Reality check on Baby Whisperer

[amyrio]

I have a 5-week old (my first) and I've been reading the Baby Whisper. I wanted to get a "reality check" from some other moms and dads out there about her methods. I've really been trying to stick to the idea of putting my son down for bed before he falls asleep so that he will learn to go to sleep on his own. But my sister says that it doesn't really matter what you do the first three months- you aren't going to establish bad habits. She would breast feed her babies to sleep and was able to successfully sleep train them at 3-4 months. Also, the Baby Whisperer's daily schedule seems a bit unrealistic to me. I think it says you are supposed to cook and eat dinner in 30 minutes, yeah right!

Has anyone used the Baby Whisperer methods effectively? I'm interested to see what others think of it. Any thoughts on other, better books?

Thanks.

[czekit7]

I really thought that my Pedi had suggested it to me, so I ordered the book and DVD. Started reading the book, waiting on the DVD, researched the schedule. A week later when I rec'd the DVD, I was so excited to see what she really meant. When she started the "I respect you and am giving you a circle of respect" during the diaper change, I threw the whole crap-load out!!

[SnuggleBuggles]

I agree, until around 6m I don't worry about habits and such. Even at 6m I don't worry much about them. If nursing to sleep works then do it. Getting enough sleep is all that matters, especially at 5wo! That is survival mode time!

Beth

[♥ms.pacman♥]

I have a 5-week old (my first) and I've been reading the Baby Whisper. I wanted to get a "reality check" from some other moms and dads out there about her methods. I've really been trying to stick to the idea of putting my son down for bed before he falls asleep so that he will learn to go to sleep on his own. But my sister says that it doesn't really matter what you do the first three months- you aren't going to establish bad habits. She would breast feed her babies to sleep and was able to successfully sleep train them at 3-4 months. Also, the Baby Whisperer's daily schedule seems a bit unrealistic to me. I think it says you are supposed to cook and eat dinner in 30 minutes, yeah right!

Has anyone used the Baby Whisperer methods effectively? I'm interested to see what others think of it. Any thoughts on other, better books?

Thanks.

i sorta agree with your sister. i think it's too early to be worrying about this kind of stuff. for the first 2-3 months, i just nursed DS to sleep at night. my son started sleeping thru the night (10 hrs) at 3 months of age. i didn't do anything except for do the bedtime routine (bath, stories, etc) at around the same time every night. i think around 3months or so i had him cry it out maybe once or twice (when i KNEW he wasn't hungry) and only for a few minutes..then that was it.

i agree that first couple months are "survival mode time" ..you do whatever works. even after that...imo all babies are different, and i find it hard to believe that one sleep training approach (e.g. ferber, etc) will work for all babies. i still nurse my son to sleep sometimes and he is 6 months. about half the time he falls asleep with nursing, the other half he doesn't,but then he falls asleep on his own in his crib within a few minutes, with minimal fussing. so i don't necessarily agree with the whole idea of "if you let your baby do X, he will get used to that and he will end up using that to manipulate you and it will screw you over later". i've nursed my son to sleep, brought him into our bed, picked him when he was crying his head off at 4am,..done all things i'm "not supposed to do" and even with that, my DS usually sleeps 10 hrs a night 90% of the time.

[Smillow]

I loved her burping method, other than that... not so much. Nursing to sleep worked for me.

[amyrio]

Thanks eveyone for your replies. It makes me feel a whole lot better to know I am not the only one not able to adhere to her methods.

[BabyBearsMom]

You can't spoil an infant. Just get sleep however you can. We let DD sleep in a swing for the first 6 weeks because that was the only place she would sleep. Then she transitioned to a crib just fine. She is sleeping through the night or with 1 wake up now at nearly 4 months, and we haven't done any kind of sleep training (I know we are lucky, but the point is that my "spoiling" her with the swing and nursing her to sleep didn't do one lick of "damage" to her).

If you are looking for something to help with sleep, I would highly recommend the Happiest Baby on the Block. We just wrap DD in a swaddle, give her a paci, and put her in her crib. Then we making shushing noises until she falls asleep. We did that for a few months, and now, we just put her in her crib in a swaddle and with the paci and she falls asleep on her own in about 5 minutes. But seriously, at 5 weeks, do whatever you can so you and your LO can get some sleep, and don't worry about following any "rules"

[tempi]

I don't know where I read it, in an article on line or magazine, but it basically said that anyone who is giving you strict guidelines about how to raise a child and that person is making money off of it...throw the book away. Their rationale was that EVERY baby is different and that babies (<1) require a healthy amount of flexibility on the parents' part. I think you need to learn your baby and what works best for her (and you) and go from there. We nursed to sleep as well, and coslept, and the first night we did that it was the first night since he was born that all 3 of us actually had a good nights sleep! (He was 3 weeks old, and we were avid non-cosleepers!)

[SnuggleBuggles]

I don't know where I read it, in an article on line or magazine, but it basically said that anyone who is giving you strict guidelines about how to raise a child and that person is making money off of it...throw the book away. Their rationale was that EVERY baby is different and that babies (<1) require a healthy amount of flexibility on the parents' part. I think you need to learn your baby and what works best for her (and you) and go from there. We nursed to sleep as well, and coslept, and the first night we did that it was the first night since he was born that all 3 of us actually had a good nights sleep! (He was 3 weeks old, and we were avid non-cosleepers!)

That is very excellent advise that you read.

Beth