rhythm, routine and clever baby books

so after the first 3 or so weeks of letting grace do pretty much whatever she wanted (needed really) we have decided to try and get into a bit more of a predictable routine. the thinking behind this is based on a book called Babywise, which was recommended to us by one of mel's friends. the basic premise seems to be that the relationship between parents is the central one in the house and that a child brought up with this strong bond will do well (for the moment i am going to ignore the implications of this statement for families who don't fit this model.......) and that seems to make sense to us at the moment. we never want a child or children to be the most important thing in our relationship but i think that this needs conscious effort rather than assuming it will happen.

anyhow........ that's just a bit of the philosophy the trick with the baby is to try and feed her up during the day (feeding every 3 hours or so) with a bit of wake time and a bit a sleeptime before the next feed. you wake the baby if it is time for a feed and feed extra if she is hungry but basically stick to the formula. the idea being that by 6 weeks or so the wee darlin is sleeping through the night. QED.

we are 3 days into this new regimen and it does seem to be doing something. the last 2 nights she has slept for 5 hours at a stretch but we will have to see how things go in the long run. it may be a while before i will become a Babywise evangelist.

P