To Schedule or Not to Schedule....That is the Question

I'll admit it...I'm a nerd. On my bookshelf there is a wide array of parenting "how to" books. I have never been more nervous than I was on the way home with my newborn. Despite all my reading, I felt completely unprepared. Not to mention intimidated. Being a mom is one job that I definitely did not want to mess up!

The first few weeks are a haze. I have no idea how we even survived. Even with my husband off work the first week to help I still felt drained and honestly, a little confused. I found myself thinking that maybe I missed out on "the mom gene". I thought this was supposed to come naturally?

At our first check-up, feeling a little exhausted and at the end of my rope I heard about a book. It's called On Becoming Baby Wise. My doc had used it personally with his own toddler and he swore by it. I decided anything was worth a try and went immediately to the books store. It's a short book and very quick read but I'm so glad I bought it. While I did not choose to follow everything word by word in the book I did adopt most of it especially in the feeding and sleep schedule arena.

My son became a jolly and predictable boy. To this day even, you can almost set your watch by him. He has a 2.5 hour nap each afternoon and sleeps soundly. He sleeps in his own room and can most usually self sooth if he wakes up in the middle of the night.

Looking back on my experience as a brand new mom, I now realize that I didn't miss out on "the mom gene". Maybe motherhood does come more naturally to some more than others, but at the end of the day we all have to learn and grow through our own experience and if we are lucky from the experiences of others.