Rating: 
Summary: Babywise II ~ Not So Wise!
Review: On Becoming Babywise, Mr. Ezzo's first book, was an invaluable resource to me when my son was an infant. William thrived on the Babywise method, and was sleeping eight hours a night, at eight-weeks to the day. I believe he is a happy, healthy little boy in part, because I followed Ezzo's advice. Naturally, I picked up Babywise II when he progressed to the next stage. Short and easy to read, this book is also affordable.On Becoming Babywise II was written with the intent of guiding parents through the pre-toddler phase, 5 to 15 months of age. Best received by advocates of the first book, as the foundation for routine is already established. The text of this book concentrates on behavioral training and feeding. Pros:
Chapter 3 - Mealtime Activities
This section focuses on the essentials of feeding a pre-toddler. There are complete instructions on introducing solids, making your own baby food, finger foods, snacks, and weaning. I found this chapter to be extremely helpful. Chapter 4 - Highchair Manners
Mr. Ezzo concentrates on mealtime training in this chapter, since children spend hours a week in their highchair, and the self-control learned to properly handle food, is the same self-control needed for life outside the kitchen. I quickly realized baby hands were an issue when my son began solid foods. Following Ezzo's advice, I held his hands underneath the highchair tray with one hand, and fed him with the other. In a few short weeks, he understood, his hands went on his lap when eating, and when they strayed, a simple reminder was all it took. This is an example of the practical advice presented in this chapter! Cons:
Chapter 4 - Highchair Manners
I strongly disagree with the author's recommendation when correcting undesirable behavior. Page 63, "First correct the child verbally. Next, provide an attention-getting squeeze or swat to the hand, if necessary." As one who followed this advice when my son turned one, I can demonstrate why it does not work, and more importantly, why it should not be an acceptable form of instruction. In my case, giving a light-squeeze to the hand, worked initially, then a week went by, and I discovered it required more than a light-squeeze to get my son's attention. Another week went by, a firm-squeeze turned into a light-swat to the hand, and then he started hitting back. According to the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), physical punishment teaches children it is okay to hit, and suggests it does far more harm than good, page 285 in "Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, Bantam", 1998. Straight away, I sought the pediatrician's advice. She offered time-out as an alternative, which my son responded to immediately and positively. By applying the author's technique, I failed to teach my son self-control, and additional problems emerged as a result. In addition, at what age does THIS style of disciplining begin? Ezzo does not specify. This book is intended for parents of pre-toddlers, 5 to 15 months old, does the author seriously expect parents to reprimand a 5-month old in the manner mentioned above? I certainly hope not! Immediate and consistent response to misbehavior speeds the learning process. It took months to teach my son hitting was wrong, conversely, he learned the stereo was off limits in just weeks by employing the time-out method. Final Thoughts:
Firstly, I CAUTIOUSLY recommend this book. I believe, some of the advice is disrespectful to children, and could cause behavior problems, such as illustrated with my son. Secondly, Mr. Ezzo suggests in the introduction that graduates of his first book are best served in this book, because the foundation for routine is already established. I agree with this, and propose that this edition may be beneficial to readers if the method promoted in the original book was helpful. Also, if you are a person who is capable of reading beyond some of the authoritarian tendencies, some of the advice is worthy. On Becoming Babywise II is more Christian based than the 1998 edition of On Becoming Babywise. As a Catholic, this did not insult me, but some may find the authors writing to be too preachy. I would have rated this book 2 ½ stars if it were available. Due to some of the practical advice offered, I decided to error on the positive side, rather than the negative.
Rating: 
Summary: DO NOT READ
Review: To anyone wanting to buy ANY book by this man: Do your child and the world a favor by visiting the many anti-Ezzo websites first. I urge anyone who wants to read this book or any other book by Ezzo to read The Continuum Concept, by Jean Liedloff, first. Then you will have to see that Gary Ezzo is promoting child abuse/neglect. I shudder to think of what this nation will be like when millions of Ezzo babies are all grown up.
Rating: 
Summary: LLL Leader speaks out!
Review: As a LLL Leader that followed the LLL philosopy to a T with my first 2 children I can honestly say that Babywise has been a great resource for my home! By the time I became pregnant with my 3rd child I was beginning to feel the strain of the -demand feeding around the clock, family bed, no time to even go potty without a baby strapped to my body- parenting style. I love my children. I want what is best for them. I want them to be secure and confident and know they are loved but something had to give or mama was gonna collapse! About that time I heard of this horrible book written by this monster named Ezzo. Even the name sounded scary! I read the book and thought "huh, that doesn't sound so bad, wonder if this could work??" I quickly became the LLL Leader that was also a closet Ezzo! My 3rd and 4th children have been such a joy. All children are joys but there is a peace and order in my home that has benifited the entire family. My 2 youngest are now 4 and 18 months and they are as close to me as my two older *AP* children. We snuggle and laugh and play. We are able to do more as a family because my younger children are on a very predictable schedule. We have found that by moving from child centered to family centered parenting we have taught our children to cherish and thrive as a very important part of a family unit NOT as the most important part of a very self centered single unit. I eventually retired from LLL Leadership due largely to the irrepsponsible parenting philospy promoted there. I saw a very scary glimpse at a future generation of "ME ME ME" mentality.
Rating: 
Summary: A life saver
Review: As first time parents and new to being around children, my husband and I found this book very helpful. While we aren't as strick as the book suggests, keeping our baby on a schedule has made our lives so much better! Since starting the schedule, we can now tell without a doubt whether he is hungry or tired where before we were just guessing. We thought our son had colic when in fact we were feeding him too often and not letting him get enough sleep. While I don't agree with being so strick to a schedule, it really has helped a lot to have some guidelines.
Rating:
Summary: Love it!
Review: Another great Baby Wise book. The first one helped me get my daughter on a schedule; this one helped me when it came to feeding her solids. There are many other good points in the book, but my main purpose for buying it was in hopes it would help me with the solids, and it did. It gave a wonderful guideline for how much to give her, what to give first, when, why, etc. I strongly recommend both Baby Wise books to all new moms!!!!
Rating:
Summary: thoughts are good...
Review: I didn't like that they kept referring to the first Babywise book. I got this when my daughter was 4 mos old and thought it would be a good read, but instead I found that it made me feel guilty that i hadn't read the babywise book when I was still pregnant and started their babywise sleep schedule when she was first born. This book left a bad taste in my mouth. I decided to toss the book and go at it my own. My daughter is now 7 mos old and she naturally is falling into a sleep routine. I think we as parents should start trusting our own instincts instead of reading all these books from so called 'experts'.
Rating:
Summary: SLEEPING AT 7 WEEKS!!
Review: This is a great book. My daughter started sleeping throught the night by 7 weeks (7 hours) and a full 10 hours by 2.5 months. Babies love routine and thrive. The book revolves around the concept of scheduling and guiding your child insted of the opposite (chaos and your infant ruling your life...they will rule your life anyway, but why not time a dinner out with your spouce and new baby during a very predictable nap?!) We didn't know about the book when we had our son (now three) and he STILL doesn't sleep through the night regularly!! Bad habbits can form early! Read it and adapt it to your lifestyle and own belief system...
Rating:
Summary: What are these negative reviewers reading?????
Review: Some of the comments on Baby Wise are hard for me to read. I can't believe that so many people have misinterpreted the philosophy behind Baby Wise. The idea is not to starve your child, or let them cry for hours on end, but to learn to read the signals your child gives to know what they need, instead of just feeding them everytime they cry. Parent Directed Feeding is the concept, not Let Your Baby Cry No Matter What. The book specifically states that if you believe your baby is crying beacuse they are hungry, feed them! But, make sure your baby takes a full meal and doesn't just snack. Many of these reviewers need to take another look at the whole concept of the book with an open and clear mind - the concept is not as unbending as they first percieved.
Rating:
Summary: Great book -- discipline required (for yourself)
Review: This is a GREAT book. The only people who I find that do not like this book are the parents that are not willing to discipline their child, FOR THE GOOD OF THEIR CHILD. No one is happy with out sleep, mothers, babies, fathers, etc. SLEEP is critical to BRAIN DEVELOPMENT. I have heard nurses and mothers who do not like this book, but I have yet to hear a doctor tell me that Ezzo's principles are wrong or that they would ever hurt a child. I have NEVER heard of a child starving to death who wasn't demand fed! What I love the absolute most about this book is how happy it makes your child. Right in the very beginning of the book Ezzo states that people will constantly comment on how happy your child is. I have one of the world's happiest little boys! And I did not demand feed him, and he's happy and pudgy! Please enjoy this book -- it puts the family relationship first, which is wonderful and what every child should learn.
Rating:
Summary: m waller
Review: I read this book and tried it with my first born because of a reccomendation of other wonderful mothers that I knew. Needless to say, after two weeks my son was sleeping through the night and has been a wonderful sleeper ever since. I've also used it with my second born and she was sleeping through the night by four weeks. I would reccommend this book to anyone and everyone that I know!! It has been wonderful for our family!!
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