The One with All the Scheduling

So, I'm back to work. This is actually the start of my second week, and so far I am really enjoying it. I was SO nervous about going back and trying to balance work and mommy-hood and getting overwhelmed...but I am honestly loving it. I am totally and completely exhausted. But happy. I LOVE my coworkers so much--they are some of the funniest and most wonderful people I've ever met. They've truly made me look forward to every shift that I've worked and have made the hours fly by. I have a new boss, who I also think is phenomenal, and about a thousand times better than my old boss. Sammy has also been quite cooperative and has decided to sleep a lot more at night--including an EIGHT hour stretch last night. That's right. Eight hours. Then, he ate and slept for 4 more. Ohh, happy days. I love that little boy. I do miss him when I work, but it's so nice to come home to his smiley little face! And I like him more the more that he sleeps.

On that note, I would like to take a moment and toot the horn of BabyWise. I am fully aware that this is a somewhat controversial method, and I in no way am suggesting that this plan is good for all babies and all mommies--just tellin ya what worked for us!

I originally disliked the idea of scheduling my baby. It seemed kinda mean--like, if he wants to sleep, shouldn't he just be allowed to sleep? And if he feels like being awake, that's great, too! He'll figure it out.

Ha! Yeah, he figured it out all right. One night around 6 weeks, he was up almost the entire night, sleeping in chunks of less than an hour. The next day, I thought, "Forget this! I'm scheduling his little butt no matter what!" Basically, I thought, I'm bigger, stronger, and smarter than him. I should win this battle. So, scheduling we went. And it only took about 3 days before Sammy totally got his days and nights on track and began sleeping in larger chunks. He also is a much happier baby and enjoys his awake time a lot. I found that the schedule helped me know him better and figure out what he was looking for and how I could comfort him the best way.

I've pretty much become BabyWise' biggest fan. And so has my little well-rested baby boy :)