Who’s Baby Is That?
I keep running into people who say they didn’t know I was pregnant. People that saw me when I was pregnant can’t figure out why I am carrying a baby around. How is it possible that something that consumed every moment of my life for 41 weeks could go unnoticed by other people?
I guess I needed to wear a big sign to insure I got all the sympathy I deserved. “I am pregnant and sick. Very, very sick. And miserable. Please feel sorry for me. And my neglected kids. Please pray for the suffering to end.” One woman actually said, “Who’s baby is that?”
Me – It’s mine.
Her – No it’s not. Who’s is it?
Me – Really, it’s mine. I had a baby.
Her – No you didn’t.
Me – Ok then. It was nice talking to you. We’ll see you.
The first thing people ask when they see a new baby is, “Is she sleeping at night?” When I tell them that Sweetness is sleeping 12 hours they say, “You’re so lucky she’s such a good sleeper!”
Me – Actually it’s not luck. I have a system for teaching my babies to sleep.
Them – Really?
Yesterday at the gym I was talking to two woman and one of them said, “I want to know what your system is.”
Me – Do you have a baby?
Her – No, I’m pregnant.
(Me feeling like an idiot for not noticing that she’s obviously at least 7 months pregnant. Where was the sign?)
So I tell them all about my system while they stare at me with looks of, “I see words coming out of your mouth but I don’t understand a thing you’re saying.” At the end I say, “Sweetness even shares a room with her older sister and after I put her to bed her sister can go in there and turn the light on to read and Sweetness sleeps right through it.” Both the women look at each other and nod their heads knowingly, “Yep, she’s just a good sleeper.”
Ok, don’t believe me. Have your baby and feed it all night for weeks and months on end. Make you and your baby miserable with lack of sleep. See if I care!!! I don’t know why I bother.
That’s why I have a blog. I can yap all I want about teaching babies to sleep. You can think I’m crazy and never come back or you can take my advice and then email me telling me how my system really does work and I can feel all warm and fuzzy inside for being able to spread the gospel of rest.
Here’s the update on Sweetness. At four weeks she was sleeping 6-7 hours a night and a couple weeks later she was sleeping 8-10 hours. When she was ten weeks old I stopped waking her up every three hours during the day to feed her so now at least once a day she takes a long 4-5 hour nap. If she had started waking at night again then I would have gone back to the every three hour day time feedings.
Now at 13 weeks Sweetness sleeps 11-12 hours every night. Lovely didn’t even sleep that long. She woke up every single morning at exactly 6:30 until she weaned at 15 months. That’s when she decided sleeping in was more fun than breakfast. Sweetness sleeps until 8:00.
Yep, she must just be a good sleeper.
Teach Your Baby To Sleep
Teach Your Baby To Sleep, Part II
Teach Your Baby To Sleep, Part III
Disclaimer – I am not an expert. I’m a Mom. Please work with your doctor to make sure your baby is getting enough to eat. If you are having trouble with your milk supply or if your baby is not gaining adequately then do not let your baby go long periods of time without nursing. If you are in doubt, FEED YOUR BABY.
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August 13th, 2008 at
i love you.
seriously … i do.
my #2 is due to arrive october 2nd and i’ve been dreading the sleeping part. you can bet i’ll be trying your system out and telling all my friends who have babies as well.
you are a life/sanity saver.
did i mention i love you?
Lara says: Let me know how it works for you!
August 13th, 2008 at
Eli will be 5 weeks tomorrow and at least he is making progress when it comes to sleeping through the night. I am just grateful that he is already going to bed at a decent time every evening … knock on wood. Now I just need to teach myself to go to bed earlier at night instead of staying up after all the kids are asleep to do the things I want to do
!!
Lara says: Would you please come up with a system for teaching Mommies to sleep???
August 14th, 2008 at
My first daughter I didn’t know any better and did not do the teach your baby how to sleep method at age 14, yes 14 yrs. old is a awful sleeper, typical teenage hrs…..But my second daughter I learned and she was on a schedule from the get go and at age 10, she is a dream to get to bed and asks to go to bed whens shes tired does the method work oh yah!!…..
August 14th, 2008 at
I wish I had “Teach Your Baby How to Sleep” when my first son was born. That boy would not go down for anything, and he wouldn’t stay down unless I left classical music turned on in the background to muffle any creaks the floor might make as I tiptoed around.
Boy #2, he’s a good sleeper. He always ate his fill and slept through the night.. I don’t ever remember getting up for him in the night or having any trouble putting him down. In fact, he’s 4 now and sometimes he still falls asleep around 5 PM and sleeps through the whole night.
It’s cool that you have a system.. maybe you will save some moms LOL
August 14th, 2008 at
Just want to say you have the most stunningly beautiful girl baby I have EVER seen. (I have to say girl baby because I have three boys, and my boys were the most beautiful boy babies I’ve ever seen.
) Sweetness is just…beautiful. There are no other words to describe her. And good for you teaching her how to sleep. We had to teach all three of our babies to sleep.
August 14th, 2008 at
Is it too late for me? My son is 16 months and I got him to sleep through the night for 2 weeks and then he started getting molars and now he is waking up twice at night. I am so tired! He wakes up at the slightest sound. I always play music loud but as soon as one of his brothers makes a sound he starts screaming to get out of his bed.
Lara says: I wish I could help you there! Babies are so sweet until the never ending teething starts and spoils the fun for everyone!
August 14th, 2008 at
My son has been sleeping through the night for about a month now, he is 3 months old. He eats for about an hour straight right before bed and then he sleeps all night.
My daughter had such a picky stomach and was spitting up all the time, as much as I tired she wouldn’t sleep through the night until she was almost 7 months old. A lot depends on the child. Thank you so much for sharing this!
August 14th, 2008 at
I totally agree with you on everything you said about sleep. Especially about trying to convince other people about how to get their children to sleep too.
Now I really need a plan for the toddler stage really bad. The baby stage was easy, twice. But potty training – rough. Tantrums – very rough. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about!!!! Or is it just my lovely little girl, that is the spitting image of me?
I really enjoy your blog, BTW.
Lara says: I never tell anyone unless they ask. I think it’s funny that even then, they don’t really want to know.
Parenting is just rough in general!
August 14th, 2008 at
I should read through these instructions on how to teach babies to sleep. My system has given up on having babies, even though I’m only 39. Ho hum. Someday I’ll be a grandmother and need to encourage younger women. Thanks again.
August 14th, 2008 at
I love your disclaimer. I needed one of those shirts that said, no I JUST had a baby… I don’t have a due date.
August 14th, 2008 at
The annoying question I got when my daughter was born was is it a boy or girl? I.guess.you.didn’t notice all the pink she’s wearing. I’ll have to remember to read your posts when my husband decides he wants to have another.
August 14th, 2008 at
ok so my 10 month old is yet to sleep through the night so when i have a free minute that does not involve chasing after him b/c he is walking i plan to read your blog and instructions on how to have him sleep very religiously. i was very spoiled by my daughter who slept the night at 8 weeks old and before that she woke once to drink at 2 am.
August 14th, 2008 at
LOL, I had that happen to me where people didn’t believe my son was mine because they didn’t even know I was pregnant. Hello? I live in a very small town, go figure!
August 14th, 2008 at
I know you have to hear this all the time, but I think you are great. I totally believe your system works and my son that’s a week younger than sweetness doesn’t do what your baby does, but I feel as though he sleeps through the night even though he does still wake to eat once sometimes twice. He is never fully aroused though. I just don’t have as much perseverance as you do. Soon when my other child goes back to school I’m going to do everything I can to teach the baby to sleep using what you have said with the not cry it out method, but the continual pick up and calm down thing. One day we’ll get there.
August 14th, 2008 at
It is so amazing what people don’t notice!
August 14th, 2008 at
Why is it that people who have had a baby think that they know best about what you need to do? I’m with you on doing what works for your own family. And the funny thing is that most people who think I need to do it “their way” have children in high school or older. I’m guessing they forget how “their way” wasn’t always perfect. My baby ate ever 2-3 hours during the day and by six weeks would sleep from 8pm till 6:30 am. I didn’t really try it as a “method.” It was just how he chose to do things. But I think I will encourage it will baby #2. Keep up the good bloggin.
August 14th, 2008 at
I haven’t read your system, but I totally believe that we train babies to wake up at night and eat all night long. Unless the baby is underweight there is no reason that babies can’t learn to sleep through the night!! Way to go teaching your system and saving moms all over from post partum depression that could have been lessened or avoided all together with sleep!!
August 14th, 2008 at
She is adorable and I love the blessing dress you made her. Or should I say the second blessing dress? At any rate, it is very sweet and fits her beautifully.
~ Sarah
August 15th, 2008 at
I’m due to have our second child in 7 weeks time… I will be reading all about your system and giving it a go!
Our first was/is a great sleeper naturally so I’m sure this one is going to try us, and need a bit of help along the way!
August 15th, 2008 at
Mine were the same way about sleeping through the night. All but Miss Smarty who never did anything to make her mother’s life easy, bless her little heart! I remember my first child would eat every two hours while she was awake, then by the time she was 2 weeks old she would sleep 10-12 hours. Let me tell you I really got the business from “baby experts” who told me I should wake a child up that is young at least every 4 hours to feed them. HUH? Babies know when they are hungry and they will cry to let you know. Needless to say, I didn’t take the advice.
August 15th, 2008 at
Ok, so it is 3 hrs from the start of the feed? And when the baby is itty bitty do you ever wake at night to feed?
Concerning sharing rooms. My oldest is a very light sleeper, and will be 26 months when number 2 comes along. I was thinking of having them share a room, but how do I condition number 1 to deal with the noise of number 2? And how many weeks old would you suggest I move number 2 into the room with number 1, and out of the basinet in my room?
I’m sure I’ll have more questions as I get closer to delivering my second.
thank you for this blog!
Lara says: Yes. You count from the beginning of one feeding to the beginning of another to be three hours. I never wake my babies at night to eat but I have big babies (8 1/2 -10 1/2 pounds). If you have an itty bitty baby then I would talk to your doctor about it.
When I put my two oldest together it only took them a couple days to get used to it. I would wait till my baby was sleeping several hours at a time at night before moving her into her room just to make it easier on you but I would move her while she was still young enough to sleep through anything so she gets used to it without any trouble.
Good luck!
August 16th, 2008 at
I used a very similar system from The Baby Whisperer. Same theory, which is keeping baby on a flexible schedule of Eat, Activity, Sleep, which means time for You. Never let baby sleep more than 3 hours straight through. Instead, wake them to feed them. My kids slept 8 hours straight at 8 weeks and 12 hours straight at 12 weeks.
August 17th, 2008 at
This is awesome. I always crack up at the shows like “bringing baby home” where these people wake their kids up in the middle of the night…CRACKS me up!
August 18th, 2008 at
do you have any tips for getting 4 1/2 yr olds to sleep past 6am??? they go to bed around 730pm and they do sleep through the night, never get in our bed, don’t bother us – but that 6am is killing me. should i be letting them stay up later? haven’t been reading your blog much – been busy with kids all summer. so glad to see the baby – she’s beautiful.
August 22nd, 2008 at
It really works. I used this same system with my own kids when they were babies, without thinking much about it (actually I was trying to avoid giving them a pacifier), and was very surprised with everyone else´s concern about our supposed lack of sleep. We never slept better! I am an insomniac most of the time, but apparently nursing made me sleep soundly too.
December 29th, 2008 at
Oh man, do I need to get my daughter-in-law to read this. Our granddaughter is six weeks old and she feeds her around the clock – literally! Seems like she feeds her about every 20-40 minutes all day and all night. One day she nursed her 5 times just during the dinner time prep, eat, and clean up period.
I thought that seemed weird to me. I would nurse my babies about every 3.5 to 4 hours and they were just great. This is her 4th so I guess she knows she she’s doing, but it seems like a bit much to me. You can’t get anything done when you’ve got a baby attached to you every minute. She seems to have an obsession with fat babies so I think she is deliberately overfeeding them so they’ll get all cute and chubby. Maybe I’ll see if I can get her to read this.
October 27th, 2009 at
What a great system. I did the same thing for my 2 kiddos and it works! My second time around was easier than my first. My mom and my mom-in-law thought I was crazy. What you aren’t going to rock him to sleep? You mean lay him down? He is awake! Yep, they both sleep about 12 hrs. a night. Gotta love it!