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Summary: Great advice. Love your child, teach your child.
Review: This is a great book. Our daughter has been sleeping through the night since 10 weeks. She is very healthy, and very happy. I read a lot of the reviews and the 5 star reviews are from people that tried what the book suggested, and the 1 star reviews are from people who read the book, disagreed, and chose to say it would not work or that it is dangerous based strictly on their own opinion (not facts). Its very common sense, its healthy, and the whole family is happy. I have first hand experience. My happy and healthy family, plus the two families that suggested the book to me who also had great success.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent - a must for every new parent
Review: Of all the books for new parents that I've read, this one was the most helpful. My new baby was not only sleeping through the night (8 to 9 hrs) by 8 weeks old, she is now two and I have never had any problems getting her to bed in the evening or at nap time. She has been nothing but a complete joy to us and I thank the authors for helping us to avoid some of the common frustrations new parents face. Nothing replaces common sense and I found nothing in this book "mean", "uncaring", etc. as some critics indicate. If you are a new parent, I highly recommend you read this and make your own decision as to follow the advice or not.
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Summary: Drop this book!
Review: Reading this book, I would not even bother to follow any of the guidelines provided. From the very start everything sounds a little too hokey. Ezzo is not even a child specialist. He is a minister without any background in child development. He will even credit his wife for the 'child expert' credentials and she is not even listed as an author of the book. Taking care of your child this way is not loving or comforting. Ezzo does not believe that bonding between child and parent exists rather he would like you to impose a schedule on your child without taking into considering respect, love and care for your baby. I don't think he has ever really looked directly into a baby's eyes and seen the maturity and understanding that a mere infant knows just by the parent holding him and soothing him. Eventually your child will 'make' his own schedule. Don't rush it--he just got into this world and is still trying to settle into it!
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Summary: A Dangerous Book
Review: A lot of the reviewers here are, in my opinion, being a bit too generous. This book is dangerous, especially for first-time parents. It gives directives, not advice. It also says, in essence, if the authors' formula doesn't work, it's the parents' fault. I can tell you that we tried it their way, and it didn't work. This book caused us heartache, but everything is fine now. (We usually donate our books after we're finished with them. Because we didn't want to be responsible for anyone even accidentally getting ahold of this book, we just threw it away.)Love your children, and tough it out. Eventually, they will sleep. Our daughter has been an excellent sleeper since she was seven months old. The "Baby-Wise" system caused more problems than it prevented.
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Summary: Nothing to do with God, love, happy babies or happy mums
Review: Please don't follow the advice in this book. You can teach your baby to sleep through the night (once she is no longer hungry at night), to have a routine, and to learn what's right and wrong - simply by giving a lot of love and comfort. Your baby loves you, and loves predictability. There are 2 ways to teach her what to do, one by breaking her spirits from an early age (the Ezzo way) or by giving her confidence. Please choose the latter! I have a 1-year old baby who sleeps all night, is a great pleasure to be with, trusts me and the people around her, is thriving and full of life. Equally, we as her parents are happy. Please don't think you have to go through the Ezzo routine to achieve this.
Rating:
Summary: Common-sense approach to child-rearing
Review: While many pick up this book to learn how to help baby sleep through the night, the most important comments come at the beginning of the book and will help you raise a confident, independent, caring child. The premise is to integrate a child into your life and family, not restructure your life to revolve around a child. This book was highly recommended by a number of my friends -- mostly new, older (mid to late 30's) moms. It was just what I needed. It confirmed my own thoughts on how to raise baby and guess what --- matched just what many of our own moms did. I did not find it "rigid" at all-- in fact the author specifically tells parents to tailor his suggestions to their own lifestyle. This is my favorite baby gift to new moms.
Rating: 
Summary: A helpful guide not a rule of thumb!
Review: Take the book for what it's worth and don't try so hard to read between every single line. As first time parents, it provided a useful tool to let us know some of the ins and outs of parenting. Parenting skills are not completely innate. Why else would parents ask for advice and suggestions or read books and magazine articles? No, we certainly didn't agree with everything Ezzo said nor did we follow his hour to hour, minute to minute schedule but it was a helpful tool in learning what worked best for us as a unit...a family. Babies love nothing better than a schedule and you won't hear any complaints out of me. Use it as a helpful guide and not a rule of thumb. I don't know about you but at this stage in parenthood, I'm not ready to be cruel to be kind.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book but not substitute for common sense
Review: Fear-mongering and hysterical ranting doesn't help parents make important decisions like which child-rearing method to try out. NEITHER parent-centered nor child-centered child rearing alone will kill your child, cause your child to starve to death, make your child into a mental patient, or turn your child into a homicidal maniac, hysteria to the contrary. On the flip side, neither method will "guarantee" a perfect child. Child raising is much more than following a "method," whether that method is child-centered or babywise. Love, understanding, and common sense are required in great big heaps, liberally administered. Without conducting a clinical study with parents and children randomly assigned to do babywise or demand feeding, and controlling for all sorts of external factors, it's impossible to state with certainty that one or the other is THE best way (or the worst way) to raise a child. IF you're a rigid, unloving authoritarian, don't try babywise, because you probably won't be able to be balanced in your scheduling. Your children will probably become meek and terrrified of you or become bullies and pull the wings off of flies. IF you're a push-over wimpy touchy-feely type, don't use child-centered child raising, because your children will probably dominate you and become ungrateful, horribly self-centered brats who won't share their toys. If you're balanced, caring, loving and use common sense, your children will probably turn out JUST FINE with EITHER method, but the babywise method has lots to recommend it over the child-centered method, because it provides children with a comforting framework - how would you like it if your mealtimes and sleep time were randomly scattered throughout the day? Children find comfort in consistency. For what it's worth - and I'm well aware that a sample set of one doesn't count for much - my child not only THRIVED (emotionally and physically) under a reasonable babywise-like program, but is doing extraordinarily well at almost two years. He is big & strong, happy, playful, smart, talkative, loving and gentle. He falls right asleep when we put him down for naps and at night and he still has a good appetite at almost two years. People always remark about how "good," "friendly" and "well-adjusted" he is. Even though he was a little small at birth, he's been in about the 90th percentile ever since, thanks to regular feedings - he EATs, not SNACKs at mealtimes. I think he's the norm, not the exception for babywise children. Use common sense: is it better to have a bunch of real meals regularly spaced throughout the day, or better to snack every half-hour? Babies cry for reasons other than hunger; they DON'T NEED to be fed EVERY time they cry. Crying is their only way to communicate - it doesn't always mean they're hungry: sometimes they need a diaper change, sometimes they're hot or cold, and sometimes they need to be held and comforted (my main critique of Ezzo is that he de-emphasizes the need to comfort/play with children). Much has been said about doctors not recommending scheduled feeding, but it was just a few years ago doctors said formula was PREFERABLE to nursing! And just a few years ago Psychiatrists said if a father didn't show enough love to his son, the boy would "become" homosexual. Experts are not omniscient. In a few years, they'll probably day demand feeding is abusive and cruel and leads to emotional trauma. The proof is in the pudding, as they say: try reading the book, apply a healthy dose of common sense (i.e., if your child is failing to thrive with scheduled feedings, seek medical advice because FTT is a medical condition), and see if it's for you. If it's not, you've only wasted a few bucks and your child will BE JUST FINE.
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Summary: A triplet mom's review --- not good
Review: I am a mother of young triplets, and I've read many books on parenting - the more I learn things that can help me deal with my triplets, the better! While this book is recommended by many triplet parents, I do not agree. The ONLY thing I found useful is their ideas on scheduling. Scheduling is very necessary to survive having triplets. But many of the other ideas in my opinion are not good for babies. Babies under 6 months should not have to "cry it out" or be forced to adhere to a parent's schedule, and there were many other things in this book that sent shivers down my spine. Dr. Ferber's techniques are much better, and he is a doctor not a religious man with an agenda. The author of BabyWise doesn't mention in his book that his principles are based on his highly controversial religious beliefs and practices. If you do decide to get this book, please take all that he says with your own common sense and a "few huge grains of salt". NEVER DO ANYTHING JUST BECAUSE A BOOK SAID SO ---- USE YOUR CONSCIENCE AND BETTER JUDGEMENT in all things.
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Summary: This book gives very legalistic advice
Review: I read this book and as a new mom was looking for the perfect sleeping solution for my new son. This book initially appealed to my own predisposition for order and routine. However, I had uneasy feelings as I concluded the book. I came to realize that nothing can replace the God-given maternal instinct. Although I agree with a good bit of what Ezzo recommends, I don't believe he is the end-all on child rearing. Dr James Dobson does not recommend their techniques. I recommend to perhaps read the book but don't let Ezzo's advice be the last word. My child (now two) didn't sleep through the night until he was 7 months but now is an excellent napper and night-sleeper. Ezzo scares me a bit with his rigidity.
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