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Summary: This book is MIRACULOUS
Review: My daughter (my first-born) was breast-fed on demand and didn't sleep through the night until she was a year and a half! I applied the principles in this book with my two sons, who are 15 months apart, and they were both sleeping through the night before 10 weeks. I found the predictability liberating. I was able to more readily discern the meaning of my sons' cries, and respond to them accordingly. I was very surprised to see so many negative reviews. Every mom I personally know (6 of my close friends and family)who has used the Babywise plan has been thrilled with the results, and the dads are all for it too! The book DOES allow some flexibility, contrary to what some reviews suggest. It's not a rigid system of neglecting your child. It's a plan to encourage healthy sleep and eating patterns, and it worked wonders for me! I would recommend this book and other materials written by the Ezzos to anyone with enough sense NOT to be legalistic and insensitive to the needs of their child.
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Summary: Useful antidote to Attachment Parenting overdose...
Review: OK, I've read them all. Sears first, because that was what my friends were doing...but then along came baby number two and the family bed and extended nursing thing was getting a little difficult. So, who is the antichrist of parenting books to the Sears crowd? The Ezzos, of course. So I decided to venture to "the other side" to see if they were really so bad or perhaps if they had any useful advice for a mom burnt-out on constant attachment.Well. The Ezzos book, in case you haven't heard, expounds the theory of training your infant to sleep through the night starting at about 8 weeks through the use of a sleep-nurse-"keep the baby awake" cycle (as opposed to the usual awake-nurse-asleep rythym) and yes, there is usually some extended crying involved at first. This book was very helpful to me in providing another point of view to my previous "attachment parenting or death!" worldview. However, I couldn't honestly say I ever perfectly used the Ezzos method. I never did get my daughter to agree to sleep, then nurse, then play and fall asleep on her own. I almost always nursed her to sleep like everyone else. It did however give me the permission to move her to a crib when the family bed wasn't working for us any longer and to let her cry sometimes rather than try to solve every problem with more nursing. A book that presents a balanced approach is Jodi Mindell's "Sleeping through the night." While I wouldn't buy this book for anyone as their only source of parenting info, I wouldn't scare people away from it either as the ultimate source of all evil. Use your common sense! If it doesn't work for you, try something else! Don't allow yourself to become rigidly locked into some author's system or philosophy. You as a parent have the final say, not any book.
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Summary: This book is dangerous for new/inexperienced parents!
Review: A woman I know received this book as a gift. Two weeks after her baby was born, she & her husband began applying the Ezzo principles because they were "desperate for a good night's sleep." They effectively taught their son that if he cried, they would not respond, so he stopped crying for any reason. His weight started to plummet, since he never "asked" for food, and he became quite lethargic. As an inexperienced mother, this woman thought she had a "good" baby because he was so cooperative -- using definitions from the Ezzo book. Luckily, the pediatrician realized what was happening before the child had to be hospitalized. The child is now 5 and has various emotional and developmental problems that the doctors say are a direct result of neglect in his early months. These are not bad people -- they were just very inexperienced parents who put all their trust in the Ezzo philosophy instead of following their instincts. I have since read the book, and I think that its blanket statements are very easy for an inexperienced parent to misunderstand. This is a dangerous book for new parents, and I would not recommend it at all.
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Summary: babies don't need Babywise to sleep through the night.
Review: I want to bust the myth that the Babywise "method" has ANYTHING to do with when babies begin to sleep through the night! Babies' sleep patterns naturally being to regulate at around 8 weeks, as their stomachs grow and they are able to eat more in a feeding, keeping their appetites sated. Babywise exploits this developmental fact and convinces people that its "methods" are responsible for babies' sleep, when in reality around 8 weeks is when babies have matured enough to begin sleeping for periods longer than 2 hours at a stretch. My father is a pediatrician and my brother is a family doctor, and they agree that the Babywise method is wrong, and that being a responsive parent is right. My thriving & happy 2 month old bears this out. She began sleeping 7 hours a night at 7 weeks, and at 10 weeks now sleeps 8-10 hours a night. She is a product of attachment parenting (no co-sleeping), Dr. Sears' The Baby Book, and my instinctive RESPONSES to her cries. To ignore an infant's cries is cruel and inhuman, and to think that ignoring them will help the baby to "sleep" is downright illogical.
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Summary: Pediatricians warn of dangers of Ezzo to babies
Review: The Babywise book is very damaging advice that is denounced by pediatricians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and even the church in which Ezzo launched this program. Parenting is a nighttime responsibility, not an 8-5 job; the things Ezzo advocates are not in the best interest of the child. I hope anyone reading Ezzo's advice weighs it against the criteria of whether the advice is in the interest of the child. Ezzo is actually under investigation for causing failure to thrive and even death. Babies need lots of hugs and touching; Ezzo advocates letting them lay in the cribs and cry. A study on monkeys was done years ago, in which the baby monkeys were not hugged or held. They all died. Failure to thrive is a medical term and unfortunately it happens daily, especially in babies whose parents follow Ezzo's teachings. This is not an opinion, it is a reference to a news article highlighting medical concerns linking Ezzo to FTT. The American Academy of Pediatrics as well as the main pediatrician association have issued statements warning parents not to take his advice. He tells parents that babies are inherently evil and manipulative (from a religious basis), that babies should sleep through the night by 8 weeks without eating or soiling their diapers. And tells parents to ignore them if they want to eat at night, or need a diaper changed at night at 8 weeks. Says it's okay for a baby to cry until it vomits blood. Babies are born needing their parents for everything, especially love. How could one have a baby and then treat him/her as Ezzo recommends? I can't wait for him to be an old man, rotting in a nursing home with people treating him the way he treats babies. I actually actively campaign my local bookstores to become aware of his dangers, and order documentation of criticism and warnings, that I give them. There's a doctor in California who is so concerned for the welfare of these babies, that he sends a free packet and/or PDF file to anyone emailing him (aneybody@aol.com).
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Summary: Scary!
Review: I'm frightened at the thought that this book continues to be on bestseller lists. I received this book for a baby shower and was at first thrilled by the prospect of getting our baby to sleep through the night. It made some sense, and I thought I would apply the principles in a loose way -- discounting the theory that newborns need time alone, for example. In short, the methods made me miserable, made my baby hungry (she took 3 weeks to regain birth weight) and eventually led to the demise of my milk supply. I also understand that the Ezzos include spanking from the age of as early as 5 months as part of their theory. All in all, I think this method teaches parents to distance themselves from their children and ignore their own instincts. Try The Baby Book by William Sears instead.
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Summary: Boot camp for the newborn? No thanks...
Review: This book makes me ill. I can't believe that anybody would let their child "Cry it out" when they come home from the hospital. What ever happened to the theory that you cannot spoil a child until they are around 6 months of age? I was disgusted that there are so many mothers and fathers that use this approach. It is like a boot camp for the newborn. I have decided to against all of these principles. I nurse my baby before he goes to sleep, I play with him after he gets up, and if he wakes up during the night I go and check if he has wet himself or is too cold. Usually my motherly instinct is right. This book does not leave room for individuality... it puts all babies into a mold. No thank you- I want to enjoy my baby while he is baby and fulfill his needs and be a caring and loving mother not a sergeant.
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Summary: A "MUST HAVE" FOR NEW PARENTS
Review: After 6 weeks with little sleep for either parent or newborn, a friend recommend the Ezzo's materials. It was the best thing that ever happened to us! Our child was sleeping through the night in 3 days, and adapted to the switch easily. The mere presence of a routine has kept behavioral problems to a minimum. I realize children are all individuals, and maybe we're just lucky, but others that interact with our son can not believe how well behaved he is! My sister can't believe the difference either, and has even gone to the extent of starting the Babywise/Childwise principles with her toddler. I am a teacher myself, logic lends itself to Ezzo's prinicpals on establishing security by establishing routine and still providing flexibility. There's many criticisms to his teachings, but after much research, I believe many parents haven't truly "understood" the method, and have forgotten the ultimate truth, that we still need to "parent" the child. Ezzo's principals on marriage and strength in old fashioned parenting are just what we need in todays declining moral society! Our toddler is thriving, and we've followed all Babywise/Childwise materials throughout his growth! And will continue to do so!
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Summary: This is one scary book
Review: My son was a patient of (co-author) Dr. Bucknam's when he was born (1994). I was given the earlier version of 'Babywise' by Dr. Bucknam while I was in the hospital. I read the book and followed the suggestions to the letter, as a result, I discontinued breastfeeding my son when he was 6 weeks old. At his two-week checkup, he still hadn't re-gained his birthweight, which should have been my first clue that something was amiss.
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Summary: Christian-based dangerous agenda
Review: This book gave me an unsettling feeling when I read it, and itwas in conflict with Sears, "The Baby Book" (which wasreccommended by my pediatrician) on all issues. I decided to get someunbiased opionions. Read the very informed article ... discover that the author is a evangelical Christian minister, not a doctor. A baby withdraws and gives up when his crys are ignored, and there is alarming evidence of medical danger with this program. Read the article yourself, be informed. I wasted a Saturday reading it, don't bother.
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