Rating: 
Summary: The best thing about this book....
Review: is the satisfying smack it makes when it hits a wall, having been thrown across the room by a frustrated new mother. The advice in this book is unrealistic, bordering on cruel. It sets parents up for more frustration and disappointment with themselves through it's promises of blissful parental joy. This book is not compatable with breastfeeding, though it claims otherwise, and is dangerous to the natural parent-child relationship. Perhaps it is useful for killing mosquitoes; I can't think of much other purpose for it.
Rating: 
Summary: What happened to the middle of the road?
Review: I have not read this book, and I only heard of Ezzo parenting today. As a parenting instructor, I was curious, and have researched on the web for over 2 hours now.Some people who have posted negative reviews may be familiar not only with the Babywise book, but also with the parenting education, based on Mr. Ezzo's work, done through churches. This parenting education takes on an almost cult-like form, with participants being given just one chapter of the book at a time, preventing a look at the larger picture, and by the fact that parents are told not to discuss what they learn. Ezzo pushes "parent-centered" parenting, so-called attatchement parenting is "child-centered" (I say so-called because the definition varies so widely). What ever happened to FAMILY centered parenting, where parents work to find what works for themselves and their children. Some of the positive reviews of this book seem right on -- read the book, use your own judgement and common sense, and do what is right for yourself and your child. This could be said of almost every parenting book, class, or philosophy out there! All children are different. If this book works for you, more power to you. But remember that our goal as parents is not necessarily to get our children to sleep through the night at the earliest age, it is our children's health and happiness!
Rating: 
Summary: A must for parents who want to have well behaved children
Review: I am the oldest child of 9 children, so I did have some experiences prior to my own parenthood. That first few months are difficult at best, but if one is willing to take those tough first steps outlined in Babywise, it can pay dividends for years to come. My first daughter was born before Babywise was written. After about a week, my wife was having a heck of a time dealing with the baby's constant crying after being put down. We could distinguish that some crying was due to a problem and some crying was crying to be picked up. So we decided to let the baby cry for a while, after she was well fed, burped, etc. The first night she cried for 20 minutes (it was very painful to her cry). The next day 17 min and so on, until after a couple of weeks and for the rest of her childhood she went to bed at the prescribed time, no complaints, no problems and slept through the night. I believe that her behavior was framed by the limits that were set surrounding her sleep habits. First of all she always had enough sleep, so that she could perform well. Second, she always understood there were boundaries, at least until she became a teenager. Then came my second daughter, 15 years later. By then I had heard of Babywise. It frames the basic psychology and gives some advice on how to pursue the training. My daughter is almost eight now and has always been a good sleeper and a very happy child. My brother just had a son, used the method, and the boy was sleeping through the night after 8-10 weeks. Contrast this with my wife's cousin, who tended to her son every time he cried. He has not slept through the night since he was born and he's 6. Surely there are children that have problems, but many parents are'nt aware of the basic premise that if one does not train the baby the baby will train the parents. Baby's are a lot smarter than they are given credit for. Parenting is not adversarial but about setting boundries. Children like consistency and bounderies.
Rating: 
Summary: ...
Review: We have been using the principles of Baby Wise since our son was born nearly two months ago. This is NOT about ignoring your baby's cries, quite the contrary. This is about understanding your baby's needs and creating a dependable, flexible schedule that you and your baby follow. This makes mom and dad's schedule predictable, and gives the child self-assurance that can only be had from the confidence and security that comes when they too have consistent patterns to follow. Our child doesn't "snack" at the breast, he has full and complete meals once every three hours or so. Sometimes 2 1/2 hours, sometimes 3 1/2. It depends on when he is hungry. He has no desire to "hang out" on the nipple just for comfort. He just doesn't need it. When he needs comfort, he is happy simply being held - which we do often. Every single person that I have ever heard criticize this book has never read it, doesn't know the principles, and has simply heard of someone that knew someone that had a bad experience. Details? None. On the other hand, we are friends with five couples that have, between them, raised ten children using the principles of this book. They range in age from newborn to about three years old. All are great sleepers, are bright, confident, love their parents, and are healthy, well-adjusted kids. In fact, they behave better than most of the other kids we know. I attribute this to their being well rested and having a consistent schedule on which they can rely. In summary, we are approaching the 7-week mark and expect our baby to be sleeping through the night, in his own bed, within 4 weeks or so. This will be his own choice, not through our forcing him. So, if you want your baby to be calm and healthy, take full feedings on a predictable schedule, sleep through the night by 8 or 10 weeks, have a wonderful disposition and a calm, confident attitude, then follow the principles in this book. If you don't want these things, just stick to demand feeding and attachment parenting, you won't have to worry about them. (I would have given this five stars, but parts of the book are unclear and hard to follow.)
Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK FOR THE NEW UNSURE PARENT!!!!
Review: Several people recommended this book to me before our daughter Grace was born, so I had it read weeks before her due date. It is a wonderful book on the practical aspects of parenting and how to have a happy, well adjusted and SLEEPING child!!! Grace was sleeping through the night at 8 weeks old, and is a very happy child! I don't agree with everything in the book (But, who agrees with everything in ANY book anyhow?) But, it has truly helped us! It has a lot of logic behind it that as a new and unsure parent I didn't feel that I really had, so, it helped me figure out the direction that I wanted to go! It also talks about how to put a schedule together for you child which is very important to me! Gracie sleeps 10-12 hours at night and takes 2 2 1/2 hour naps a day! it is wonderful! However, I also found "The baby Whisperer" to be a great book also on figuring out your childl's temperment which in turn helps them sleep! read them both!
Rating:
Summary: Badly-informed advice
Review: When I first wrote this review I hadn't read the book. After reading it, my opinion is unchanged. So my original review based on my impression follows. I strongly suggest anybody interested in the Ezzo's methods research the pros AND cons. My sister and brother-in-law abide by this book to the letter. I was able to observe them at my parents for 4 or 5 days. Their first child, a girl, seems fairly normal at 3 years except she is a little manipulative. But their second child, a boy about a year-and-a-half old has a really strange, detached disposition for a little kid. He cries a lot and they ignore him, I imagine in keeping with the Ezzo method which encourages this. They have an unspoken attitude that their own convenience comes first and then the needs of their kids. They act as if their children are "learning" the schedule but I believe that what is happening is really more like the conditioning that you study in Psych 101, e.g., Pavlov's dog. I have read articles which condemn this method written by credible health experts and I advise everyone to study both sides. In summary I have this to say: 1) Not all children respond to this in the same way. 2) The premise of this method is that your needs come first, your children's second.
Rating:
Summary: recommended
Review: I refer to this book and recommend it often. I had an earlier addition that I prefer to this new one. (That's a 5 star.) It did a better job going into supporting research.
Rating:
Summary: Baby Wise works for our Joanna
Review: We were first impressed with the children of our Church friends (2 couples with total of 6 children) and was told that they were raised from the principles of Baby Wise. So we used it when our daughter was born (Sept'01) and she started to sleep a full night by week 10 !!! We were most greatful for the information regarding breast feeding and how we needed to be patient the first 1-3 days because we nearly gave up on this. As a result, Joanna is a healthy 7 months baby (Praise the Lord she has never been sick accept fever from immunization shots) who feeds from her mother's milk. When it's time to sleep we simply say "Joanna, time to sleep." We are an Asian Christian couple and yet we are able to adhire to the basic principle of this book without lessening the love we have for her. In fact, we are witnessing to other family members through this upbringing. Remember, Bible says do not judge lest yourself be judged. God bless.
Rating:
Summary: A must have for parents!!!
Review: The best baby shower gift ever! It was given to me at my daughters shower 4 years ago and the technique of PDF (parent directed feeding) has been a life saver. My first two children both slept through the night by the age of 5 weeks and now our most recent addition is sleeping all night long at only 3 weeks, six days! It can be overwhelming when faced with the task of interpreting the different crys and needs of a new baby. How do you KNOW for sure what he wants? Even with my third child there have been times I worry. This book helps take the guess work out of meeting your childs needs as well as making life a lot easier for the rest of the family. My older children have never had difficulty at nap or bed time because I rarely rocked them or nursed them to sleep. Some might think that infants so young MUST eat every 2-3 hours in order to gain weight but this is not true. My first two have always been in the 90+ percentile for weight and my youngest was over his birth weight at 1.5 weeks old. I can't say enough about this book and how useful it has been for me. You just have to try it for yourself. But remember to be flexable and ballanced in whatever feeding/child rearing method you choose! Children are a blessing not a bother!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Not recommended
Review: The author has been condemned by several churches (including his own) and the methods he recommends have been condemned by the American Academy of Pediatrics. There are plenty of baby books out there that aren't dangerous, there's no reason to use this one.
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