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Summary: a different outlook on the book
Review: In my work, I have had to help several mothers who have tried the "babywise" system and their babies have not done well on it. There is a big difference between survive and thrive. If your baby survived this book, you are one of the few lucky ones. Fact is there are many who don't do so well on it. Just chew on this, are you able to go many hours w/o so much as a sip of water, or a tiny bit of food? Thats what this book tells you to do to your baby, only your baby can't tell time. There is nothing sadder than seeing a baby who is obviously hungry, showing his mother all the signs and crying but the mother is telling her child "but its not TIME for you to eat yet. The book says you have to wait". (Incidently, the baby I just mentioned has many health problems now that could have been easily prevented) Whatever your parenting decisions, make them with love for your child, not for the sake of convience for you. Everyone will be happier for it.
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Summary: I highly recommend this book, mostly to new mothers
Review: Some of the reviewers of this book are overreacting. The premise of this book is: if you feed your baby when they first awaken, play with them, and put them to bed when they show signs of being sleepy, they will learn to fall asleep in their own beds without any rocking, feeding, or other "assistance," and will learn to sleep throughout the night faster and easier. I felt I had to write this review in defense of this book and against those who proclaim that your babies will starve following this book's guidelines. That is totally not true. I have two children, 4 1/2 & 1 1/2 who were breastfed according to the schedule outlined in BabyWise I and both were consistently in the 95-99% percentile for size throughout their early months up to now. Both of my children are healthy, brilliant, and, most importantly, well-adjusted happy children who are extremely social and don't suffer from any "detatchment issues." Most all of the other parents I know make apologies for their children's behavior while complimenting my children for their behavior. I believe that children crave routine. It helps them feel safe. This book teaches you how to establish a schedule for caring for your child, and establishes you as the Parent, the one in charge. It helps you feel in control, as a parent should be, rather than helpless at the sound of your baby's cries.
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Summary: This method worked for us.
Review: We have 2 children (3 and 1) and one on the way. We have the most terrific bond and our children are very secure and outgoing kids. They are extremely expressive and very loving children. We followed about 90% of this book and it worked very well for us. I am an early childhood teacher and I feel that the methods used in this book allow my children to learn and absorb the most information during their wake time. After reading books, hugging and kissing good night our children know how to fall asleep quickly and without protest. They are on a very solid routine so that we have no problems taking them anywhere or traveling with them. I found none of the methods used in this book to be cruel, mean or harmful to my children in any way. If you feel crying to fall asleep to be cruel then this may not be for you. Although I will say that my children cried for only 2 or 3 nights for only a few minutes and then stopped. They are perfectly secure and did not suffer any affects from the little bit of crying they did as infants learning to fall asleep. This book will make you aware of different cries and to become very atuned to your child. I still rocked my children and breastfed them while following this book. My children were sleeping through the night by 10 weeks allowing me to be a better parent during the day. Most people who down this method will be setting themselves up for a 6, 9, 12 month old or older who is still waking up during the night for no reason other than they were trained by their parents to wake up. Let me elaborate - the child cries at 3am b/c they have learned the parent will come, the parents runs to the child and the pattern is set. Children have internal clocks and once the pattern is set it will continue. It is much easier to teach a child at 2 months to learn to sleep through the night than a 12 month old. The most bonding between a parent and child happens when the child is awake and happy and not while you are rocking them to sleep or letting them sleep with you. Think about it. This method teaches both the parent and the child so if you are not willing to learn then forget it. If you expect it to be a snap don't bother. Make the most of the child's awake time and you will have happy, healthy and secure children.
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Summary: General principles worked for us
Review: Obviously, most people either love or hate this book. If you are into "attachment parenting", don't bother even reading this book. You would find nothing useful in this book. However, if you do not want your children sleeping in your bed or waking up all night, then this book has some strategies that work. We took only what we felt applied to our family from this book, and our breastfed son was sleeping through the night at two months. He is now eight months old, sleeping through the night and does not cry when put down for bedtime or naptime. He is well loved, healthy and happy. What helped us most was establishing a routine and making sure he took a full meal at feedings instead of snacking. Contrary to what some reviewers have said, I did not find anything dangerous, abusive or neglectful recommended in this book, but if you can't stand to ever hear your child cry, then this book is not for you. Likewise, if you plan to share a family bed or practice attachment parenting and feeding on demand, then you would be wasting your money and time on this book. Just as with any book of parenting advice- you know what works best for your child.
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Summary: How did this book get to the public????
Review: I am not sure how this book ever got printed. This is the WORST book I have read.....ever. It scares me to think that new first time parents who are looking for guidance will be picking up this book. It just goes to show you that anyone can write a book and get lots of exposure with the right marketing. It is truly sad. You know, you can train a dog not to pee on your floor by scaring, abandoning, even hitting it. Sure, it works. Sooner or later you'll have that dog trained. Guaranteed. But what do you lose in the process? Trust, respect, attachment and much much more. Just because something "works", doesn't necessarily make it the right thing to do. The sacrifices and choices that are made early on are an investment for a lifetime. Parenting can be inconvenient and frustrating. It is the hardest job I've ever had, but I think most of us parents are on the same page when it comes to our children. We want self-confident, happy, independent kids who will grow up to be self-confident, happy, independent adults. I do not recommend this book if that is your goal. And those who go on about how great this book is now, may have some issues to deal with later that they cannot foresee.
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Summary: I read many reviews here...
Review: ...and noticed that generally, those who give it one star with a terrible review don't start out by saying "I tried this..." while those who give it a 4 or 5 star rating do, and end with "...and I love it." That should tell you something. We did try it with our daughter who is now 2 months old. She could not be more contented and happy!
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Summary: Some common sense stuff but...
Review: When we got this book we received it with the recommendation of several folks who said the system worked for them. That was several years ago and our youngest is now 4.5 years old. Our boys are well-adjusted, bright, talkative (very), and extremely independent (especially the youngest). Both are creative, friendly, and very loving. Looking back, we took some "key pieces" of advice from the book but we didn't really implement the methods as described. The "key pieces" are common-sense things but ones easily forgotten when you're a new parent. They are: 1) Know your child. Learn his/her crys. Learn what comforts the child. Learn to recognize when things "aren't right." Be prepared to respond quickly and lovingly in known situations (diaper change, anger because favorite toy is out of reach). Be flexible when it's not a "known situation." 2) Until you learn to differentiate the crys, don't assume the child is hungry. Check to make sure the diaper is clean, etc. Meet the most pressing need. Don't assume hunger is always the reason. Sometimes it's not. And sometimes it's multiple things (messy diaper and hunger). 3) Develop a routine for your child, because we are all creatures of routine. Routine means we can know what to expect and that provides us comfort. The same is true of kids. However, don't be so fixed to the routine you can't meet the needs of your child as they change. And don't impose a routine that's unrealistic on your child. For instance, our boys didn't have the same feeding schedule. And during our boys' growth spurts they would breastfeed MUCH more frequently than normal. Along those lines, if the times you put down your child for bed vary wildly, don't expect the child to go to sleep like a teddy bear at 8 PM all of a sudden. You have to work to develop routines and it's not going to be all peaches and cream right away. But also, when your child does start sleeping well at 8 PM and one day doesn't, see #1. 4) Remain in control. Don't panic. Babies sense our emotions. If we're fearful and uncertain of what to do, it'll be conveyed to the baby. If we're comfortable, confident, that will, too. In closing, you don't have to buy this book to learn these things. These concepts are taught over and over by a multitude of sources.
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Summary: It worked for us.
Review: I wish we had received this book before our daughter was born. We fought the sleep/eating thing for quite a while. After hearing about this book from a friend that had tryed it, we gave it a shot. Man what a difference. It was tough to stick to it the first few nights. But looking back, it was much less stressful than the nights of endless attempts to stop the crying. It didn't take but a few nights to start to see improvement. After 7-10 days, she was sleeping through the night.
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Summary: RELAX
Review: Everyone seems to be freaking out about the author's credentials but even if all that is true, it doesn't mean his philosophy is unworthy of looking at. I read the book and implemented it with my son with amazing results. My baby is so happy and content. He is 10 weeks old and sleeps 8 hours at night. I know that when he cries he is hungry. He simply does not cry any other time because he is content and well rested. My church has a babywise club and several mothers get together to support each other and this method. Our kids are all so content and well behaved. The results speak for themselves.
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Summary: Please, please, PLEASE do research before you buy this book!
Review: First of all, it doesn't matter WHAT parenting guide you buy. It is absolutely ludicrous to raise a child or children on the basis of ONE book, and the advise of ONE man. Why would you allow a book to tell you how to raise your child? It's not like looking up a new recipe for dinner, we're talking about a lifetime of possible damage to a human life.
This book WAS NOT co-written by a physician, he only does the forward. Ezzo is NOT a doctor. He does not have any medical experience or early childhood education in his background. He is, to simply and accurately put it, a quack. Yes, this book does seem to "work" for some people, but remember, EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT AND THE "ONE SIZE FITS ALL RULE" SIMPLY CANNOT APPLY. I urge you to go to www.ezzo.info and read the voices section. Many former "ezzo" parents of several years have posted their very heartbreaking stories here. Would you submit your children to a laboratory for medical testing and experiments? Then why would you experiment with this horrible way of child rearing without knowing the truth? I thank God that I researched this "babywise" idea when I first came across it before I ever thought of trying it with my own children. NO WAY. I've read the horror stories of people who were raised in this type of envirement, and cried for them, for the isolation they felt and are still feeling. Don't base your decision about buying this book solely on the reviews written here. RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. You will find much more bad then good. Hopefully, if you do the research, then read the books, you will see the truth. These books are loaded with garbage that have no medical basis whatsoever. We are our chidrens teachers, not dictators. Children are to be seen AND heard!! Why would you be a parent if you thought differently? If you want a good night's sleep, don't have kids. Love your children, teach them and lead them, but do not rule them as though they are meant to serve you.
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