The Wonder Weeks: It's a Miracle Book

Lets face it, the first born is just an experimental kid. It's just the way it works. With Gwyn, my first, I didn't know what I was doing. Does anyone really know what to do with their first child? She was a challenge (still is) and I was determined to do everything right. Someone recommend On Becoming Baby Wise to me while I was still pregnant and I thought that was the way it was supposed to be done. Put your kid on a schedule, let them cry themselves to sleep, and teach them to self soothe. If I followed these rules my child should sleep through the night by eight weeks.

Well, she didn't. In fact, she still doesn't sleep through the night. When she wouldn't sleep through the night I felt like a failure. When she wanted to eat more than every 3 hours I felt like a failure. When she didn't follow the routine I felt like a failure. Not only was she not sleeping through the night but sometimes she was waking up ever 45 minutes. It's almost like she was going through phases and she wouldn't sleep, or eat much and she was so grumpy!

I didn't know what to do. I thought it was my diet and the culprit was colic. I was cutting all kinds of things out that may be causing her crankiness. She wasn't grumpy all the time but there were stretches of weeks that I thought I might go crazy. No mother could possibly be experiencing what I was. I remember calling my mom in the middle of the night crying because my baby wouldn't sleep. She told me that some babies just aren't sleepers.

It turns out it wasn't my diet and I wasn't a failure and many other moms have experienced what I have. No, G is not much of a sleeper but there were times when she slept less and was more cranky. She was indeed going through a phase.

The Wonder Weeks by Hetty van de Rijt, Ph.D. and Frans Plooji, Ph.D. discuss the 10 great developmental leaps in your child's first 20 months of development. Turns out that prior to a developmental leap a baby experiences a fussy phase sometimes lasting 6 weeks. During these  fussy phases your baby may not sleep well, may be clingy and cranky and may want to be entertained all the time. In the book it's referred to as the 3 C's (crying, cranky, clingy).

I bought this book on my Kindle when my son, Archer, was a month old. (I would recommend it in paperback though. It has journal areas that I wish I could have filled out.) Immediately, I wished I'd had this book for G. It helped me prepare for those fussy phases and how to stimulate him during his mental growth. The fussy phases are still difficult but it is so reassuring that my baby is not the only one and it will end. He will be a happy little boy again one day soon. I know there is little I can do to prevent these fussy times and that is a huge weight off my shoulders. It makes those endless screaming nights much more tolerable.

One of the best things about this book is it has an app for iPhone and Android that alerts you to these fussy phases and developmental leaps. You can also sign up for Leap Alarm on the Wonder Weeks website with your e-mail address. You can even buy the book by chapters if your baby already is passed many of the leaps.

It really will save your sanity and help you get the most out of your child's development. I lost my sanity long ago thanks to G but I'm hoping this post helps save some of yours.