i'm not sure if anyone will bother responding to this post, as it doesn't relate to a problem with my dd as such, but it's something i've been wondering about... ( please move if this is not the correct area to post this)
do you ever feel yourself having to justify the EASY plan to your family and friends?
my dd has been on EASY since she was about 6 weeks old (she is now just over 4 months) i first saw tracy hogg on discovery home and health when i was pregnant, and i thought she was a total miracle worker! i heard her telling a couple about the EASY plan and it immediately made me prick up my ears ( especially the 'Y' part!! lol)
i bought her first book - secrets of the baby whisperer and read it when i was about 6 months pregnant. after explaining it to my dh we decided we would try it out when our lo was born
my dd was 3 weeks early and the first few weeks (over christmas and new year were very difficult as she wouldn't feed so we were using syringes and cups and a mixture of breast milk and formula). amyway, we were winging it and it was at about week 6 when we were starting to feel really frazzled that my dh said 'let's try EASY'...we did and i've never looked back since
i feel like it has helped me get to know my dd much better than i would have had we not started a routine. i know why she's crying 99.9% of the time and quite often we can even prevent any tears at all by sticking to the timings and ensuring she's never hungry or overtired. i can't imagine not being on it!
my point (there is one!!) is that despite the fact that we have a gorgeous, happy, healthy baby girl i have found that certain members of my family and some of my friends are quite critical of the EASY plan and can't understand why we follow a 'schedule' at all!
my mum in particular is constantly nipping at me at the amount of naps that my lo takes (she is currently on the 3.5hr easy and takes 3 naps each day). when we went on holiday with them for a few days it was a battle of wills trying to get my lo to the bedroom for a nap without my mum making some underhand comments!!). you should have heard her ranting on when i told her i was spending time in the bedroom 'guiding my daughter through her nap' i.e. wake to sleep. she said 'doesn't she know how to sleep herself?' i think we all know the answer to that question judging by the amount of posts we make to the nap section
people also find it very difficult to understand the 'circle of respect' that i find such an important part of tracy's 'teachings' . they will whip my dd up off the floor and throw her into the air with no warning and say she's being 'fussy' when she starts to cry!!
i guess i just get fed up with defending the EASY plan when the hardwork that we have put into it has paid such great dividends *sighs*
i just wondered if anyone else has come across similar issues with their family/friends and how they deal with it. i don't want to have any conflict, especially with my mum, but it is getting to the stage that i dread her spending too much time with my dd because i know she doesn't respect our schedule and my lo usually ends up in tears from being overstimulated or overtired