“three or more kids” Barbie

If you’ve been following along lately, you know that I am a huge advocate of getting your baby to sleep well early on. Thank you Babywise.

I totally understand there is another school of thought about how we shouldn’t wish away babyhood or rush to get a baby to sleep through the night before they are ready.

I want to remind everyone that the new Babywise content on my blog is partly a journal for me, partly to be helpful for other new moms, and partly to help grow my blog since baby sleep is a very popular subject.

Also remember that we are not letting our newborn cry it out…see this post! I don’t intend on having him sleeping through before his is ready, but actually when he is ready. With some help and routine and Babywise as my guide I have learned that can easily be within the first 12 weeks of life.

Now I don’t think this the right way or the best way–it’s just the right way for our family.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words I want to turn to this meme (credit chickeypics):

There are two points I want to make about this image.

The first is that today, I am very much the “three or more kids” Barbie. Sweet Henry is on his first growth spurt and our poor Sam man was up with an asthma flare up a lot last night.

The good new is, I can handle being poor side of the road Barbie some days! I certainly didn’t come home with baby number three and expect this to be a cake walk. Let’s talk perspective here:

A growth spurt might mean baby is waking up more or fussing more but it really means that my healthy baby boy is growing and eating just as he should be. How lucky are we to have our third healthy baby?

And dealing with allergies and asthma during this time where farmers are burning fields and the seasons change is not ideal for our 4 year old, but how lucky are we that an inhaler fixes him up? How sweet was it that last night he wanted me to lay by him and sing him songs. He will be 5 soon….he may not ever ask me to sing him songs at 4am again.

So I can be “three or more kids” Barbie today, and many days, with the right perspective.

What I don’t like about this meme is the fear it puts in the hearts of moms of multiple kiddos. It’s meant to be funny, yes. But it’s also a little scary! It can also a little untrue. And this is why I am all about some Babywise. These sleepless nights are not going to last that long, especially when you work hard at healthy sleep habits.

I can tell you for that last few years of having 2 kids (who are less than two years apart!) I don’t really think I felt like two kid Barbie up there all that much. It flies by!

With Babywise, the hard part is over in the blink of an eye and you can move on to being a well rested mama of 1, 2, 3, however many kids you have.

So here’s to all the mamas feeling like an unkempt barbie from time to time.

It happens and it’s going to be okay.

And also… here’s to getting good sleep too! It does not mean you are wishing any part of babyhood away.

Ten or twelve glorious hours of sleep and consistent naps from baby just mean that you can be rested and showered and happy to love on the baby…you’ll even have time for brushed hair and make up like “no kid” Barbie.

So this is a pep talk to me as well a the other Babywise moms out there in the thick of it.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Keep up the routines even if you don’t feel like it matters. Don’t let growth spurts or sleep regression get you down. More sleep is just around the corner!