Rating: 
Summary: Life-Saver for Parents of Twins
Review: My wife & I read Baby Wise when our boy-girl twins were 6 weeks old (and we wished we had read it 6 weeks earlier!) Esso gives good practical, common-sense advice on how (and why) to get your baby (or babies) on a flexible schedule. This schedule then results in a happy, well-contented baby that will then learn to sleep through the night at approximately 8-12 weeks of age. It worked for us! Our daughter started sleeping throught the night at 11 weeks and our son followed suit a week later. Now they're 16 weeks old and we've even cut out the late-night (11pm) feeding and they sleep from 7:30pm to 6:30-7:00 am. What a difference this has made in our lives! With twins, we were both utterly exhausted trying the demand-feeding style. My wife breast-feeds exlusively and I do all the shuttling/diaper changing. But our motivation wasn't just trying to get more rest for ourselves, Esso's approach just made sense to us. We also read Marc Weisbluth's "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", and highly recommend this book as well. Weisbluth made us understand how IMPORTANT a good's night sleep is for a baby. "Baby Wise" taught us how to do it. Did our babies cry at first? Yes they did. The longest our son ever cried was for one hour, the first night. After that, at most they cried was for 5 minutes and then golden silence as they sleep. Most of the time now, there's no crying at all. They also take 2-3 good naps a day, although the consistency of the naps is not as good as the nighttime sleep. I'm amused at the "controversy" over this book and the attacks from the Attachment Parenting camp and the accusations of "child-abuse". All I can say is that our twins are happy, well-rested, above-average height & weight and still get all the love & nurturing that they need. If you're a parent of twins or more, I believe Baby Wise is a must-read!
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful tool for a peaceful home (when used sensibly)
Review: I began to use this book when my first son was 8 weeks (8 wks too late!). He is now 5 months (we've graduated to vol II). Ben now knows when he wakes up, he'll be fed, then he'll play, then nap, etc. I spent the first 8 weeks always wondering, "Why is he crying? Won't he nap if he's tired?" (No.) Now Ben has a secure place in which to develop, he TRUSTS that he will be taken care of. He doesn't have to cry for anything he needs, but if he does I know why. Life isn't perfect, but this predictable environment is an essential foundation to a calm home life and a happy baby. True, Ezzo's tone is sometimes annoying, but overall the book is a great tool. You can see below, the conflict between soothing your child and letting them cry rages on, and I don't subscribe fully to either. I do feel that with every week of your baby's life, this plan will be more difficult to implement without tears. But if you do it early, it really pays off. I am glad to discuss if you have more questions.
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Summary: Its not abuse/neglect only common sense!
Review: I am using this book with my third child and let me tell you, I wish I had it with my first two! I sure would have gotten sleep. I will be giving this book as a baby gift from now on! You need to decided indiviually if you like this book or not. Check it out from a library if you can. Once you read it most of you Im sure will realize the common sense of it. In a nut shell the book says to feed your child, keep them up for an hour or so and then put them down to sleep...to fall asleep on their own, not while a bottle or breast is in their mouth. Think of yourself...you eat and dont normally go directly to bed, within about an hour after eating is when you could curl up and go to sleep...well its no different with a baby. You are still spending quality, caring, loving time with your baby. I dont see where people are saying its abuse/neglect. I just started today with my 2 month old daughter and she is falling right into the routine! Try it for yourself, see for yourself, it will hurt nothing or no one..rather develop a nice routine for you and your child, one that you can "count on" and develop a wonderful loving bond too!
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Summary: THIS BOOK MAKES FOR BAD PARENTS AND UNHAPPY CHILDREN
Review: My six month old was having trouble sleeping and I tried the Ezzo approach. As I was standing behind to the door listening to my son sobbing, I realized that I wouldn't treat my worst enemy the way I was treating my child. I knew then that there had to be a way to help my son sleep that every loving instinct I had didn't rebel at. I searched the parenting books and found Smart Love by the Piepers. They explain why the Ezzo approach is as bad as I thought and offer ways to help your child sleep that don't involve torture for parent or child. My son now goes to sleep cooing and babbling to himself and I feel as though I have saved him from emotional disaster. Smart Love is much smarter than babywise!
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Summary: On Becoming Baby Wise
Review: This book is absolutely marvellous - I cannot speak highly enough of it. Before having my first child nearly 4 months ago the only baby books I had read supported the demand feeding and attachment parenting theories. I found myself exhausted from feeding and holding my baby constantly. Now, thanks to the guidance on On Becoming Baby Wise, my baby and I find ourselves enjoying a very flexible routine in our days; breastfeeding happens easily; we both have time for rests during the day and my baby sleeps through the night. This book seems to have been much berated by the attachment parenting devotees but to me it has been a great salvation - and my baby is very happy, thriving and anyone can tell that she feels secure and loved!
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Summary: This Methos Works!
Review: The doctor's review is WRONG! My mother, after six children, decided to try this method of scheduling my brother, who is 16 years younger than me. He was the happiest of all the babies, the most predictable, and now, at 5 years old is able to entertain himself the best. Also implemented with my now 2 year old brother, this system worked. There is no sense in refuting the teachings from BABY WISE until you have tried it!
Rating: 
Summary: Chew the meat and spit out the bones
Review: My husband's advice about any book on advice is to use what you like and disregard what you don't like. This is what I've had to do with this book. I got this book because a friend of mine said it changed her life. That, of course, peaked my curiosity, on top of the fact that her 17-month old knows sign language. Unfortunately, upon reading the book, that's where my fascination with Parent-Directed Feeding ended. My daughter is soon-to-be 8 months old. I am still solely breast-feeding on a 3-hr. schedule during the day and one feeding at night. She is a very content and happy baby and I'm forever getting compliments because of her. Ezzo leads you to believe that if you don't follow his plan you will have a miserable, cranky child who will be avoided by friends and family. That was insulting. Now, I don't believe that Ezzo is promoting child abuse but I also don't believe in allowing babies, most especially newborns, to cry it out. The idea that babies cry because they are letting off emotional stress sounds as ludicrous to me as attachment parenting does to him. There is a way to put a child in bed without him being completely awake or completely asleep that satisfies both parent and child. A few minutes of winding down, rocking and singing to a baby is not detrimental. He may whimper initially when you put him down, but that is much nicer than howling for an hour, which Ezzo supports. I suppose if you can tolerate it and/ or if your baby goes down and responds well to this kind of parenting, go for it! My baby likes her pacifier when she takes a nap and goes to bed at night and she has since she was a week old. Ezzo calls a pacifier a sleep prop that should be done away with, especially at her age. Aside from dental concerns, I don't see how a pacifier is any different from a blanket which many PDFers' kids use. (PDF-Parent Directed Feeding) I don't see what's so wrong in granting a child what comforts him if it s not potentially dangerous, life-threatening or beyond reason. I like the idea of a flexible routine: sleep, feed, and wake time and I commend Ezzo for not being a clock watcher; however the idea that having a baby is simply like passing the baton in a relay race (there's no stopping, you just keep on running) seems absurd. A baby changes one's life whether we like it or not. Getting back into a routine takes time. If more mothers rested and relaxed like they were supposed to the first several months, it might lessen the frenzy to get into a schedule. I don't mean to ignore the working mother, but in her case for the most part, a caregiver dictates the schedule of the baby during the day; and as for mothers with other children, in a child-sensitive household, each child is, in turn, taught to be parent-sensitive. In my opinion, the fear that a child will usurp his parent's authority if his biological clock is not regulated asap by the parent is an extreme attempt to counter permissive parenting. For a more baby-sensitive (versus baby-centered, as Ezzo calls attachment parenting) ,approach to parenting, specifically Christian parenting, I would recommend books by William and Martha Sears who not only have years of clinical experience, but are the proud parents of eight children. Beware, though, Ezzo attacks this type of parenting, and yet both Sears and Ezzo claim to be Christians. The call is ultimatly yours but I would suggest reading both views to get a balanced perspective. Most of all, I would be confident as a parent to use whatever methods feel right to you and your child to raise them to be happy, well-adjusted and respectful.
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Summary: Who launched the campaign against this helpful book..
Review: I don't get it! These people calling this book dangerous,child abuse etc. If you read the book and like any book don't take anything to extremes then I'll tell you what....it is a fabulous method of bringing calm to you and your baby. It is a wonderful and loving book and I know at least 10 families who have used it and really say they thought it was a lifesaver! Please don't listen to those bad reviews! I really don't think they could have possibly read the book and tried it!
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Summary: Unwise reading
Review: Newborns cannot be "trained" as this book suggests. Neither can they relieve their hunger and thirst without their parents help. Thisbook is chock full of unfounded claims based on shoddy research. The notion that your childs personality will be adversely affected by nocturnal feeding is absurd. This is not to say that there aren't some common sense principlesin this book, but they are carried to an extreme. Please, talk to your doctor before using the principles outlined in this book
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Summary: Sickens me-where is the research?
Review: I am appalled at the tone of this book, that children are sucha nuisance. Nurturing children in the early years by allowing them toTRUST their parents, not cry it out, is the key to alot of this country's problems. If you want RESEARCH on a nurturing parenting approach, read "Attachment Parenting" by Katie Allison Granju. Babywise is appalling.
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