Many parents choose to parent using attachment parenting and many choose to parent using a routine or a schedule. It just so happens that I am a parent who has chosen to parent using a strict routine. I don’t like calling it a schedule, but when it comes down to it, that is probably what it is.
So many other moms’ wonder how I could possibly put my kids on a schedule. To be honest, I couldn’t imagine not having one. When my oldest son was an infant, he cried all the time. He was five weeks early and I chalked it up to prematurity and colic. He was swaddled, shushed (the sh sound is supposed to be soothing), swayed, you name it and we did it. Nothing was working. I tried carrying him in his Baby Bjorn, I tried bringing him into bed with us, he still cried. I gave him a paci, he spit it out, I let him sleep on my chest, he cried. Nothing worked and I was exhausted and frustrated.
When he was about eight weeks old, I knew I needed to do something. I bought a book by a woman who called herself a baby whisperer. This book was my lifesaver. It had so many ideas in it, many of them no brainers that I had no clue about, being a first time mom. I implemented these ideas. Get your baby on a routine, especially at bedtime. During the day, follow the same pattern, eat, play then sleep. Two weeks later, my son started sleeping eight hours at night and napping regularly.
Since then, I have been a routine follower. My boys are four and two now and still eat at the same time daily, still get baths at the same time and still go to bed at the same time each night. My boys thrive on it; they know what is coming next and they like it. I will always believe my boys are so happy, not only because of my husband’s and my parenting, but also because of the routines in their lives. I believe in routines, I believe in them because they work for my family. Not everyone believes in routines, but I really think children thrive under them.