Sleep! Glorious Sleep!

Woo Hoo! Our newborn is sleeping through the night. Not every night, but most nights. Wow, does that make a difference in my days. Last week I elbowed by husband at 5am and whispered with glee, "Hey! Wake up! Can you believe it? She slept 8 1/2 hours!!" He responded by saying, "Hey! I know how to sleep through the night too, watch me." Some things only a mother can appreciate.

In the blogosphere it's easy to find differing opinions about Gary Ezzo's book Baby Wise. I read this in the late 90s with the birth of our first child. Like many other parents, the book gave me such relief in learning that I could manage this child rather than having to put my entire life on hold. (After 5 children I have learned there is no greater than joy than putting my life on hold for a child, but that's another topic.)

Baby Wise gave us the tools to learn how to help our children get a full feeding, and how to help them fall asleep on their own. The book and it's author are not perfect. Before I discuss the book with anyone, I always preface it by saying that this method can easily be taken to extremes. Baby Wise has to be used with much caution. However, it has worked for us.

The best advice I can give to a mother of a newborn is to help her baby (at about 4 weeks of age) have some awake-time after her feeding, then let her fall asleep. For me, that's Baby Wise in a nutshell.

Every child is different, thank God He created them that way. My children began sleeping through the night anywhere from 6 weeks to 4 months old. My methods were the same with each one. Sure, I was a little less rigid with each baby but overall I did the same thing with each child. Each one did sleep through the night, but at different ages.

Right now I am enjoying our little Rachel. She is a beautiful baby girl and such a joy to us all. I am thankful for the full nights of sleep, and even more thankful that she is healthy and therefore able to rest peacefully.