On Becoming Babywise: Birth to 2 Weeks

Josh and I decided early on before our first baby was born that we would be following the schedule outlined in On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the GIFT of Nighttime Sleep.

I blogged about our Babywise experience with Caden and was shocked by the response. To date, it is one of my more popular posts. I know there are many differing opinions on this book but for us it has been one of the best decisions we have made for our family.

We used Babywise with Maisie as well, but because I was dealing with postpartum depression/anxiety and going to counseling it wasn’t a huge priority on my list to be blogging.

I found it very helpful when we started using Babywise with Caden to read posts from other mommy bloggers who had also used Babywise with their children. While I am no expert on sleeping babies, we have used Babywise twice before and had great success. If you are curious about Babywise or are using Babywise in your own home I hope you find this post and those that follow equally as helpful.

Labor & Delivery

I shared Jesse’s Birth Story two weeks ago. I nursed him in the delivery room soon after he was born. He latched on right away and nursed for 40 minutes.

Hospital Stay

We stayed in the hospital for a little over 24 hours and were able to head home the day after Jesse was born. One small perk of being in the hospital is not having to think about cooking. I always enjoy being able to pick up the phone and order a meal that I wouldn’t normally make for myself at home.

While we were there, Jesse nursed about every two hours. His feedings typically lasted anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes each.

Siblings

Caden and Maisie came to the hospital a few hours after Jesse was born with my parents to meet their new baby brother. They stayed for about an hour, which ended up being the perfect amount of time. Although the postpartum rooms at the hospital were very nice, they weren’t quite large enough to comfortably fit four adults, two preschoolers, and a newborn.

Once Caden got to hold his brother, introduce himself, and give him a kiss he was more interested in finding things to climb on in the room. Maisie was totally enamored with him and wanted to hold him multiple times.

Over the last few weeks both kids have been so great. We have had more tears and needed extra snuggles but honestly that is to be expected. Maisie also had the stomach flu :(. We had to be extra careful in making sure that her and Jesse stayed separated and that Josh and I were extra diligent about washing our hands. Thankfully she is the only one in the house who became ill.

On a sidenote if you have children who are sick and are wanting to try to keep yourself healthy I highly recommend getting a B-comp shot. I got these monthly during my pregnancy and Josh and I both made appointments to get one after Maisie got sick. They are great for boosting your immune system.

Nursing

The first three days Jesse nursed every two hours and averaged 15 minutes each side. Then my milk came in. Once that happened he started to stretch the length between his feedings to 2 1/2 hours during the day for a total of 10 minutes on each side.

I also scheduled an appointment with a lactation consultant during Jesse’s first week, just to make sure his latch looked good and that I was positioning him correctly while nursing. This was my first time meeting with a LC and it was wonderful! I highly recommend schedule an appointment with a LC regardless of how many babies you have had.

Nursing has been going well overall, aside from the leaking and very swollen breasts. I know my milk supply will likely regulate itself over the next few weeks, so I’m trying to be patient.

I actually wrote most of this post several days ago, but wouldn’t you know it—I ended up with mastitis and am now taking antibiotics four times a day for the next week.

It came on so suddenly. Sunday night one breast became sore and painful to the touch. By Monday afternoon it had turned red, and every movement made it ache. Thankfully, I was able to see my doctor yesterday, and I’m hopeful I’ll start feeling better over the next few days.

If you’ve never had mastitis, be thankful. I had it once while nursing Caden, never experienced it with Maisie, and honestly thought I had escaped it this time with Jesse. My doctor thinks my oversupply may have been the culprit this time. With Caden, I believe it was caused by wearing sports bras that were far too tight.

My next few days will be filled with bedrest, loads of nursing, castor oil packs, hot showers, and baby snuggles. Plus, I am hoping to watch a few Christmas movies with the kids.

Schedule

This is a rough outline of what our routine is during the day. Some feedings are adjusted by 30 minutes if the baby needs to be fed sooner because he is hungry.

Birth

Jesse ate every two hours for the first 3 days. After Jesse returned to his birth weight at one week old, his pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to let him sleep for up to four hours at night without waking him to eat. Over the next several days Jesse gradually began to lengthen the time between feedings from 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Week 2

• 7am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
• 8am: Nap
• 9:30am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
• 10:30am Nap
• 12pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
• 1:00pm: Nap
• 2:30pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering, Nap
• 5pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
• 6pm: Nap
• 7 pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib
• 9:30pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib
• 12:30am: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib
• 4am: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib

Waketime

Jesse’s waketime is his feeding time. And even that is a struggle at some feedings because he really just wants to sleep. I can’t say that I blame him either. Labor and delivery are exhausting once the adrenaline burst wears off.

During the first two weeks I tried to have him back in his crib within 50-60 minutes from when he started nursing.

Naps & Night Sleep

Once we were home from the hospital we started using Jesse’s crib in his room for naps and nighttime sleep. He occasionally has napped in his bouncer if he has needed to be inclined after a longer feeding, but at night he sleeps in his crib.

The first two weeks Jesse slept all the time during the day and night. This sounds great in theory but it is really hard sometimes to wake a sleeping infant to eat and keep them awake during the entire feed.

I did lots of skin to skin nursing sessions with him to try and keep him awake. This worked fairly well at keeping him more alert for a full feeding. With Caden and Maisie I sometimes resorted to a cold wash cloth on their feet to keep them awake.

While Jesse slept at night, Josh and I tagged teamed him, with me nursing and Josh burping and swaddling. My husband is a rockstar with this baby swaddling him in his blankets.

If Jesse wakes from sleep during the middle of the night he is fed. I know that Babywise is a controversial book but having read it now multiple times I am not really sure why. Over and over the book clearly says that if your baby is hungry to feed your baby. Schedules and routines are great but especially at this stage it is important to not let them dictate when and how often the baby is fed.

I have been really thankful that Josh has been able to take off so much time from work. It has been a much smoother transition for everyone having daddy home.

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