Hellobee Boards

Haven't read them but I remember finding the Bebe author and the hoopla surrounding her extremely annoying and somewhat misguided. And I personally would never be able to just dump a four month old in a room for 12 hours and hope for the best. But, that's just my opinion and my style! haven't read the books.

@kpc324: I have not read the books, but I know my LO was not ready to night wean at 4 months and sleep 12 hours straight, and I wouldn't feel comfortable putting her down at night and not getting her until the morning. I think it is awesome and lucky when babies do it on their own at an early age, but it is not something I would push at 4 months old. I really think many babies still need a night feeding until 9ish months.

I read Bringing Up Bebe and thought it was amazing. I don't necessarily plan to incorporate everything in the book into our parenting, but certainly a lot of it resonated with me. We are also very laissez-faire with D, and at 10.5 months he is a (mostly) laid-back, independent, happy little guy. Could that be our parenting? Maybe. Could it just be his personality? Maybe. I think it's a little bit of both.

It's been a while since I read it, but I don't remember that Bringing Up Bebe recommended anything in particular for sleep. I think I would have remembered that, especially since that (leaving a 4-month-old baby in the room from 7p-7a) seems pretty extreme to me.

Mostly what struck me with BUB is fostering independence and respect in children. Teaching children to be patient while you're on the phone, teaching them to wait for designated snack or meal times, emphasizing the importance of greeting people with "hello" and "goodbye," that kind of stuff. I thought a lot of it was brilliant.

I think that no two babies are alike, and what works for one might not work for another.
7a to 7p at 4 months sounds kind of extreme to me, but I'm sure there are babies who have done it.

Eta: I'm not against sleep training in general, but I think it's important to be absolutely sure the baby isn't waking out of hunger and at 4 months I think a lot of babies still need to eat during the night.

I read Bringing Up Bebe and I also have the Bebe Day by Day book. I loved it. A lot resonated with me...mostly the laid back approach and "le pause". Also the manners thing...saying hello and learning not to interrupt. I don't know about the 4 month old sleep thing though. I plan to use the pause and go with the flow.

I love love love Bringing Up Bebe, especially the parts about manners and food. I think @red_seattle: summarizes very well the sleep "philosophy" in that book ("le pause"), which we successfully practice.

Dr. Cohen's rather strict sleep training ideas aren't for everyone (luckily we didn't have to cross that bridge with this LO). I know a lot of people who have him as a pediatrician, and some swear by his methods while others will have nothing to do with them. He's certainly a polarizing figure, but his ideas on sleep work for some families.

I've read some of the book since Dr. Cohen is the founder of our pediatric practice (not our doctor). Some of the book is accessible via our practice website and sometimes I browse when sitting in the waiting room. I remember thinking, "If our doctor suggests putting LO in her room at 7 p.m. and coming back at 7 a.m. I will curse her out" but luckily she didn't. That's not our cup of tea. We still co-sleep at almost 20 months so obviously we don't adhere to his sleep training ideas and our pediatrician doesn't push us on this.

For those who haven't heard of these books, can someone briefly explain "le pause?" I'm very curious!

I haven't read these books but I have practiced "the pause" in attempts to get my LO to self-soothe a little. She never really settles back down so I'm not sure how effective it is. Some babies are just higher needs than others, I guess.

@LemonLong: I was thinking of trying MOC. LO fights sleep and ends up overtired. Could you give me a brief synopsis of how it works? I know they are big into white noise and swaddling.

@daniellemybelle: keep 3 hours between the last 2 feedings to make sure baby is hungry at the last feeding so it carries them through the night, swaddle for babies under 3 months, white noise, strict bedtime routine, if you feed in the middle of night keep it boring, and they advocate CIO in 5-10 minute intervals to start with. That's the basics. They have sample schedules in the book that I found helpful too.