Rating: 
Summary: Buy This Book!
Review: We heard about the book Becoming BabyWise and liked the concept. It is an amazing book that helped our new little baby sleep through the night at 8 weeks old! The book gives you guidelines to help them learn to fall asleep on their own. The pattern they teach is to feed your baby, then play with them (even if it's only for 2 minutes when they're brand new) and then to put them to sleep. They encourage the reader to pay attention to the cues from the baby and to make sure they are hungry before automatically feeding them every time they cry. It's so helpful to get on a schedule (that the parent not the baby sets) and our little one quickly got into a great routine! This book was a lifesaver and I recommend it to every new parent!
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Summary: Common Sense & Baby Wise Worked for Us
Review: Our childbirth class instructor dismissed this book entirely and then had to confess that she'd never even read it! I read this book several times before our daughter arrived and still keep it close for quick reference. My mother, a labor and delivery nurse for 30 years, also read it and said, "this is mostly just good common sense." She also told me what I want to share with others: you will become the expert on your baby. So, read good books like this one, consider how you feel about what you read, and be willing to try the general principles outlined in this book. We didn't always follow the Baby Wise guidelines if it didn't feel right or wasn't a good fit for our baby, but she did sleep through the night at 8 weeks of age and has done so consistently since week 10. Perhaps even better is her ability to put herself to sleep and the way she truly enjoys being in her crib. I believe the methods described in this book have helped us raise a healthy, happy, content baby who knows what she can expect from a consistent routine and trusts us completely. Don't be fooled by people like our instructor who say that the book promotes fundamentalist Christianity (I found no references whatsoever) or puts the parents' needs ahead of the child's. Neither judgment could be further from the truth.
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Summary: The BEST guide for New Parents
Review: A friend of mine recommended this book when I was 3 months pregnant, the ideas intrigued my husband and I so we decided to buy the book and give the techniques a try. It was the best thing we could've done for our child!! At 13 weeks old our daughter sleeps 9 to 10 hours a night and has been sleeping throughout the night from the very moment we brought her home.
Baby Wise contains great advice on how to get your baby on a flexible schedule that helps both baby and parent adjust to their new lives together. Your baby doesn't starve and the practices are not dangerous as some suggest. Those that claim that Baby Wise is dangerous seem like over emotional individuals afraid to try a different approach to child rearing. Our pediatrician was so pleased with the growth and weight gain of our daughter that she thought we must've been suplementing her breasfeeding with formula, we were not supplementing. And when we told her that our baby was sleeping through the night at 2 weeks, she was pleasantly surprised.
We were simply following the techniques SUGGESTED in Baby Wise and they really do work if you apply them correctly and remember that the scheduling is FLEXIBLE. They only give you suggestions in the book, how you take and use their advice is up to you as a parent.
For any one who is a new parent and would like some great advice don't listen to those who have overreacted in some of these reviews, give Baby Wise a try and you will NOT be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Warning! Parents beware of unhealthy regimens.
Review: Parenting is incredibly arduous--especially the first year. But just as we do not feed a newborn a piece of steak, or expect them to walk over and pick up their bottle, we should remember not to have unrealistic developmental expectations with regards to sleep either. If an infant is crying, whether for physical or for--just as valid--emotional needs, the parent should respond to those needs. Ezzo's program does a disservice to infants for the sake of parental convenience. Even his language shows his confusion between children and pets. Most alarming, however, is that in the American Academy of Pediatrics newsletter (_AAP News_ of April 1998), the program set forth in Ezzo's book was linked to dehydration and failure to thrive. Responding to increasing numbers of babies and children who were showing up at hospitals with failure to thrive, the American Academy of Pediatrics passed a resolution (#22T) calling on the AAP to "investigate the infant management program outlined in _Preparation for Parenting_ and _On Becoming Babywise_ and determine the extent of its potentially harmful effects on infant health and resolved that the AAP alert its members, other organizations, and parents of its findings and inform healthcare providers how to discern when the program is in use and how to facilitate patient care while on the program." Like most parents, we found the first year to be just as demanding and exhausting as it was rewarding and remarkable. Our 19-month-old is an engaged, inquisitive and smart toddler who sleeps well and is thriving happily. Parents are amazed at her age because her poise, confidence and security are indicative of a much older child. Fortunately, we avoided _Babywise's_ advice and chose to prioritize her needs to ours. After all, who's the adult here?
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Summary: The Best Infant-Rearing Book Out There!!!
Review: My son is five years old now, so I can tell you from five years of experience that this book works! We followed the guidelines from the moment our son was born and it was great. Of course, I had some problems, being a first-time mother, but the scheduling really helped me. I was able to discern what my child was crying for during the day. If he started being fussy, most times I realized it was close to his naptime and he was ready to go down. This schedule helped me to bond with my baby. I knew when he was going to be most alert and therefore the best time to play, sing and read to him. I knew when he would be hungry and therefore, when I could make a trip to the grocery store or bank. ...he slept through the night at 4 weeks!!! ...
... Take it from someone who has already been through that stage, those people are dead wrong. My son was happy, secure and very outgoing. As a stay at home mom, he was with me at most times during the week, but when it came time for church or other activities where he went to a nursery-type environment, he generally went to the workers cheerfully, content in himself that I would be back for him soon. He wasn't insecure, quite the opposite, he was very secure in my love.
Now that he's five, he still thrives on having a schedule. Children love to know what's coming. ... They love the predictable.
This book will help you be a better parent and know what your child really needs. Give it a try and see for yourself!!!
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Summary: The best pre-baby gift I received!
Review: This book was a gift from a friend who swore up and down that it proved successful in getting a child to sleep through the night in as few as 8 weeks. Based on that testament alone, I dove in. As a woman expecting my first child, I have to admit that I'm scared to death of the sleepless nights and zombie-like days that I feel are sure to afflict me in the weeks ahead.
As I began reading this book, I had no idea of the controversy surrounding it. I am a very strong-minded and relatively "set in my ways" kind of person, and I found absolutely nothing controversial. Rather, it seemed like common sense. I read in numerous passages that flexibility is key, and to use your instincts as a parent when implementing the PDF skills taught in this book. It even encourages mothers who are traveling to break the schedule so the baby is happy and others are not bothered by incessant crying. I say pass this book out in airports!
I absolutely plan to follow the guidelines (not RULES; guidelines) that are established in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Review: A friend gave me this book during my pregnancy, I was unaware of the controversy surrounding the book so I shelved it. My son is now three weeks old and last night I read the Babywise in one evening (as I nursed and rocked my baby). This morning I implemented a few of the pricinples and things are already settling into a schedule. I do think the book is somewhat militant and I do disagree with some topics, but the fundamental idea that I am the parent and I know what's best for my son still holds true when I decide not to use a certain tactic or skill taught by Ezzo and his cohort. I decided to read some of the reviews today (as my son takes his nap) to get an understanding of where other parents are coming from. ...found absolutely no segment on discipline, and certainly no discussion of corporal punishment. It is not necessary to follow this book exactly, and as the parent you will know the limits of your family and your baby. I do believe each baby is different and different methods work for different families. Enjoy your children, love them, and do what you think is best.
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Summary: Disgusted
Review: This book should be outlawed.
It freightens me that so many women do not trust their natural instincts and that of their newborn babies. Babies who learn that they cannot rely on their very own mothers for what they need tend to become insecure, aggressive, and freightened adults who do not fully comprehend the depths of love, compassion, and selfless living. Ezzo seems to be a fearful man who cannot comprehend the importance of the mother-child bond and all the benefits that accompany breastfeeding on demand (it does not work any other way), child wearing, and co-sleeping. He fosters de-tachment parenting, and the rest of our society will suffer when the "Ezzo" children grow up to become violent and fearful aggressors. Mothers don't need experts... they have love and intuition, and Ezzo disregards the importance of a mother's true role in the birth of a family.
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Summary: Baby Wise
Review: I had my son a year ago and I have to say that this book was a life saver. Being a new mom I had everyone telling me something different. I read a few books and when my friend gave me this book it made sense. She used it for her children and strongly recommended it. I read it and what a relief, from day one. Putting my child on a schedule that coincided with mine was what I needed. I could plan my day, I knew when he would take a nap, would eat...I didn't have to guess anymore. I would strongly recommend this book for any new mother.
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Summary: Great book- why is it so polarizing?
Review: Reading some of the anti-postings about this book, I can't help but conclude that many (most?) of the anti-reviewers here haven't actually read the book. The book isn't extremist, and I wasn't aware that the authors were even religious until someone told me later. I have to think that something about the authors (their religion?) really, really irks some people. Perhaps they haven't read the book, but have heard stories or have been influenced by others. These angry people seem to have written a lot of the reviews here. Honestly, I can't see what there is to get so excited about! The book talks about putting your child on a schedule involving feeding, playing, sleeping. You use a rough schedule of 2.5 to 3.5 hours between feedings. In a nutshell, that's it! Nobody is torturing anyone, and our baby seems pretty content. Since we have a rough schedule of our day, my wife (a stay at home mom) can plan on making a quick trip to the store, or can take a walk around the block without worrying about Baby getting hungry. I recommend the book. Read it- follow it if you like. Use part, all or none of it. Have fun.
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