One of the questions a couple of people asked is if I’m doing Baby Wise this time with Hayes and how it’s going. Someone also wanted to know if we are using Toddlerwise for Hudson.
We used a combination of Baby Wise, The Baby Whisperer, and Happiest Baby on the Block DVD for Hudson for all different things. Happiest Baby… was great for soothing techniques. The Baby Whisperer was great for knowing your baby’s cues and understanding his cries. We also found that it helped a lot for knowing when our baby was ready for different things like more food, more sleep between meals, and crying it out. (Yes- we are okay with crying it out.) The Baby Whisperer and Baby Wise are similar in their principles about eat first, play second, and sleep next. We did this with Hudson and we’re doing it with Hayes.
So far, Hayes is on a great 3 hour schedule during the day and we’ve just gotten him to a 4 hour schedule for the middle of the night. We are hoping he will extend one of those 4 hour stretches more and more until he is sleeping through the night. He is almost four weeks old and I have to remind myself not to expect too much of him at this point, no matter how tired I am. My friends Callie and Jennifer (both are bloggers) have been great for me to bounce ideas off of and try to figure out if we’re on the right track. It’s always nice to have another mommy to talk to.
Just like we did with Hudson, we started Hayes in his crib from the day we came home from the hospital. He takes all of his naps in his crib and sleeps every night in his crib. This just works well for us and helps us get more sleep when he is sleeping.
Toddlerwise…
I haven’t really used Toddlerwise. But if I have a specific parenting question for parenting a toddler I would definitely consider consulting Toddlerwise. When we were doing the crib to big boy bed transition, I did look at Chronicles of a Baby Wise Mom blog for tips and comments from other moms who have done the transition. It gave me some great ideas.
A book I absolutely love is Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp. I got it for Christmas last year and really believe what it says.
Another question I got was how I’m managing so far with my mom gone and how I find time to do things during the day with two kids.
I’m just being honest, but there’s not a whole lot of time for anything other than parenting. Since we’re working on getting Hayes on a schedule, I’m trying to stick to that schedule. That means we aren’t really leaving the house much, and if we do, we have one outing every day.
I know that this isn’t for everyone and most people (including me) like to be on the go and out and about. It has been four weeks so far and I haven’t felt much like getting both boys out all that much. It’s also my personal philosophy that I’m sacrificing a little bit of fun right now so I can gain many many hours of sleep in the long run!
There is only one time during the day that both boys are asleep. Hudson takes a great 3-4 hour nap every day and Hayes sleeps for about 1.5 hours of that nap.
I have been using that time to either nap, write thank you notes, clean, cook, return emails or calls, or blog. Today, I’m choosing to blog! And while I blog, I’ve got both video monitors in front of me so I can keep tabs on both boys.
We have the Summer Baby Touch Monitor for Hayes (on the left) and an 2009 Summer video monitor for Hudson. They probably don’t make that one anymore.
The great news is that in a couple of weeks, Hayes will be awake more and going out will get easier and easier as he’s awake.
As far as Hudson goes, he has really been a dream. He is interested in the baby, but doesn’t get in my face or demand to hold the baby. He plays really well in his room and is very easily entertained by books, games, and puzzles. But this is just his personality. He has always been independent and likes to play alone most of the time. I still play with him all day, but when I’m feeding Hayes, it’s great that Hudson is able to play alone for a little while.
He definitely has his share of temper tantrums, jealous moments, and meltdowns, but those are the exception rather than the rule. I think their age difference has a lot to do with how cooperative he has been.
Thanks for all the questions. I’ll be answering questions about c-section recovery, baby registries, toddler toys, and questions about our house!
Aww! Your boys are adorable. So glad everything’s going well at home and hopefully, more sleep will be in your future! 🙂
I see you have the nap nanny (I think that’s the name?) Do you like it? I didn’t find out about until C was about 4 weeks but thinking about it for the next one!
Congratulations, looks like you’re doing a great job! Does Hayes sleep on the nap nanny in the crib? We had them for our twins and I didn’t use them much but we have our 3rd on the way and am interested in your thoughts on it.
I too have used all 3 of the books you mentioned! I love babywise, but tend to not talk about it much as there is such a stigma about it. I am currently pregnant with my 3rd baby and will again use it. I like flexible scheduling as it allows me to have an idea of where I am in my schedule at certain times of the day. My 2 older kids have really thrived on it and both slept thru the night by 8 and 9 weeks. It makes such a difference in a baby’s fussy/happy level when they are getting a full nights sleep.
Thanks for the tips! I have all four of the books/dvd you mentioned on my wishlist. How is Hayes liking the nap nanny? I love that Hudson is getting some fun out of it, too 🙂 I am likely going to be needing your sleep pointers once our little lady gets here!
I am glad you are doing so well with both boys! I honestly couldn’t believe how easy of a transition it was. I fretted and worried about my first born son for nearly my entire pregnancy. How would I give both enough attention? Would he end up hating me? He was still such a “baby” to me at only 21-months when baby boy #2 arrived. Of course they were ridiculous thoughts. I blame the pregnancy hormones 🙂
Things have morphed and changed and we have double the tantrums as I now have two toddlers! But I am really glad they are so close in age!
Aww you’re doing great and have 2 beautiful babies!!
We love the nap nanny. Timothy still sleeps in his! 🙂
Sounds like you’re doing just great managing both boys! Everything you wrote about sounds so normal and yes there may be tough moments but you sound so patient and happy! Thanks for this post!
We have a 2008 Summer video monitor. It’s hanging on by a thread. The monitor part has been through the ringer, but I would buy another in a heartbeat, and the touch version looks awesome. You are doing just what you need to do to meet your children’s needs and that’s what matters. I know when my son was born it took us months to get on a schedule. Mostly because he was early and had to eat every two hours. Exhausting! Finally around 3 months we reached a 4-5 hour stretch at night. I had to remind myself was that this was only for a short amount of time. And there I days now when I look back and think, “if I had known how fast it would go I would’ve taken the time to enjoy it more”. Also as far as crying it out goes (because my opinion is so important), people have to realize that a baby’s only way of releasing emotion/stress/tension as a newborn is to cry. Sometimes they need to cry. It will not harm them, and it doesn’t even mean that they are in pain. Some just need to cry. When I realized that it made my life so much easier. Enjoy your boys and take care of yourself. As always thanks for sharing 🙂
I tried to read Babywise when Zoe was a newborn but honestly, it was really confusing for me. I don’t know why…probably because I was in a haze and couldn’t concentrate on anything. I’ve never heard of Toddlerwise…does it focus on sleeping a lot? We just followed Zoe’s natural pattern, fed her a TON during the day, and never woke her up for a feeding and by 2 months she was sleeping 11 hours a night. We believe in “cry it out” too…but, my gosh, I probably can’t count the number of times I was crying on the outside of Zoe’s door while she was crying in her crib.
I love Babywise! I own the other books in the series, but I’m not sure they are going to be as helpful as the first. I still need to get Happiest Baby on the Block. I’ve heard good things about it. Yay for schedules. Glad things are going well!
Even though we do not have any kids yet, I definitely bookmarked this page! I love all of your tips and hope that I can (one day) get my children on such a great schedule. Thank you so much for posting!!
Wow–I am praying big time that Charlotte takes a 3-4 hour nap when she is Hudson’s age…that is AWESOME. We used baby wise too….it was a God-send. I would love to do the PR for that book…I would recommend that to anyone! Glad things are going well…I am with you on stayin gput until you feel ready to be out and about. Besides the convenience factor, you are doing the right thing for your new family of 4 by getting everyone used to this new transition 🙂
Glad things are going well for you!
Erin just wanted to stop by and say hi and you are a GREAT mommy of two!
Have a great weekend with all your boys!
Melissa
I didnt get a video monitor with Cate and I will next time around and I want to get one for Cate still too:) Hayes looks so presh! love him!! And Hudson of course too!! We have entered the temper tantrum stage.. I am not a fan of it:( Hopefully this will be short lived:) Miss you friend
Ha, I was reading your newest post on the giveaway, and at the bottom it said “You might like. . ” and had this post. How does the internet know that I just started working on getting Deeds on a schedule? And that he is 5 weeks old, and I have a two year old? Ha- freaky! Anyway, he’s doing a 6-7 hour stretch at night from 9-4 or 5. which is marvelous. Now, I’m trying to stretch him to 2.5-3 hour feedings during the day. Mercy.