Rating: 
Summary: Mama knows BETTER than this
Review: New moms and dads, beware! This popular book (author is currently making the rounds of TV and radio) is in the "read this book and fix everything" category. It's simplistic, and does real harm to those who want to respond to their babies in the most loving, natural ways. Babies come with pretty clear signals, and moms come with the equipment to feed and nurture them. We just have to feel empowered to do so, a response which the author interferes with through schedules, categories, and an overall focus on adults rather than babies. Take a look at Meredith Small's "Our Babies, Ourselves" for a parenting style which takes into account the needs of babies for a close, "entwined" relationship with their caregivers. Its far more helpful for anyone who truly wants to know what their baby is telling them.
Rating: 
Summary: Wish I had this book when my baby was first born
Review: Thank you for sharing your vast experience with babies by writing your book. It has been very helpful. Our pediatrician has given us today's common practices for breastfeeding, naps, etc. This has not met my baby's needs or my family's needs. Your book answers many of our questions and is a good guide for us during this wonderful time of life. I just wish I had your advice on breastfeeding during my son's early weeks when he was eating 11 - 12 times a day, cluster feeding duringthe evening, not napping at all during the day, and eating frequently during the night. Those days would not have been such a struggle if I had your book then, and with your E.A.S.Y. routine we would have started our son with good habits. Those who tell mothers to feed on demand and to offer both breasts during each feeding are jeopardizing the well being of the entire family. This should be a fun time of life instead of such a stressful one. Thank You Karen Coffman
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but don't believe the hype!
Review: We bought this book because we saw Tracy Hogg on Dateline NBC and I really fell for it. Of course every parent wants their baby to be happy, understand them better and meet their needs. I thought this book would provide some "Secret" but I was sorely disappointed. I don't think that most parents will be able to "fix" their child in 3 days as she claims. This book makes you feel if you have not followed her advice from day 1, you've already ingrained bad habits in your child through "Accidental Parenting" and that now you have to undo all your negative reinforcements. Reading this book was not exactly great for my self-esteem because according to Tracy we have been doing everything wrong for 6 weeks, like demand feeding and rocking our baby to calm her. We bought all the things she said were "bad" for your child, like the bouncy seat and swing. I feel that some of these "props," as she calls them, do work for many parents and shouldn't be completely banned. I think you need to really think about her advice and whether it can apply to your child. It's not a bad book, but I think you need to take it in context with other parenting books and take just the bits that work for you. Just a note -- the audio tape is murder. We bought both the book and the tape, and if you think "luv" gets old in the book, just listen to her say it numerous times in the tape! I actually had to turn the tape off because her voice and accent were getting too annoying.
Rating:
Summary: Secrets of the baby Whisperer
Review: This book is the perfect truth for every mother and father's baby dilemma's. Basic, smart, truthful, and most of all, encouraging. You have to read through, and focus on the mistakes that you are making at home, in order to better understand the baby whisperer technique. This is a modern dissection of baby care using the natural parenting tools that have been lost from our all to busy lives. Great read.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Baby Books!
Review: I've never been so charmed by a book about babies. Not only does Tracy Hogg allay my worst fears and bolster a belief in my own parenting ability, she has written a book chock full of easy-to-read, practical advice. I love her lists and boxes, because it gives me the at-a-glance pointers I need ON THE SPOT. And the acronyms she's coined--like E.A.S.Y. and S.L.O.W.--help me remember her advice. But I also love her stories about the babies she's cared for. This book is a must for all pregnant women, a great shower gift in fact, as well as a great guide for mothers who've been at it for a few months. Hogg is compassionate and wise and funny--a great combination for women like me, who often wonder which end is up!
Rating:
Summary: Another great idea
Review: Based on the reviews I read, a GREAT companion to this book is "On Becoming Baby Wise," by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam. That book was my bible during my first six months as a new mom. If you buy this book, be sure to balance it with the fundamentals presented in Baby Wise. My child is an angel, and people say we're just lucky - but I know it's because we're Baby Wise.
Rating:
Summary: secrets of the baby whisperer
Review: This is the most amazing baby book I have read, and being a new mother and all I have read MANY...TOO MANY! This book, in just one day, taught me how to teach my infant to go to sleep on his own!!! I was leary at first, but it worked and here we are one week later and he is still doing it...Easy to read, very funny at times and a MUST HAVE for all new moms!!!! Thank you TRACY HOGG!!! You gave us back our sanity.
Rating:
Summary: Bad breastfeeding advice
Review: There is a lot to like about this book (even though constantly being called "luv" did get old by about page 3)... in many parts there *is* very good advice. Tracy Hogg claims a middle-of-the-road approach to parenting a newborn and I agree with many of her ideas. She does not advocate letting babies cry and communicates overall the belief that parents should respect their babies as the tiny people they are. Overall, there is a lot of comforting stuff in here. But I have issues with some of her specific advice. First, I find that she's judgmental about attachment parenting in general. I'm no die-hard attachment parent, but I'm no rigid-scheduler either and I totally disagree with her belief that demand feeding, cosleeping and the like teaches a baby bad habits or does not effectively meet their needs. She presumes that if AP doesn't work for some, then it will not work for all and is therefore not even worth trying because you'll end up with a baby with bad habits to break down the road. My experiences with flexibility vs. scheduled routine have been quite different. Gentle transitions from three completely attached newborns to independent individuals without parent-imposed schedules (it's been much more symbiotic than the method Hogg proposes) have worked quite well in our household. While my style may not be right for everyone, it certainly *can* work, something that Hogg fails to recognize. (She believes the "family bed gives parents short-shrift" without acknowledging that it actually *works* for many.) Then there is the breastfeeding advice. I am disappointed to see someone who calls herself a lactation consultant try to make such a strong case for formula feeding over breastfeeding. As a mom who has both bottlefed and breastfed (and is still breastfeeding), I agree with Hogg that guilt or judgment has NO place in this decision, but I also feel that she has done a great disservice to moms and babies by understating some very important advantages and benefits of breastfeeding. She explains that "one can make a good case for either formula-feeding or breastfeeding." Unfortunately, she never does get around to making the case for breastfeeding. In this same section, entitled "Making the Choice," Hogg has a sidebar on Feeding Fashions. In this small box, where I presume she's trying to show that while breastfeeding is currently "all the rage," the tide may turn out of its favor in later years as has happened in the past. (It's not clear here whether she's saying therefore don't choose breastfeeding just because it's a modern day "fad" or that if you decide to formula feed against popular opinion, know that 25 years from now it will probably be "the thing to do" just like it was 25 years ago? I don't get it.) She also says here, "As this book is being written, scientists are experimenting with the notion of genetically altering cows to produce human breast milk [yuk]. If that happens, perhaps in the future everyone will tout cow's milk. In fact, a 1999 article in the Journal of Nutrition suggests 'that it may ultimately be possible to design formulas better able to meet the needs of individual infants than the milk available from the mother's breast.'" Okay, that is fascinating information, but how should it impact any mother's decision *today*? Feed your baby formula now because in the future it might actually be the best choice!? (A statement in itself which is worthy of an opposing dissertation - there are more advantages to breastfeeding than the mere composition of the fluid.) Later, in the breastfeeding section, she specifically discourages demand feeding - advice which is direct opposition to breastfeeding recommendations endorsed by the majority of professional lactation consultants and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Hogg has a schedule all charted out for new parents, beginning with day one, which becomes increasing less flexible over a three day period, until you're stuck on that infamous three hour schedule by day FOUR and beyond. She promotes pacifier use (she believes in fostering independence from the very beginning), and "dispels the myth" of nipple confusion. And she seems to favor weaning within the first year, which is again not the recommendation of the AAP. Let me say that I actually agreed with some of her breastfeeding advice (don't watch the clock, don't switch sides, find a mentor), but you need to have a pretty discerning eye to know what is the good stuff and what is er, codswallop. Not good for first-time parents or those learning to breastfeed for the first time. I'm a little surprised that Hogg is an LC at all, because she really doesn't come across as much of a breastfeeding advocate. In the feeding chapter, she puts LLLI and the US Public Health Service (neither seeking profit) in the same category as formula companies, accusing them all of "huge propaganda campaigns." Then she assures moms that SHE, on the other hand, is going to "help you become clearer about your choice, [providing] empowering information - without the rocket science or statistical numwhack that conventional breastfeeding books tend to bombard you with." Ugh.
Rating:
Summary: Be careful!
Review: A warning to brand new parents: take this book with a HUGE grain of salt! I had a chance to read this book before its publication, when my son was 3 months old, and it caused me many days of anxiety and frustration. The author's contention that all babies fit into one of four types, and that they can all be "tamed" by following her recommendations, is just not accurate. My baby didn't nap well, and he certainly needed to eat more than every 3 hours, and I thought one of us must be crazy. Well, now he naps like an angel, and acts like one, too, but not until he was 6 months old. I tried and tried to follow Hogg's advice, causing tears for both of us. Guess what, Tracy? Usually a parent's instincts are right! Maybe your Hollywood parents just don't have any...
Rating:
Summary: Bad breastfeeding advice
Review: There is a lot to like about this book (even though constantly being called "luv" did get old by about page 3)... in many parts there *is* very good advice. Tracy Hogg claims a middle-of-the-road approach to parenting a newborn and I agree with many of her ideas. She does not advocate letting babies cry and communicates overall the belief that parents should respect their babies as the tiny people they are. Overall, there is a lot of comforting stuff in here. But I have issues with some of her specific advice. First, I find that she's judgmental about attachment parenting in general. I'm no die-hard attachment parent, but I'm no rigid-scheduler either and I totally disagree with her belief that demand feeding, cosleeping and the like teaches a baby bad habits or does not effectively meet their needs. She presumes that if AP doesn't work for some, then it will not work for all and is therefore not even worth trying because you'll end up with a baby with bad habits to break down the road. My experiences with flexibility vs. scheduled routine have been quite different. Gentle transitions from three completely attached newborns to independent individuals without parent-imposed schedules (it's been much more symbiotic than the method Hogg proposes) have worked quite well in our household. While my style may not be right for everyone, it certainly *can* work, something that Hogg fails to recognize. (She believes the "family bed gives parents short-shrift" without acknowledging that it actually *works* for many.) Then there is the breastfeeding advice. I am disappointed to see someone who calls herself a lactation consultant try to make such a strong case for formula feeding over breastfeeding. As a mom who has both bottlefed and breastfed (and is still breastfeeding), I agree with Hogg that guilt or judgment has NO place in this decision, but I also feel that she has done a great disservice to moms and babies by understating some very important advantages and benefits of breastfeeding. She explains that "one can make a good case for either formula-feeding or breastfeeding." Unfortunately, she never does get around to making the case for breastfeeding. In this same section, entitled "Making the Choice," Hogg has a sidebar on Feeding Fashions. In this small box, where I presume she's trying to show that while breastfeeding is currently "all the rage," the tide may turn out of its favor in later years as has happened in the past. (It's not clear here whether she's saying therefore don't choose breastfeeding just because it's a modern day "fad" or that if you decide to formula feed against popular opinion, know that 25 years from now it will probably be "the thing to do" just like it was 25 years ago? I don't get it.) She also says here, "As this book is being written, scientists are experimenting with the notion of genetically altering cows to produce human breast milk [yuk]. If that happens, perhaps in the future everyone will tout cow's milk. In fact, a 1999 article in the Journal of Nutrition suggests 'that it may ultimately be possible to design formulas better able to meet the needs of individual infants than the milk available from the mother's breast.'" Okay, that is fascinating information, but how should it impact any mother's decision *today*? Feed your baby formula now because in the future it might actually be the best choice!? (A statement in itself which is worthy of an opposing dissertation - there are more advantages to breastfeeding than the mere composition of the fluid.) Later, in the breastfeeding section, she specifically discourages demand feeding - advice which is direct opposition to breastfeeding recommendations endorsed by the majority of professional lactation consultants and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Hogg has a schedule all charted out for new parents, beginning with day one, which becomes increasing less flexible over a three day period, until you're stuck on that infamous three hour schedule by day FOUR and beyond. She promotes pacifier use (she believes in fostering independence from the very beginning), and "dispels the myth" of nipple confusion. And she seems to favor weaning within the first year, which is again not the recommendation of the AAP. Let me say that I actually agreed with some of her breastfeeding advice (don't watch the clock, don't switch sides, find a mentor), but you need to have a pretty discerning eye to know what is the good stuff and what is er, codswallop. Not good for first-time parents or those learning to breastfeed for the first time. I'm a little surprised that Hogg is an LC at all, because she really doesn't come across as much of a breastfeeding advocate. In the feeding chapter, she puts LLLI and the US Public Health Service (neither seeking profit) in the same category as formula companies, accusing them all of "huge propaganda campaigns." Then she assures moms that SHE, on the other hand, is going to "help you become clearer about your choice, [providing] empowering information - without the rocket science or statistical numwhack that conventional breastfeeding books tend to bombard you with." Ugh.
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