What Is Babywise V/s Baby Whisper? Needing Help to Get My 9 Month Old Sleep

Time to stop breastfeeding all night and put the 9 mo old in his own bed with a passifier. He may cry at first but after 15 - 20 minutes, he will go to sleep.

I read both of those books, but the book that helped me and most of my friends is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Weissbluth. It really helped me keep my sanity and helped my babies get the rest they really needed! I wish you luck with this. It won't always be easy, but once you establish that routine, everyone will be happier.

I would try niether. I would recommend Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution. Please keep in mind that the primary author of Babywise is a minister who offers very poor evidence as to why his method works. The entire concept behind the book is about making babies conform to the needs of the parents. He does not take into account different babies' personalities. You obviously have a "high need" baby, who needs the comfort of his parents. There are many alternatives to crying it out, like having your husband parent your baby to sleep. I know that when my husband gets my 9 month old to fall asleep, he wakes up much less frequently expecting to nurse. Please make sure you have explored all of your options before making your child cry himself to sleep.

Babywise was a system developed by a male minister (not a doctor) and re-written a few years later to appeal to a broader public as the original wording used a fairly strict and fundamental Christian perspective. If you search for babywise on Babycenter.com you will find that they and most pediatricians recommend staying as far away from this method as possible. This is not to say it can't work for some mom's, but if you are breast-feeding I would stay away from it.

My second was very different as well and actually went down to just one nap a day by 9 months, maybe yours is headed that way (frustrating when you need a break, but a longer break is better than two short ones). He was very active and walked early. If his naps are short you may try a later nap and see if he'll sleep longer and more soundly (thus better sleep in day breeds better sleep for night). Also, if he is only eating for 5 minutes at night (mine would demand to feed if I went in the room but not if hubby did - comfort rather than hungry) you may try alternating and let your husband get up every other time with the baby. Maybe the husband can get him to bed and if you get up the next time he'll eat longer and sleep longer. For our second we used a hepa filter in the room at nap as my eldest would be too loud and kept waking him up. Maybe background noise would help him sleep more soundly especially if you have a house full. Some kids are just more sensitive to sounds.

Our family has had great success with the babywise method and I assure you, we are very loving parents. Our son began sleeping through the night at 9 1/2 weeks and is 5 mo. now and sleeping 10-12 hrs a night. I breastfeed exclusively and he has always nursed well. Babywise does get a lot of bad press, as I noticed as I was reading the responses to your request. What the authors try to dissuade is "child-centered parenting" which requires that the entire family revolve around the child, which can be detrimental to the marriage relationship. I assume that because you have other children you can't focus exclusively on your newborn anyway. I encourage you to read the book (it's a quick read and the authors set up the point very quickly- you will immediately know if it's for your family or not). Our pediatrican is familiar with the method and supports us in its use. I have compared the guidelines she gives us at each check-up to the babywise routine and it's a pretty close match. Good luck!

I read almost every book that's been mentioned here and I believe Baby Whisperer is the best!!! Tracy Hogg gives so many personal and true anecdotes of working with children versus the books that are written by doctors who aren't with these kids many hours a day.
Someone in a previous post said to never wake a sleping baby and I really disagree. If you want to get them on your schedule, you do what have to do. My daughter is now 18 months and by using Baby Whisperer, she slept through the night at 6 weeks and slept all night at 10 weeks. Occasionally she'd get into a grove where she'd wake up consistently at a certain time due to habit. When I did what Baby Whisperer said to do to get her back on track, it was fixed within a couple days.
As I said previously, I really found that Baby Whisperer was a lot more thorough than the other books. She spent SO much time with children and babies throughout her life and gives so many relevant examples.
Good luck!

Hi M.,

Boy do I feel for you!! It wasn't so long ago I was right where you are now and I was a monster myself. Anyway, I tried most of the books the other have suggested, except "On Becoming Babywise" which is discouraged by both the hospital and group of pediatricians I use. Like another responder I have read and been told that the methods can be harmful to the relationship with your child. After trying so many things for so many weeks and wanting to avoid The Ferber Method (crying it out), my pediatrician gave me the same advice as the last respondent--"she has learned that you will come and comfort her with spurts of nursing, so she has no need to self-soothe". He recommended that I use the Ferber Method (How to Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems) and it was soooo hard, but IT WORKED!!!! After a few nights she was sleeping through the night. The book gives lots of good details and information that helped me understand sleep patterns--this was really helpful! I know there are lots of people who don't agree with this method, but I was at my wits end. After we did it and started getting some sleep, I was a much happier mommy, therefore she was a much happier baby!!! Hope this helps and good luck my fellow "monster"!!

My youngest child did not sleep through the night until she was over 1 year old! She would wake up and cry and I would get up and go comfort her. My very wise physician told me this pattern is a learned response. She would awaken and cry and I would come to her. He told me to let her cry a little and when there was no response, she would learn to settle herself and go back to sleep. It was VERY HARD to follow this advise. However, after about 1 week, it worked!

Hello, do not feel bad I am going thru the exact same thing on my second little girl. She is 5months and in that same pattern, she wants to nurse every 2 hours for about 5 min and then back to sleep over and over again. I have only gotten about 4-5 nights of 8 hour rest since she has been born. I am literally so sleep deprived I am a grouch to everyone else.Plus a 2 year old to deal with during the day.
Please, if you find something that works please let me know.
Thanks,

baby wise is a feed/wake/sleep routine. every 3-4 hours, the cycle repeats... you feed the baby when he/she seems hungry, keep them awake for about an hour, and then put them down for a nap when they get fussy/sleepy - they sleep for 30min-1 hour. the idea is to get your baby used to being slightly awake/drowsy when you put them down so they are not being fed to sleep each time. this means you will have to let him/her "cry it out" for several days to get used to this routine. listening to my baby cry really was hard... but after about 2 weeks, it got less and less. now my 7 wk old goes down for a nap still awake and does not make a fuss. she sleeps very well through the night too... it's worth it! get the babywise book - it explains it better and it helped to read it whilst the baby was crying.

Babywise is a book by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam. You can buy it online, I don't know about book stores, I'm the online kind of gal. But these books will definitely help you get your child to sleep through the night. My DD was raised on these methods, and while many people slam the babywise/Ezzo Parent Directed Feeding, it certainly worked for us, and we have the most well behaved baby I've met. I would really encourage you to at least get more information, read the books if possible. I am sure you will enjoy the results - GL :)

I just wanted to say that The No Cry Sleep Solution really worked for me. I had a bad experience letting daughter #2 'cry it out' at 6 months (she would cry for an hour and a half, no joke, and it went on for 2 weeks). With daughter #3 I started reading No Cry Sleep Solution when she was about 3 months old and started implementing the suggestions in the book when she was about 5 months. By the time she was 6 months old she was sleeping through the night and taking great naps during the day. She is now 4 and has consistently been my best sleeper, even though she didn't start out that way. Good luck to you!

M.,

My experience with the Babywise method was great! I had two son's before I had heard about it. They were both good kids, but I wished that I had a training manuel. When my daughter came along ten years later, a friend of ours gave us the book and we both thought it was a miracle! She was perfect. Good schedule, no eating issues, slept throught the night easily at about one month and very agreeable attitude. I have nothing but good things to say about it.
Hope you read it...there is also a Babywise 2 for older children. That's good too. (The set makes a worthwhile shower gift.)
God bless,
Deborah

baby/toddler whisperer saved my life! ok, not life...but sleep!

Babywise has more structure than baby whisperer. Many doctors suggest you NEVER wake a sleeping baby, so if your baby decides to sleep longer, your "routine" might be "off." On the other hand, research also suggests that babies get both deep/peaceful sleep and active sleep. If you are always on the go and they don't have a loose routine, the baby isn't getting the deep peaceful sleep needed to accomplish learning in the awake time :) Hope this helps. I use babywise as my main guide, but am reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." I ALSO use the techniques from "Happiest Baby on the Block" to soothe her. Good Luck!

I've read both (as well as Healthy Sleep Habits, No Cry Sleep Solution - my first has a LOT of trouble with sleep!!) In my opinion Baby Whisperer is more respectful to the child and a more loving, but firm approach. And man did it work for my kids!! And my first is stubborn and demanding as can be. The others, except No Cry Sleep Solution, use the cry it out approach to teach a child to sleep. I do recommend reading Healthy Sleep Habits, however, b/c it has lots of good info on understanding a child's sleep. If you go with Baby Whisperer, I recommend reading the relevant parts of both Secrets of the BW and BW solves all your Problems (2 different books). Good luck!!

Good luck with all of this, as it is not easy! But many sources agree that Babywise is detrimental to a nursing relationship. I've honestly read such bad things about the book. That doesn't mean you won't have success with it. A lot depends on if that is your personal parenting style.

If you tend to be a more "AP" parent, and want a gentle, non-CIO approach, I would recommend the book The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. Much more gentle approach to helping baby sleep at night. It is not a quick-fix solution, though. It requires analysis of your situation, then helps you work on that.

GL!