Exactly, T'mom! There's no one RIGHT way to do anything. What will work for one won't for another. That's true for scheduling, homeschooling, bed times, chores.... As you say, it's one of the big advantages of HS'ing. No matter what "program" you use, as long as you keep a balance between love and discipline, your kids will be nurtured and will grow.
I'm the same way as Jacci with the Ezzos ideas: You take some, you leave some! Helping them learn to be able to self-entertain for awhile I felt was a good thing, and worked well with the family. Putting them more on a schedule for feeding worked for us also, and we got sleep at night! We took their class ("Growing Kids God's Way", for those who haven't heard of it) twice, and gained blessings from it. But some of their stuff was rather rigid, and our kids did not conform to be perfect children as they seemed to say they would if they followed their (the Ezzo's) principals! NOW I've read some good stuff from Jim and Sally Hohnberger---have you heard of them? They seem to be more God oriented instead of "do it my way" oriented.
I have never been through the class, but am familiar with some of their teachings. I agree that you have to take some and leave some of their teachings. I do think it's important for kids to be able to entertain themselves for age appropriate amounts of time. I did not, however, put my kids on feeding or sleeping schedules form the start. When they showed signs of hunger, they nursed. When they were tired, they slept. I never woke a sleeping baby to eat. I did wake up ones that fell asleep while nursing, so they could finish up. Once each of mine were about 3 months or so, naps, bedtimes, and feeding schedules tended to work themselves out into a basic routine. My kids now sleep all night, in their own beds (with the exception of an occasional bad dream or falling out of the bed ). I agree with Deena that the Ezzo's seemed to be focused more on their ideas being the right way to do things. Nothing works for everyone, except God's principles. I know I have to use different techniques with my own children, since they are all very different.
Bad dreams are always an exception! (Or, at least in my opinion, should be!) My kids know that they can knock on our door during the night if there's a need, including "bad dreams". When they were little, they would crawl in with us. But we would always send them back to their own beds after a while. Sometimes I might crawl in one of THEIR bed for a while, until they fell asleep. I agree that the Ezzos were to much "My way is God's way, and if you don't do it MY way, you don't do it God's way!!!" But Faythe WAS sleeping through the night by three weeks old!
Okay, 3 weeks is early My earliest was 6 weeks, LOL. I thought that was heaven on earth. Anyway, Jackie and I sorta de-railed this thread and set it on another course here. Oops. It was an accident Sorry. Babymama, have you been back? Peeking at the thread, but not replying? We'd love to hear back from you!
