in his crib or around the house, for a while and that gives me some time to get my own stuff done or to just rest. Then when he wants to play with me I have more energy to sit down and play what he wants to play.

We get so many compliments at the child care at church about how happy my son is. They say that he's always smiling. I love hearing compliments like that about my son. I know that it's not entirely true though....he is almost two after all and he's not ALWAYS smiling. But for people that work in the child care with lots of kids must just see something in him that is happier than some of the other children.

I don't know if Avery ever went through separation anxiety or not. If he did it was very mild and I didn't even notice. We don't leave him with other people often but when we do he is happy to play with whoever. The other day we left him with an older lady at her house and he had so much fun he didn't want to come home!

All in all, I think that the Babywise series has given my family the confidence to know our child so we can deal with him and know him. It has also given our whole family good rest so we can operate at our best every day. My husband and I get a good couple hours after our son goes to bed to relax with each other and be with each other before we go to bed to get a full night's sleep. Our son has waken us op in the middle of the night once since he was 10 weeks old. He had a high fever and was wimpering in his crib so we tended to him. Other than that, even through teething, he has slept all night every night.

Thank you Ezzos!

 
Christine

Babywise Success Story

Here is a great summary of Babywise life from 5 weeks to 19 months old.
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We started Babywise when Holden was 5 weeks old after hearing about the book from a friend. It was such a relief to lay Holden in his crib and leave the room. Beforehand, I would lay him down, get him back up, lay him down, get him up, and this would continue through the night until we were both exhausted and crying.

I believe Holden could immediately sense my newfound confidence. We started out by using the Eat/Wake/Sleep routine. Holden started on a 3 hour schedule and did fabulous eating full meals. He cried for a few minutes after laying him down for naps, but never longer than 10. We used no paci, no swaddle, and no noise-machines in hope that he would learn to sleep prop free. By 8 weeks Holden started sleeping through the night (from 11pm to 7am). He has not woken in the middle of the night since that weekend, and he is now 19 months old. At 3 months Holden was sleeping from 8pm-8am, eating every 4 hours, and taking consistent naps throughout the day. Already I received many compliments on how happy he is. When he wasn't sleeping or eating, he was very content to "play".

We started Pack-N-Play time and Blanket time at 5 months. This worked very well, we started at 10 minutes and worked up to 30 minutes. I believe this helped Holden to play independently and know that I was coming back for him even if he couldn't see me. Now at 19 months this is a huge blessing. Holden will play in his room alone for up to 40 minutes and play on the living room rug (our blanket), while I cook dinner so I am not tripping over him, or so he doesn't get burned.

At six months we started solids and high-chair "training". I continually pulled his hands down and out of his mouth and he very quickly learned to not put his hand in his mouth while I was feeding him unless he was eating finger foods. If he acted up in his highchair I would turn it around, and the behavior usually stopped immediately. I would say I have one of the calmest highchair eaters I have ever seen. He doesn't arch to get out, he doesn't throw food on the ground, or make a mess in general.

Nap transitions were always rough, but I feel like since I was so in-tuned with his tired cues and sleep needs, we were able to figure out what he needed and adjust accordingly. He now sleeps 8:15pm to 8:15am and takes a nap from 2pm to 5pm every day.

One of the biggest benefits to using babywise was after we put in all the hard work regarding sleep training, we can now be more flexible and adjust the schedule where we need to get out of the house, travel, and do fun things, all while having a happy baby!! It's a lot easier to skip a nap here and there with a well rested baby.

Babywise has saved my sanity and I could not imagine having a whiney/tired baby all the time. I loved knowing how every day would go (for the most part). I know when I can run errands, when he'll be hungry, when he needs to sleep, and that is so much better than not knowing and getting caught out in public with a screaming baby and a stressed out mama!

When I first started I got a lot of backlash from different people saying my baby would need therapy, he would have trust issues, and we would all in all not be a close family. I am happy to say Holden is a MAMA'S BOY! We have so much fun together and even when I have to discipline or correct him, he keeps a happy heart and accepts consequences. We did not go through separation anxiety nearly as bad, and he will stay with friends or family without a problem...doesn't seem like he has any issues relating from babywise whatsoever! I couldn't be happier with the results, and I will be using babywise with all of our children.
I wanted to add that although there is a lot of opposition concerning Babywise and breastfeeding, I personally never had supply issues and successfully breastfed Holden for 14 months.

Colleen

BW and Triplets Success

Here is a story from a mom of triplets!

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I just want to let you know that BW has been a COMPLETE success with my triplets. I had spontaneous triplets last August and we've implemented BW from day 1. My sister used BW with her last 2 kids and they are awesome, so we decided we wanted to follow in her footsteps. I hear many parents of multiples say "we have 2 different kids and they're just on different schedules..." My response would be we have 3 kids on the same schedule and they're totally different from one another. Had we not followed BW i think we'd be pulling our hair out but actually we've had a great 10 months so far. The kids are so healthy and happy and so are we. They've been sleeping through the night since they were 2.5 months old. I have literally gotten out of bed in the middle of the night ONCE since then. They go to bed at 6pm and begin talking anytime between 5:15 and 5:45 but we don't get them out of bed until 6am. They are taking 2 good naps during the day.


Anyone that comes over to our house, especially those without children yet, are totally sold on BW. They always talk about how happy they are and that they never cry, even when we put them down for naps. Well, that's not totally true. We still get some good cries but if I had triplets again tomorrow I would do the exact same thing.

My Babywise Testimony

Another story on how Babywise has worked for this family.

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Babywise was recommended to our family by a friend, who is one of ten children, and her mom used Babywise with great sucess. Our daughter, Lillian, is 15 months old. We have been using Babywise (and another book recommended on this blog, The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems) since birth. She was exclusively breastfed, on a schedule, until she was almost 8 months old and I never had any problems with my milk supply - in fact, I had more than enough milk. At 8 months she started table foods and I weaned her at 13 months. Although we have had some hard days, especially during transitions, she has done very well with naps/nightime sleep and people are amazed by what a good sleeper she is. Sleep is very important to us, especially since I (the mom) work part-time from home and need to be sleeping at night and have those naps to work! She started going to sleep on her own for naps at 7 weeks old and slept through the night (8 hours) at 10 weeks old. By 7 months old, she was sleeping for 11 hours at night. Now, at 15 months old, she takes one 3.5 hour nap and sleeps 11 - 11.5 hours at night. She also plays very happily on her own in the playpen (twice a day for 30 minutes). My husband and I treasure every moment with our happy, healthy little girl and are grateful to Babywise, which has made parenting a wonderful experience for all of us.


Joseph and Rose
Ave Maria, FL

Sucess Story--Amazing Grace

Here is a story from a mom who has done both attachment parenting and Babywise.

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I missed your request for success stories originally. I wrote you only one other time after my son was born to tell you how thankful I was for your blog and how wonderful our family was functioning because of Babywise. That son is now 2.5. I also have a 12 year old boy who we raised by the attachment parenting philosophy. I had every Dr. Sears book and was a year long member of LLL. I was the poster child for attachment parenting. My husband trusted I knew what I was doing even though he saw the terrible toll it took on our son, me, him, and our life.


We waited 3 years before trying to get pregnant again because our son did not sleep through the night until 2 and at 3 was still quite a handful from all the attachment time! I really did not see how it was possible to follow AP and have more then one child. I ended up having 3 miscarriages and just stopped trying to get pregnant. Then at age 38 I became pregnant. I was scared to repeat the same scenario. I knew AP was not what was best for me, our next child, or our family. I prayed and prayed for a baby that would sleep and did not cry all the time (unless I was breastfeeding him) like our 1st son. I picked up Babywise at a Wal-Mart about a month before I delivered son #2. I never bought a book there before and swore I was not buying any books filled with philosophies this time. I was 10 years older and wiser. I knew the outcome I wanted from this 2nd child and I was not going to let anymore books make me feel bad about how I intended to raise him. Right away I knew BW was an answer to my prayers and my husband's. Everything the book said about AP parenting was true and everything about BW has been true for us. As my second son grew I memorized the Babywise book and read your blog for help and reassurance.

Son #2 (now 2.5) is the most amazing sleeper, even tempered, and engaging child-a true joy to be around. Everyone says we deserved it after the first one. I say it was BW to those who really want to learn. When son #2 was 15 months I became pregnant again ( I am now 40 years old). Our 3rd child named Grace (months) is also thriving on BW. The miracle is that without BW I would never have been able to experience the joy of 3 children. My friends ask me how is it having 2 young children and a preteen to take care of at 40 and I say easier then 1 baby at 28 was because of my faith and God sending me Babywise.

I have also been able to help my sister raise her 2 children on BW who miraculously are exactly the same age as my younger 2. PPD and PP anxiety runs in our family and without BW I do believe my sister would have had to be hospitalized. I got her on BW when her first son was about 3 months. They were afraid to let him cry and the fact that I was doing so well and sleeping made her believe me and do exactly what I told her-from the book, your blog, and my experience. Her second is also miraculously a girl born at the same time as my Grace. She has been doing BW with her from the start!

You are intelligent, well spoken, dedicated, and extremely helpful to millions of parents worldwide. You have been able to give life to a book that I might have doubted if I had not found your blog so soon. If any of your readers are every worried about doing BW I have lots of experience doing it another way and doing BW and I can definitely say BW has all benefits.

Mirinda

Babywise Success

Here is a success story from a first time mom.

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I picked up Babywise after hearing about it from a friend years before I ever got pregnant, and my goal in implementing it was to get my daughter to sleep through the night. However, as soon as I opened the book, I loved all of its principles. I love how it says to make marriage a priority, how the book explains breastfeeding and milk supply, how it gives advice to handle the 45 minute intruder, how it says that sometimes nothing you can do will calm your screaming infant and they need to cry. It’s just an awesome book and prompted me to buy Babywise II when my daughter was about 4 months old and we were ready to start solids.

My daughter started STTN 6-7 hours at 8 weeks, and by 12 weeks she was going 10 hours per night. When we dropped the dreamfeed at around 5 months, she started going 12 hours. She is now 9 months, and although we’ve had some rough patches with her daytime sleep, she is taking 2 naps of 1.5-2 hours a day. I am so glad BWII explained to me how much sleep she should be getting, so I could have an idea and not freak out over if she was or wasn’t getting enough! Everyone always comments on how happy and alert she is and how she pays attention longer than other babies. I smile and think to myself, as Ezzo says to in the book, that I know it’s because of my hard work that she is like this. I know may Babywise babies get comments like this.
When she started solids, I followed the advice found in BWII for highchair training, and I am amazed at how well it works. I can actually see my daughter’s face in contemplation over whether or not she should reach for the spoon or bowl, and often times she stops reaching or touching her face! She knows what the signs “more” and “all done” mean and gets excited when we read her cues right and sign to her.
The final thing I’d like to share my success with is Independent Playtime (playpen time). I was honestly hesitant to start this with her, as at first I felt kind of guilty leaving her in there for 5-10 minutes. We started her slowly at about 4 months, and now she is sitting pretty well and is up to 20-30 minutes twice per day. She loves it. I cannot begin to explain to people how much she loves it. Sometimes when I stand near the playpen she practically throws herself out of my arms to get in there. I can hear her making new sounds, I can tell she’s trying to problem-solve (trying to figure out how a toy works or how to get a toy she dropped), and she laughs and has so much fun. On days where we don’t get it in, she is not as happy as she normally is, and she actually seems more clingy. I’m so thankful that I’m teaching her these skills at such a young age.
As a new mom, I am so thankful for the Babywise books and plan to continue in the –Wise series, as it has been so beneficial to our family so far.

Thanks,
Amber Eberhart

BW Sucess Story

Here is a story from a mother of two who had a rough go of it with her second child.

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I am so thankful to find your blog when I did. I have 2 children 3 yr old daughter and 1 yr old son. My daughter was picture perfect when it came to babywise sleeping 6-8 hr stretches within the first 2 weeks and never did I have an issue with naps or bedtime. Even now she sleeps 8pm-7am and takes 1 3 hr nap a day.

Then came my son. I did the exact things with him....put him down awake, swaddled, didn't let him sleep in swing or bouncy seat, fed on a 2-3 hr schedule. At first it seemed to work until about 1 week old and pardon my language all hell broke loose. You name it and my child had it: colic, acid reflux, ear infections leading to tubes, asthma, intolerance to soy/dairy in my milk. It was a rough 6 months. The only thing I relied on was this blog.

I determined if I kept his world as normal as possible all the sickness would eventually go away. Although sometimes I did what I had to do to survive I look back now and wondered how did I do it? I would turn to the blog for every question and kept him on the eat, wake, sleep cycle and sleeping in his own bed. At that point that was all I could focus on because he was just so sick all the time.

Once we got a handle on his ailments about 6 months the structure I had tried to stick to paid off. He started sleeping through the night and napping at scheduled times throughout the day. It was amazing and I definitely attribute that to Babywise. Now, I look back and know all the tears (yes from me and him) sweat (stress does this to you) and hard work was all worth it and would do it again in a heartbeat. I have now a 12 month old who sleeps 7pm-8am and takes 2 3hr naps during the day. He will crawl to his bed and shake the slats to get in...boy does he love his sleep. Weaning was so easy as well as transition to the sippy....all due to he knows what to expect from me and himself.

I recommend everyone to Babywise as well as this blog. There were times my husband thought I was crazy reading your blog but that was all the sanity I could find....knowing I can't control the sickness that is not my job but controlling his environment...I can do that and eventually will succeed. And succeed I did.
Thank you so much for all you do....I will be eternally grateful especially after hearing horror stories from other moms who go with the flow and have told me they physically have to hold their son down until he falls asleep and he only eats snacks....I am thankful I listened and "started as I meant to go" because I treasure the bouncy happy little boy I have now because he is well rested, healthy (thank goodness), and just loves life!
 
Amanda

Babywise Story

Here is a story from a mother of three who has been doing Babywise for 4.5 years.

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I was introduced to BW through a friend of my mom's a few months before my first child was born. She actually had some lectures on tape, and I listened to them in the car. Then my husband & I read the book. We knew right away we wanted to follow BW, and I never read anything else. I knew the philosophy fit in with our beliefs about the family. We have the whole -Wise series.
So many times I've been thankful for BabyWise! After I had my first child, I just couldn't imagine what I would be doing with him if I didn't have some kind of plan. I used the charts in the back of the book and everything, and it really helped me with my new mom insecurities. I got in touch with a contact mom through GFI's website when he was 8 weeks old, and by 10 weeks had him sleeping through the night. I am still connected with my CM to this day, 4.5 years later. She's been a lifesaver!
BabyWise really saved the day when I had my 2nd child just 17 months later. I had been using the principles from BabyWise II with my son. The playpen time and other discipline made the difference in my day. I was able to nurse while he stayed in the same room, playing quietly. My 2nd child was a natural sleeper. She took to the routine easily and slept through with no prompting from me by 8 weeks old.
My 3rd child was the polar opposite. She seemed to hate sleep from the beginning. But I persevered...by 14 weeks she had stopped crying when going down for naps. And by the time she was 4 months, she had become a great sleeper. It's amazing. She's never been as "by the book" as my other two, but without BW, I know she would never have slept anywhere but on me.

Ash

My Babywise Story

Here is another story from a mom who started without Babywise and then turned to Babywise.

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When my daughter was born almost two years ago, I thought I had enough experience around other babies and children to know how to handle things. Within a few days of bringing her home, I felt kind of lost but fumbled along the best I could. I was always feeding her as soon as she cried, which seemed to be every hour; I tried rocking her to sleep only to have her wake after a few minutes of being put down – I was completely exhausted.

A friend suggested I read Baby Wise and I was so grateful. It just made perfect sense to my husband and I - it gave us a ‘game plan’ we could work with. I started listening to her cries to figure out what she needed instead of just giving her a bottle; I spaced out her feedings to 2 ½-3 hours apart and she had less gas, was less cranky and slept better without me needing to rock her or get her to sleep. Within a few weeks, she was sleeping through the night 7 hours at a time. She has become a terrific sleeper and is such a happy little kid as a result.

Over the last two years, we’ve used a number of other Baby Wise principals at home – independent play, discipline, sign language, high chair manners to name a few. Our family and friends comment all the time on what how good our daughter is - she listens to us, she eats well, she is polite (can sign please, thank you, more, etc.), she plays well on her own and doesn’t interrupt conversations.

While some of that is her temperament, I do believe using the baby wise principals played a large role - having a game plan also made me a more confident mom!
 
Cindy http://www.homespunfromtheheart.com/