Rating: 
Summary: Take it from someone who learned the hard way, the 2nd time
Review: This is an excellent book. When I had my first, I was warned against this book and avoided it. I fed my son on-demand, or rather, every time he cried - whether he was hungry or not. I ended up with an almost one year old who still woke up every 2-3 hours a night. Out of desperation, I read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weisbluth (also a very good book) and finally got my son to sleep through the night. When I got pregnant with my second, I vowed not to make the same mistakes again. And after seeing the success my friend had with her second using the Baby Wise advice, I thought I'd read it and see what it said. I was suprised that it was not nearly as cold hearted as I thought it was and it's advice was very practical. And the predictions made in the book of what will happen when you feed on demand I knew to be true based on my first experience. (I actually know someone who has a 3 year old, still breastfed - on demand and sleeping in bed with his parents who wakes up in the night to be fed. Sounds like some of the other reviewers here might end up in this situation.) So here's the rundown on Babywise: More than focusing on the amount of time between feedings, they stress making sure your baby takes a FULL feeding each time he nurses, about 15 mins on each side. Don't let your baby, snack for just a few minutes - he won't get enough of the higher calorie milk that comes in after you've been nursing for a few minutes. Try to allow your baby to have a wakeful time just after he's been fed, instead of putting him to sleep after nursing. This makes great sense, and you won't get stuck when you're ready to wean him wondering how you'll get him to sleep without nursing. They advocate a schedule that goes like this: nurse, wakeful time, nap - and then it starts over. They specifically say that if your baby's hungry, FEED him and not to be ruled by the clock. But sometimes you can assess that your child is crying for other reasons than hunger. I have found out that my baby actually cries when she's tired - go figure. If anything this book is a great guide on not letting your baby go too long without a feeding. For instance they said for a newborn, you shouldn't let him sleep for longer than 5 hours at night, so you should wake him to feed him if you have to. And during the day, you shouldn't let a newborn go over 3 hours without being fed. And the results? My experience so far with my 5 week old: She sleeps 5 hours a night and goes back to sleep another 4 hours (heaven!). She's gaining plenty of weight and is in the 90th %. She's a happy baby and I get tons of comments in the grocery store of what an alert and happy baby I have. But I know a little secret: I know I had more to do with that than just how she is naturally. Read the book, glean the good advice, you'll be glad you did.
Rating: 
Summary: Cruel and unusual punishment
Review: This book is horrible. I was recommended this book by many of my friends, and after reading it, it seemed like the author thinks there is only one type of personality a baby may have, and that personality needs to be controlled, just like the baby's schedule needs to be controlled, and every other aspect of the baby. While a schedule certainly does have a place in a baby's life, it doesn't need to be this rigid. The reality is that all babies have different needs and parents need to be sensitive to them. A baby cries because it's the only way they can communicate their needs.
Rating:
Summary: Run from this book!
Review: Although Ezzo claims this book is about God's plan for raising your child, he must be praying to a different God than me. My God is all about unconditional love and honoring each of us as the uniquely perfect beings that we are. If you choose to believe in original sin and the intrinsic evil of babies then this book will show you how to raise them to reinforce those beliefs. It will help you perpetuate the family dysfunctions and psychopathologies that I believe are tearing our culture apart. However, if you believe that children are perfect and innocent and have a vast potential for optimal development then run from this book! For the nuts and bolts of great parenting look to any Sears book (easy reading). For the big picture from an intellectual and philosophical perspective, go to Joseph Chilton Pearce's "Magical Child" (tougher reading but well worth it). For the hardcore science on neuro-psychological developmnet see Alan Schore's "Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self" (very challenging reading) or Daniel Siegel's "The Developing Mind: Toward a Neurobiology of Interpersonal Experience " (more user-friendly).
No mammal species abandons its young to sleep alone, ignores their cries or makes them eat on a schedule, yet Ezzo would have us believe that this is God's way for us to parent our children. He believes that babies must be trained to be Godly and moral because they are intrinsically evil. His ideology is unnatural and an affront to our sensitivites. I can only imagine that Ezzo's works are a reflection of his own pathology, no doubt inflicted on him by his unwitting parents.
Please, don't subject your child to these methods. Try unconditional love instead.
Rating:
Summary: controversy
Review: I have read many reviews on this book. This current edition is the one that I own. The way I see it is that you as a Mother or Father need to use your own common sense when it comes to raising your children. This book is NOT a Bible it is just a book. Take what you want from it and leave what you want out of it. I have a happy 7 month old baby wise baby. I think that this book is a great guideline. Yes, the author is not a doctor and has a bad name out there, but if you are first time parents this book provided us with some peace. All children are different and are going to sleep through the night when they are ready. I found it very helpful when reading this book to remind myself that no, it can't hurt a baby to cry. They need to learn to fall asleep on their own. If they are crying for more than 5-10 min. check on them. If they are hungry feed him/her. The book DOES NOT day to strictly feed them only on a 3-4 hr schedule. It says that if they are hungry to feed them. LEARN YOUR BABIES CRYS. If you know why they are crying it will make your life a lot easier. Like I said before, this book is a great guideline and take it for what you want. My baby was sleeping through the night 3 months old and has always been in the 40-50% for weight. She is healthy, more than loved and a very happy baby.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book, great experience, not a "cry it out" book
Review: I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. I LOVE THIS BOOK!! My daughter would sleep a 5 hour stretch by 2 weeks, 8 hours by 6 weeks and at 4 1/2 months sleeps for 12 hours every night (started this at 15 weeks). I want to say to the negative reviews #1 It sounds as if most of them never even tried it #2 It is not a cry it out book. It does recommend letting them cry once they are fed, changed, have had their wake time and you put them down for a nap or for the night. To this you should understand that it does not recommend doing this until they are several weeks old and if they wake up early you should go ahead and feed them, not make them wait. Although some people may think it sounds mean, it really isn't. Our daughter cried for 10 minutes going to sleep for a day or so, but the result is a baby who when she is put in her crib to sleep, goes to sleep without protest. She is a very happy, well-rested baby. She is in the 95 percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight. I followed Babywise from day one and she had gained back her birth weight plus 8 ounces by her 2 week appointment. She didn't have colic, my husband and I weren't fatigued, and I think having a nice schedule and good sleep keeps her happy and thriving. Now that she is 4 1/2 months she doesn't even cry when she wakes up, just happily babbles and watches me fix her bottle. Basically, she knows the routine and knows she will be fed before she gets too hungry. Anyway, enough of my rambling, I just want to say I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Pediatrician recommended
Review: My pediatrician recommended Baby Wise to me. I have a healthy, breast-feed 3 month old baby girl that was sleeping through the night by 8 weeks. She is an extremely happy and content baby. In contrast to the negative reviews, this book explains to ALWAYS feed your baby if he/she is hungry. This book does not believe in feeding your baby every time he/she cries or only when the clock says so. Rather, it explains that you should use the clock and your baby's cues to determine if the cry is a hunger cry. My understanding is that it is all about parent evaluation to decide what your baby needs. It explains that all babies will and need to cry. Just because a baby cries does not mean he/she is hungry. The book promotes a life that is not ruled by your child, but rather by the family. And, promotes a healthy sleeping pattern for life. I believe you should read this book in its entirety and follow what makes sense to you.
Rating:
Summary: Please investigate further
Review: Parents, I would highly encourage you to investigate the source of this book before you read it. Mr Ezzo is not a doctor, does not have any degree in education, child phychology or anything along those lines. His advice has been spoken against by so many groups and medical and parenting professionals that I couldn't list them all here. Please go to www.ezzo.info to read more about his books, the results of his parenting tactics, and why you would be better served by reading other parenting books such as those by Dr Sears, Dr Karp, Biblical Parenting by Crystal Lutton, etc.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: This book is packed full of useful and common since advice. My son is now two years old, he has slept through the night since he was 6 weeks old thanks to the things I learned from this book. I buy this book for all my friends having babies.
Rating:
Summary: What Are These Naysayers Thinking?
Review: My wife and I have 2 children. The first we applied Baby Wise to and she was sleeping through the night at week six! She is three now and is a happy child. It's not just my viewpoint but her Sunday school teachers, her baby sitters, and other parents in the grocery stores and restaraunts who constantly comment on how 1) happy and loving she is and 2) how well behaved she is. On our next child, we sort of applied the book on her (as in we did not follow the book). As a result, through nine months she was not sleeping through the night! Finally, I said, it's time to apply the book. It works. NOTE: You have to know what the different cries are. Is it a poopy diaper cry? Is it I'm thirsty cry? One thing we found out was our daughter wasn't necessarily hungry but thirsty at nights. We'd give her a sippy cup and she was fine. Hooray! she sleeps through the night. Note 2: We've recommended this to other parents and they have thanked us a lot. Now what about those naysayers. A question to ask yourself is, did they actually try these principles or are they standing on an opinion and have already made up their mind without trying. The other question that popped into my mind is do they even have kids? One more question, if you asked their children's teachers and baby sitters what these naysayer's children are like, I wonder what the answer would be? It would probably be, they should read the Babywise book.
Rating:
Summary: Please talk to your pediatrician about feeding your baby!
Review: Please don't follow these cry it out guidelines, parents! A newborn in their first few weeks of life is REQUIRED to feed every one and a half to two hours around the clock! Yes, this means in the middle of the night. You had the baby, please take responsibility to care for them by asking your doctor about their feeding schedule instead of taking the advice of this book. You should never let your newborn go more than 4 hours before waking them to be fed. Only at 4 weeks of age the baby can go up to 5 hours without a feeding. Why would you let your baby cry and not feed them? Your baby is crying because they are hungry! Check it out on WebMD.com and ask your doctor for the medical reasons why your baby needs to eat this often. When my baby was hungry in the middle of the night and crying, I picked him up and fed him. He magically stopped crying afterwards--because he was hungry. I am not going to ignore my baby's cries just so that I can put my baby on a schedule for MY convenience. Nobody tells me when to eat and when I should be hungry. Crying is how your baby communicates with you. People are baby wise brainwashing other mothers...please do not let your baby cry it out and try and make them sleep 8-12 hours without feeding them when they are hungry. Every time I pick my baby up because he is crying, I am telling him that I am here for him and that I will meet his needs. Your baby needs you. Routine is great but wait until the baby is older--my doctor told me that it's not possible to spoil a newborn. Please review other sources, talk to your pediatrican, and educate yourself on your baby's needs before you implement any advice in this book. Thank you.
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