Moms On Call: Everything You Need to Know
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Have you heard about Moms On Call? Many follow the method for sleep training purposes, but it is so much more than that!
Moms On Call is a comprehensive guide to baby care written by two pediatric nurses. You’ll find everything in it from how to bathe your newborn to what your first aid kit should contain. Best of all, the authors share their extensive knowledge from years of experience about how to get your baby into healthy sleep habits and sleeping through the night.
It also has similar principals to those found in Babywise. Read–> Babywise vs Moms on Call: 5 Differences You Need to Know About
I’ll share with you the most important aspects that you need to know about this book and then the answer to the million dollar question…did it work for us?
A Guide to the Moms On Call Method
Before we go any further…if you don’t like Babywise or are opposed to the principles behind it, then you probably won’t like Moms On Call. (If you’ve never heard of Babywise then read more –> HERE)
Both books are founded on the principle of a family being a unit. The entire family gives and takes in order to serve on another.
There will of course be times when one member will require more sacrifice on behalf of other members, but it all balances out in the end.
Basically, both books are parent-led methods which means the parent decides what is best for their baby, not the other way around.
That doesn’t mean that the parent ignores any cues from the child but instead takes those cues into consideration and then decides what should be done.
Mom’s On Call is hardcore. It is for sure more hardcore than Babywise.
Moms On Call does advocate allowing your baby to cry from a young age and by age 12 weeks, as long as your baby is feeding and growing well, then they recommend staying out of their room 7pm-7am and allowing them to learn to self-soothe.
The Moms on Call schedules do allow for flexibility and feeding when your baby is hungry, but there are certain aspects that they recommend sticking pretty firmly on.
For instance, they recommend waking your baby at a certain time in the morning and starting the day from there. This is a very similar concept to that of the desired wake time that you’ll find in Babywise.
So, let’s break it down into what you really need to know if you’re interested in the Moms On Call book.
Consider this an overview of the Moms On Call book, but realize that there is so much more information in the actual book that I couldn’t possibly cover here.
However, the points that I’ve outlined should give you an idea as to whether or not it’s something you might be interested in.
It Is A Sleep Training Method
Moms On Call is a baby care guide, but it is also a sleep training method.
It gives age-appropriate routines and guidelines to help your baby work towards sleeping through the night. It focuses on forming a solid routine during the day and a very consistent bedtime routine.
There are specific Moms on Call schedules that they provide so that there is no guesswork involved for you.
They give you clear instructions for what to do at night time and how to get your baby sleeping extra well using their swaddle blanket (although, you don’t actually have to use their blanket – see this blog post).
During the night Moms On Call recommends doing 3x rounds of waiting.
So, you allow your baby to self-settle for 5 minutes, then comfort them and insert the paci (if you use one), and then leave them again. I can say that this works really effectively. Annie would often wake in the night and I would just give her her paci and she’d sleep for another 2-3 hours!
You can read more about the soothing rounds from Moms on Call in this post –> What You Need to Know About Moms on Call’s Soothing Rounds
The book encourages safe and independent sleep from day one.
Using this method, my third baby started sleeping 8+ hours at just 5-weeks old! And we didn’t use any kind of real CIO or anything. She did it on her own.
The main thing that helped was waiting a full 5 minutes when I heard her wake at night to see if she was truly awake and hungry. Most of the time she stopped crying and fell back asleep within five minutes.
She is now 4-months old and sleeps 12 + hours overnight with no wake ups. In fact, most mornings I have to go in and wake her.
Moms On Call Is Also A Care Guide
While the majority of parents follow Moms On Call for its sleep training method, there is so much more to be found in the book. Everything from how to bathe your baby to the appropriate swaddle blankets to invest in.
There really is so much information and it is useful for so much more than just sleep training. Basic baby care is included but it also goes into a lot of detail. This means that you can prepare before your baby actually arrives.
I think many appreciate that it is written by two paediatric nurses who have vast experience. What’s more, is that they have a consulting service that is there to answer any questions you might have.
They also have more than one book. In fact, they have books that go up to the toddler years.
The Moms On Call series is full of helpful tips and advice for those wanting help and guidance.
It is Cut and Dried
This is one of my favourite things about Moms on Call. While they are very much non-judgemental in their approach, they also don’t beat around the bush.
You will find their suggestions unambiguous and easy to follow. This is especially true for the Moms on Call schedules.
Many first-time parents have used this method, but I have found it particularly helpful now that I have more than one child.
I have far less time on my hands to be constantly tweaking schedules. Because Moms on Call provides all the schedules you need it is simply a case of setting out to follow it.
Of course, you need to read and follow your baby’s cues because as we know, babies are not robots.
However, Moms on Call does simplify things.
They Have an App
There is a Moms On Call app but to be fair, I never used it a whole lot.
Because I bought the ebook instead of the physical copy, I just referred to that when I needed to.
However, the app has cheat sheets of sorts and you can easily keep track of everything according to your baby’s weeks of age.
There are layouts of typical daily routines and you can adjust them to suit your baby. This is particularly helpful if you’re a new mom and not familiar with typical daily schedules for babies.
They Address Multiple Feeding Methods
I did bottle feeding with 2/3 of my babies but Moms On Call is not a method just for bottle feeding babies. In fact, there are plenty of breast feeding moms who have successfully used this method as well.
You’ll find it inclusive and non-judgemental about whichever method of feeding you choose for your baby.
Who Is It Good For?
If you’re looking for a parent-led method, then Moms On Call is great. It would also be a great gift for a new mama, as it covers a lot of basic infant care.
As a first time mom I loved having a kind of guide to just give me a prompt on what I should be doing. The fact that this book is written by pediatric nurse moms is very reassuring, especially being a former registered nurse myself.
Having some kind of help is a game changer as a new parent. Just understanding the basic attributes of what healthy sleep habits for babies look like will help so much.
Understanding appropriate awake time and not keeping your baby up for long stretches is often completely new information to many new moms.
However, it is brilliant for the mama with one or more children because of its simplicity. There is less guesswork, and more structure with very few principles to have to remember.
I loved having dependable nap times! It meant that I could easily schedule appointments and also take a break myself during the day.
It is also great that they address the crazy days. They talk about how to go about getting back on track when things don’t go as planned.
I haven’t personally looked into it as it isn’t in the first book, but I’ve heard from other mamas that there is a Moms on Call schedule that is specific for both your toddler and infant.
That could be so helpful, especially in the early days when you are tired and struggle to think through things clearly.
Typical days for us were predictable, even with 3 little children and that was sanity-saving for me.
Does Moms On Call Work?
We personally used a mix of Moms on Call and Babywise with our second and third babies and had great success! As mentioned above, I appreciated the simplicity of Moms on Call and not having to guess so much about wake times, etc.
I’m often told that I’m ‘lucky’ to have babies that sleep so well.
The truth is, luck has very little to do with it. We put in the hard work and trusted the Moms on Call schedule. Consistency really paid off and as a family we are all reaping the benefits.
My third baby was the one that I almost exclusively used the Moms On Call method. She was by far my best sleeper and youngest baby to sleep through the night.
As a mom with three children 3 and under it meant so much not being completely exhuasted and sleep-deprived.
Healthy sleep habits benefit the entire family. 2.5 years on all three of my children are still fantastic sleepers.
They’re firm in the knowledge that they’re loved and they are happy well-adjusted kids who know that bed is a safe place that they can go to when they’re tired or just need to rest.
I have no regrets about sleep training at all and I recommend it to all new moms.
