Rating: 
Summary: Very displeased.
Review: This book came highly reccommended by a friend but I was extremely disappointed. I am a child and adolescent psychiatrist, as well as a parent of a wonderful two-year old boy. I liked some of her ideas but for the most part I felt that the writer failed to take into account different temperaments', styles' of parents and children and instead focussed on her routinized plan as a caregiver (and not as a parent).
Rating: 
Summary: I loved this book
Review: I recently had my second baby and read this book. I wish I had it with my 1st! I honestly did not know how to take care of a baby the first time around and was frazzled half the time. Her advice on "training" a baby to sleep on their own really work. Granted this takes a ton of time, but it is worth it in the end. I am not opposed to rocking, nursing, etc to sleep, but in my experience, it never works. I would rock, nurse, etc. for 1+ hours and lay the baby down, only to have the baby's eyes pop open and start to cry. She does not advocate letting your baby cry which is very different from Babywise. Although I breastfeed, I am not opposed to her section on formula. How you feed your baby is not how you love your baby. I would take her advice on the intervals of feeding with a grain of salt. If you think your baby is hungry, feed her! But not all cries are for food which is a wonderful lesson. This book is not for you if you follow Attachment Parenting or Dr. Sears methods but want more of a middle of the road approach.
As with all parenting books, use her lessons that you like and throw out the rest. Parenting is about using common sense.
Rating:
Summary: Dangerously wrong when it comes to breastfeeding
Review: It's worth noting that the American Academy of Pediatricians disagrees with much of what Ms. Hogg states in this book - specifically, she feels that babies shoud not be fed on demand, that formula is just as good as breastmilk, and that breastfeeding past 6 months is usually for the mom and not for the baby. I received this book as a gift - and I found it worthless. Don't bother. Dr. Sears' The Baby Book is a MUCH better resource, and is better respected. I also disagreed completely with her ideas about a schedule (ha!) for a newborn, co-sleeping, and attachment parenting.
Rating: 
Summary: don't hold that baby too much or you'll spoil him
Review: Tracy Hogg says many times that her book is about "the middle road" between scheduling and on-demand parenting, but it's really just another book about scheduling and training your baby. She implies that attachment parenting is only about stuffing a breast in your baby every time they cry while her method is about reading a baby's cues but how is a set 3 hour schedule reading a baby's cues? She recommends scheduling feedings and weaning at 6 months in spite of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) statement recommending on-demand breastfeeding for at least one year. The AAP is generally a pretty conservative body, which makes this book's recommendations even more shocking.
She recommends not holding your baby beyond their basic need for comfort and recommends teaching your child to "self-soothe" from birth, even though babies do not have the ability to self-soothe until at least 3 months of age. This book is not middle ground. It is really that same old "don't hold that baby too much or you'll spoil him" Victorian philosophy coming back to haunt us. And it annoys me that the only recommendations on the back are from screenwriters and celebrities, not pediatricians or other specialists.
Rating:
Summary: Thumbs Down!
Review: I am a mother of a 5 month old and read this book when my baby was 3 weeks old. I wish I would have never read this book. It has some good hints but her "E.A.S.Y." program is absolutely ridiculous for babies under 3 months old. Babies under that age do NOT need a schedule. They need to be fed on demand. A baby should never have to wait 2 1/2 to 3 hours between feedings which is according to her the amount of time a baby can hold out just to stay on her silly schedule. Mothers listen to you heart and maternal instincts. This book makes you go against them. For example she suggests not nursing your baby to sleep for naps or bedtime. How ridiulous! Nursing your baby was designed specifically for these times. Ever since I went off her scheduled program my baby has cut his crying down by 90% (especially around nap and bedtimes).
I suggest reading the book for some hints about infant massage and such but if you pass this book over it would be no tragedy.
Rating:
Summary: Thank Goodness I Found This Book!
Review: Having never spent much time around infants in my entire life, when I brought home my own sweet baby boy, I had no confidence in my abilities or instincts. Within three weeks we were completely perplexed and at our wits end with our screaming, gassy infant. None of the many books I have on infant care were helping and I picked up a copy of this book out of desperation. I was VERY skeptical (both my husband and I were trained as scientists and have skeptical natures) but what I found in this book surprised me--it is down-to-earth, common sense stuff--stuff my instincts were telling me to do, but which I wasn't trusting! This is NOT some kind of extremist regimen, but a way to add some structure to an infant's life. We ALL need A LITTLE BIT of structure! The section on interpreting your infant's body language is worth the purchase price! I was feeding my son way too much and wasn't addressing the REAL reason he was crying--because I did not know how to interpret his signals. Within 3 days I had a much happier child that is obviously in much less gas pain, thanks to Tracy Hogg. No magic wand waved, just better daily management of his NEEDS. I hope this helps you if you are considering this book. I would recommend it above all others especially for first timers who haven't spent much time around infants or children!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I absolutely loved this book!! It was so wonderfully useful to me that I recommend it to everyone I know is having a baby and have given it as a gift many times. I agree that her ideas might not be revolutionary and completely original but the book puts together in one place a lot of the middle ground philosofies of "scheduling" (and I use the word very loosely) a baby. Her ideas are in neither of the extremes and it is written clearly and in a very encouraging "you can do it" attitude.
I read many many books on getting my daughter on a routine so that I could have some sort of "order" in the very overwhelming and uncertain first few months of a first-time parent. This book was the best of the lot. I really like the fact that the book helped me figure out what my baby wanted when she cried, and not automatically assume that she was hungry. My baby is in the 95th percentile for weight and height and has always been in that percentile so I know that I was not starving my baby. A clear indication that food is not the answer to every crying baby.
BTW, the book was very helpful not only in getting my baby on a routine and sleeping through the night but also in helping me calm my baby in situations where she was tense or uncomfortable such as riding in her car seat. So its not just a book to help baby sleep through the night.
Rating:
Summary: oocanes
Review: This book had my son sleeping through the night inside of one week! Furthermore, it made my days more livable. Gone is the incessant crying, as I now understand his needs based on his type of cry and at what point he is in his schedule. Don't be turned off by the word "schedule", it is a very flexible one. New mothers or soon to be mothers: get this book now!
Rating: 
Summary: some worthwhile insights
Review: Tracy Hogg makes it clear pretty quickly: her method is neither Attachment Parenting nor Schedulista. In fact, it's sure to turn off those parents who read parenting books (and these reviews) to compare them to their steadfast beliefs. But for the rest of us, there's about the same amount of stuff we can use as the in other leading books. Hogg lays out a plan for a "gentle schedule:" nursing time, alert time, naptime, repeat. Great, though it didn't work for our baby--she'd spit up a lot if she didn't sleep after nursing. But the key insight from the book wasn't the order of things, but this straightforward nugget of advice: put the boob away and let your baby get some rest. That's been a bit controversial among some in our families who interpret every sigh as a hunger cry, but we've learned to pay attention to our daughter's body language and to distinguish tired from bored from hungry. The point is that we're paying attention to her actions rather than to our overactive desire to be wondernurterers. Probably coincidentally, our baby is 50th percentile for weight and height. Hogg is definitely on one side of the fence when it comes to parents affecting their baby's behavior. She makes a good case for the notion that you can provide some structure without being draconian. She presents parents' need for some autonomy as helpful, rather than a divine right or a cause for guilt and self-loathing. Bottom line: if you can get through the self-conscious English charm and off-target lists, it's worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone is envious because our baby sleeps all night.
Review: Our baby was sleeping through the night after 8 weeks. When we tell people they are envious and think that we just got lucky and have a good baby but it is because we followed the advise of the "Baby Whisperer". This book has been our prime reference book for the first 9 months of my baby's life. I have given it as a present to everyone I know who is pregnant. I think this is the best book out there for helping parents understand their infant's personality and how to respond to their crying. The book explains that babies have different personalities. Once you know your baby's personality type, you can respond to her needs much better. The book helped us understand why our baby seemed to be so hypersensitive and cry for no reason. It is because she is a touchy baby. The book explained that we need to be aware that touchy babies are easily overstimulated. We followed the advise and have been very sucessful in keeping our baby calm and happy. (Now she doesn't cry much.) The book has very helpful advise on many of the behavioral issues that come up in the early months of a baby's life especially the issue of teaching a baby how to sleep. The book explains that parents can accidently do things that will cause their baby to develop poor habits such as the inability to sleep through the night or the need to feed hourly. The book is not meant to be a complete guide to baby care so you may need one of the "HOW TO" books to go along with it. We have recently purchased the follow-up book for Toddlers now that our daughter is 9 months old. Already it has been helpful in understanding some of her new toddler behavior. I feel confident that it will be as helpful for us as the first book.
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