Rating: 
Summary: SLEEP IS WONDERFUL!
Review: My sister and many of my friends used this book as a guideline to parenting. You can use all of the pointers or pick which ones you want to use! My son was sleeping through the night at 12 weeks and my sister's son at 9 weeks!
It provides a great outline for basic parenting skills used with common sense!
Rating: 
Summary: Criticism confirmed
Review: I am a mother of three healthy, happy children who were each breastfed for about 16 months. I finally read "Babywise" at the encouragement of a pregnant friend, so I could legitmately criticize what I believed to be a harsh method of training a newborn. Gary Ezzo is condescending and single minded. While this method may work for some parents, it seems unwise to allow a baby to cry itself to sleep repeatedly throughout the day at such a young age. And the schedule was so complicated. I frankly just wouldn't have been able to do it. Most parenting books, magazines suggest learning how to read your infant's cries and spacing out feedings. I was most appalled at his suggestion that not following the babywise method was cause for postpartum depression, a real and serious medical issue in our society. He demonizes parents who utilize baby-slings and the family bed (we did not use either of those, but know many healthy, happy well adjusted families who do). Parenting is an organic, constantly changing process. I believe parenting methods should rely on their own merits not bolster themselves up by bashing other time-worn philosophies that work well for large groups of people. His examples were also drawn from a small group of self-selected people who swear by the method, of course it worked for them. This method would have never worked for me, my husband and our securely attached, thriving, beautiful, brilliant, happy, sleep-through-the-night children who were demand-fed, held when they cried and taught to go to sleep on their own between six and twelve months of age. P.S. People frequently stop us in public and tell us how happy our children seem.
Rating:
Summary: Ezzo is NO expert
Review: Gary Ezzo does NOT like children. He DOES like being known as the EXPERT; consequently, he thrives on the inexperience of "first time" parents. His advice on breastfeeding is bogus; most women who follow his [bad] advice lose their milk at anywhere from four to six months. Babies who are raised on his artificial schedule and allowed to "Cry It Out" often develop various levels of detatchment disorder and many Ezzo babies(as they are called in the hospitals) have been diagnosed as "Failure to thrive." For more on this, go to [website]
If what you want is to learn to trust you instincts and to be a calm, solid, nurturing mom or dad, read Dr. Sears, or T Barry Brazelton. These men love children.
Rating:
Summary: If you want something convenient and trainable- get a dog
Review: I don't doubt that children are trainable much like dogs- however the research shows and the real experts agree that this is not beneficial for the child. In fact with some children it is very damaging. This method has been assoiciated with failure to thrive and attachment disorders in children, it is not recommended by many medical professionals including the AAP. Please do more research- [website]is a good place to look. Ezzo is an opportunist trying to sell a quick fix. Avoid this book and author.
Rating:
Summary: Too bad I can't give zero stars
Review: I find it a sad commentary on society that such a book is hailed and the authors considered "experts." Children do not need to fit into our lives, we need to fit into theirs. Babies don't have wants, they only have needs. Ezzo's methods are selfish and contradictory to a child's basic needs. It breaks my heart to think of how many infants have been abused and neglected using these practices, simply because their parents refuse to research what babies need. Read the book with your heart open and your natural parenting instincts on, and you'll realize that what Ezzo recommends is cruel and abusing.I can only hope that more people inform themselves as to the dangers of Ezzo and his practices, and word spreads as to how dangerous this book is. Ezzo has been excommunicated from his church, the AAP has recommendations against his practices, and child protection agencies throughout the country report that a vast majority of their cases involve children who are failing to thrive and quite literally starving to death due to Baby Wise.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing worth anything comes easy!!
Review: This book is wonderful. You will read many reviews here of people freaking out at what Ezzo has to say. He makes it VERY clear in the book that you are not to sacrafice the CARE of your baby for routine, but that you are to slowly acclimate your child to a routine. Slow, but steady and strong. It is a small amount of tough love that Ezzo teaches us. Any parent that believes in teaching children habits will want to read this book. We had our first child sleeping through the night by her 12th week. The same way we train our bodies is the same way we teach our children to grow and learn to go through the night without eating. Remember...this is NOT an overnight process nor does Ezzo teach that. Be aware of some of the foolish ranting going on in some of these other reviews. Ezzo simplifies the balance of parenting and shows the team coaching involved in being the mother and father.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Parenting Tool
Review: I was so blessed to have had this book given to me by a dear friend. While many criticisms have been issued about the methods outlined in the book, please note that they all refer to the "extreme" applications of the methods. My son (who is now 15 months old) slept through the night regularly at 10 weeks. He is a VERY happy and well-adjusted child, who is on a flexible schedule that my husband and I, as the adults and parents in our family, dictate. While it was sometimes difficult to hear our son cry, we knew it was a battle of wills since we took the time to learn what his cries meant, with the encouragement of Babywise!! If every parenting magazine regularly reports that children thrive on a schedule, why should you not begin your child's life with such structure? Are they supposed to miraculously adhere to a schedule at some magical age? Begin at birth! I read a review that commented about the book denying the child - not quite. Our son knows when and how to take naps and go to bed on his own. We get to decide when and how we want to snuggle and cuddle with him; he is not the "leader" of our home, dictating to us that we will do things on his timetable. I just think that establishing your authority as a parent becomes more difficult as time goes by; as a former teacher, I have seen many parents who were never able to do it. I found this book a necessary asset in helping me remember that I am the parent and, because I love my son dearly, it is my job to help him establish structure and boundaries.
Rating:
Summary: heart sickening
Review: I read this book with horror. Let my baby scream when it needs me? Let a clock tell me when to care for my child? What horrible ideas. What is it with this guy, Ezzo, and control? My advice to new parents is: Sleep when your litle one sleeps. Hold your baby and you hold your heart in your arms. Follow your heart and listen to your child.
Rating: 
Summary: Tough Love for Newborns
Review: I have a 4 month old and got this book a few weeks ago. I didn't realize how set in her sleep and eating habits she was until I tried to follow the advice of this book and get her on a schedule. She's impossible to get down for a nap, and letting her cry, like the book suggests is really hard for me. She'd cry for an hour if I let her and fights sleep. I've tried really hard, using their advice, but no luck.
Also, they never address the problem of hyper-lactation, which I have, and which caused a lot of problems with my babies eating and sleeping habits. She was always hungry because she only got foremilk, but I'd have to feed her every hour or so. Then she'd be gassy because of the sheer velocity of my milk spurting at her. I've dealt with this quite well with advice from another source and it's no longer a problem for us, but I wonder how many new mom's have this problem. I'd think it would be common. Addressing this issue did more to get my baby to be on a schedule than the tips in the book. They address not having enough milk, but not having too much, which can really be a problem for some moms, trust me. 2 men wrote the book so it makes me wonder... It's like "Tough Love" for the baby. That's what it feels like to me. It's kind of hard for a mom to let a baby cry for 20-30 minutes when she goes down for a nap. Maybe if I would've started this when she was born, it would've been easier to get her on the schedule, but I didn't know about it at that time.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: This book was probably the best baby shower gift that I received. Everyone's experience is different, but I can tell you that my baby boy has done extremely well on the flexible feeding schedule described in the book. He started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks. And as far as him thriving, the Dr. says he's perfect and to keep doing what we're doing. He's healthy, alert, and very happy. I don't follow everything in the book, down to the last letter. You can definitley get a lot of helpful information, especially if you're a first time parent. I highly recommend it, but remember to use it as a guide and not a bible, because some of the tips may not necessarily work for you and your baby.
|
