Anyone follow Babywise/Baby Whisperer?

I'm a structured person and really like my routine... we've been doing a combo of Baby Whisperer (EASY plan) and Babywise ( approx. 3 hour cycles during the day). I know feeding on demand is all the rage but it doesn't work for me with two. I know Babywise especially is controversial and not looking to start a debate, just looking for others who have follow these plans to some degree and had success, especially with sleeping through the night. I am trying to follow a 3 hour plan during the day with some flexibility, where they eat, do activities, then sleep. If their naps go too long I wake them so they have longer stretches at night....we get one 5 hour stretch between the 10pm and 3am feeding. They are 9.5 weeks and close to 10 lbs so probably not ready to drop the 3am feeding yet.

Anyways, just looking for others experiences from those of you who follow a schedule. Thanks!

 

we hired a sleep consultant when our girls were around 3.5 months old & she helped us get them on a flexible routine that worked really well for us & kept the girls synched to each other. once we had that set in place, life was much easier for me. even though it wasn't a strict schedule per se it did give us a pretty accurate daily guide of what to expect & when & i think that really helped save my sanity in the early months.

i think that any parenting philosophy from a book or an expert is only as good as the parents implementing it, if that makes sense. the reason Babywise ran into so much controversy is that some parents followed it to the letter while completely ignoring their individual babies' well being, disregarding all signs & symptoms that baby wasn't thriving. you know your babies (and yourself and your family) best - you find what works through trial & error & common sense, whether that's following an aprox 3 hour schedule or feeding on demand.

 

I am a believer in Babywise....I was more of an on demand with my first single and he did not sleep through the night until 8 months. I did try the day time 3 hour routine, but he was in daycare and well....it did not work out the way I hoped.

I am now a stay at home mom with a 3yr old and 10 month old twins. I followed the three hour day time sleep-eat-play routine....but sometimes it was closer to two hours and sometimes closer to 4. I did how ever feed them at the same time. We were about where you are....the twins slept from 10-4 at eight weeks. This changed around 12-14weeks to a 7:30 bedtime and they slept until the 4AM feeding. A few more week and they dropped the 4AM and woke up to start the day around 6AM. Of course the day time schedule adjusted to three naps and now at 10 months are adjusting to two naps.

It was always funny to me because every time I would get comfortable with the routine, well they were ready for the next stage....and the routine would change.

It sounds like you are doing a great job!
Best Wishes!!

 

We do loose versions of Baby Wise & Healthy Sleep Habits-Happy Child. They eat/play/sleep & have been sleeping through the night since 9 & 13 weeks. They do not always nap at the same time. I try to stick to what works for them individually & all of us collectively at the same time. One baby likes multiple shorter naps, while the other baby likes 2 longer naps. We've found a happy compromise that works for all of us, and I'm still maintaining my sanity.

 

I started w/Baby Wise then found Baby Whisperer. I like both, but did end up following Baby Whisperer more, since she didn't as highly recommend the CIO as early...

with that said, I attribute out STTN to swaddling, white noise and tanking them up with feeds before bedtime. All of which I think The Baby Whisperer recommends...

We swaddled until 6.5 months, and are still doing white noise. I started swaddling again at 6 wks and almost the 1st night they started dropping their 2a feed. by 8 wks they were sttn with 8 hrs... and it kept lengthening. the white noise really helped too.

one thing that i did start was the 7a start time for the day. we didn't start the 7p as their official bedtime until closer to 12 wks when we could start putting them down earlier and they'd still be sleeping until 7a.

good luck!

 

I did the Baby Whisperer E.A.S.Y routine as, like you, I like to know what´s coming! (I tried feeding on demand for 1 day and it was horrendous as I was totally lost. FYI: I FF.) It worked wonderfully for us plus I really recommend doing the dream feed. In my case, I woke my 2 up at 11 or 11.30pm, changed them and fed them (we had the lights on low, TV off and we didn´t talk or engage them). They used to go back to sleep no problem and by 4.5 months they dropped that feed and STTN 12 hours. I also woke my two when a nap went on for too long. I stuck to the 3-4 hours cycles but was flexible if one had a bad day, etc. I think I had it working well after about 6 weeks but we had our ups and downs like everyone. It worked well for them as they knew what was coming. We had our nap issues, of course, but I stuck to it. They are still good sleepers to this day.

They will let you know when they dont want that 3am feed, dont worry! Mine soon told me when they were ready to drop the 11pm bottle. I think they were ready at 4 months but I was afraid to try it earlier. What encouraged me to do it was that they werent drinking much milk anymore at 11pm.

If it is working fo ryou and your babies, then I recommend to stick with it. I didnt follow the Baby Whisperer´s sleeping methods rigidly but they worked for me.

GL!

 

can someone tell me in a nutshell what the babywise theory is? I have 12 week olders (6 weeks adjusted) and a 3 yo and feel like I'm going crazy kind of been feeding on demand but its been getting ridiculous. they will only eat an ounce at times and lolly gag on the bottle, if i try to stretch them they scream I think they are so used to being fed when they want but its just not working for me.
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Can you all explain to me exactly "how" you sleep trained twins at the same time? 1 adult or does it take 2? In the same room or different? I want to follow the baby whisperer but don't now how to do it with 2 babies at once