Infants Sleeping Through the Night
Use Babywise Parenting Philosophy by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam
Using an eat, wake, sleep cycle during the day will help train your baby to sleep through the night.
Although controversial, the popular book On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo and Dr. Robert Bucknam, published by Charleston Publishing Group, Inc., discusses a parenting program designed to help infants sleep through the night from as early as 7 weeks of age.
Eat, Wake, Sleep Cycle
The premise of the Babywise philosophy is that a healthy infant should be fed on a regular schedule (every 2-4 hours depending on the age of the child), have awake time after eating, then go down for a nap before the next meal.
The concept is that when the baby is having regular feeding/awake/sleeping times, his metabolism will grow used to eating at the same times. As the baby begins eating more at each feeding, he will slowly extend his sleep at night, sleeping 7-8 hours at a stretch by 7-9 weeks, and 10 hours at a stretch by 12 weeks old.
Feeding Schedule
The feeding schedule in the Babywise philosophy is a flexible 2-4 hour schedule depending on the age of the child. From birth to 8 weeks, a 2-3 hour schedule should be followed, slowly extending the times between feedings as the child becomes able to go longer.
Gary Ezzo and Dr. Robert Bucknam urge parents to think when their baby cries, and decide what is the most likely source of the crying instead of simply feeding the baby at every whimper. They mention common growth spurt ages and say that at these times feedings may indeed be closer together than the regular schedule.
Suggestions for both breastfeeding moms and formula feeding moms are given, and problem solving tips are gone over, including tips for moms not starting babywise with a newborn.
Regular naptimes are just as important as regular feeding times according to Mr. Ezzo and Dr. Bucknam. Teaching even the youngest infants to have healthy sleep habits is central to those infants being able to learn to sleep through the night. Suggestions are given to help parents teach their babies that daytime is for playing and nighttime is for sleeping.
According to the Babywise philosophy, babies must be allowed to cry in their crib in order to learn to fall asleep on their own. Mr. Ezzo and Dr. Bucknam do urge parents to ensure that the baby is clean, has a dry diaper, does not need burped and that all is well before simply allowing the baby to cry, and parents are not to allow their baby to cry longer than 15 minutes before checking in on her to make sure that all is well.
Criticisms of Babywise
The critics of the Babywise philosophy cite the feeding schedule as the main fault. Those who believe in demand feedings (feeding your baby whenever he cries) are the most critical of scheduled feedings. They claim that parents become too attached to the clock and do not feed the baby when necessary, and thus the baby can fail to thrive.
The other common criticism comes from those parents who do not want to allow their baby to cry for any length of time without comforting them, stating that babies need to learn to trust their parents to care for their needs, and they learn that trust through their cries being answered immediately.
In summary, parents who utilize the Babywise philosophy with their babies are hoping to find a regular schedule for their lives. They are feeding their babies on a flexible routine, responding to cries with thought before action to ensure that the proper action is taken (including times when no action should be taken), and allowing the baby to cry herself to sleep. These babies then learn to sleep through the night from an early age allowing parents to get much needed sleep themselves.
