Nothing wrong with being scheduled....

....says ME.  There are plenty of people out there that have incredibly strong opinions when it comes to scheduling.

What am I talking about you ask?  Putting your child on a set schedule.

We most certainly did not do this alone.  We had an idea from a book (yes, Baby Wise) and happened to have 2 great friends (who are doctors) that shared their experiences as well.  Now, keep in mind as you continue to read, we DID NOT follow the Baby Wise method.  We came up with a method that worked that made the most sense.     

Lets back up.  Until Owen was 3 months old he was on his own schedule.  On his demand I will call it.  Not going to lie, this worked out great for the first couple months.  He would wake up when he wanted, we would feed him, he would be up and then go back to sleep.  Granted we were totally sleep deprived, it worked and when he slept, he slept well.  

We got into week one of 3 months and shit hit the fan.  The pattern we had grown accustom to changed.  He was hardly sleeping.  This lead to me sleeping even less (scary).  To put icing on it Joe had just gone back to work.  I was a mess when he would get home.  It was awful.  Something had to be done.  

Before we reacted out of emotion we took a look at the schedule O had US on.  Trying to site any patterns anything that we may have messed up on, etc.  And mess up we did.  The screaming factor was Owen all the sudden wasn't sleeping hardly at all.  It was alarming at best.  We felt like horrible parents (I will say in our defense this had only gone on for a week).  Anyhoo-  babes are supposed to sleep 12-15 hours per day (sleep is one of the driving factors in healthy brain development) and our sweet dude had moved into only getting 8- in a 24 hour period.  Awful!  No wonder he was a mess (we were too)!!  

Off we went to read Baby Wise- after researching it seemed like it may be the closest fit we were seeking.  I gotta tell ya- the book seemed very Nazi to us at first, but if you really take a look at it there are also some really great points.  

SIDE NOTE:  Yes, I know some of you out there literally hate any method that is derived from Baby Wise, but guess what?  I don't care.  I respect your opinions as you should also respect mine.  End rant.  

Long story short with the knowledge we gained from this book and speaking with our friends we made our own eat, play, sleep schedule with O.  Again, being honest here - the first week of being on the schedule had some really tough moments.  REALLY tough.  However, what we saw almost immediately was a little dude who was sleeping 12-15 hours, happier and more playful.  It worked!  It was amazing.  I couldn't believe we didn't think about doing this right away!  It is something that is still working out today and still something we modify as Owen lets us know that he is growing and changing.  Because of said schedule we have a healthier, happier and more readable baby.  

Now, I know schedules may not work as easily for your babes like it did for ours...  but I tell you what always does- consistency.  If you believe in how you have or do not have your child scheduled, be consistent.  

Thank  you so much to our 2 friends (and Doctors) who helped us work out this sweet boys schedule.  

If you have any questions about how we set his schedule I am always happy to talk it about, let me know!  At the end of the day I am truly passionate about scheduling and giving your child the GIFT of sleep.  We had to be consistent, we had to work with Owen and teach him.  These were first steps for us in teaching him something and it was so rewarding.  Not just to us, to HIM.

If you are angry and you think I am a Nazi, that is ok too.  We don't really need to talk about it.  :)

Such a good sleeper

Cuddles with Kona before bedtime (7:30p)

Morning play time!  

Peek A Boo!