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Summary: Hurray for the parent-centered family
Review: I am always amazed when I read the poor reviews of this book. This book was recommended to me when I was pregnant with my first child. Although I didn't agree with everything it had to say, it made sense to me. My child began sleeping through the night at 7 weeks. He is now a happy 2 1/2 year old. People are amazed at how happy and content he is. And believe me he knows that he is loved by two parents who treasure him more than life itself. Yes, the benefit of this book is to get your child to sleep through the night sooner rather than later. However, I think the point of the book is to remember to keep your family a parent-centered family rather than a child-centered family. I'm not sure what other parents have against discipline but it is a necessary part of growing up. The key thing to remember when reading this or any book is that you need to digest the material and take away from the book the items that will work for you. No, I did not do 100% of what Ezzo said in his book but I did the majority of them. Perhaps I have a little more common sense than others. Baby number two is due in a month and my husband and I have every intent of having another happy and healthy "Baby Wise" baby.
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Summary: Bottom Line: it works
Review: Even though this method wont work on every single child (as the author would have you believe), we were able to train both our girls to sleep the nite by 8 weeks of age.
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Summary: I put this one in the trash
Review: I was sent this book while pregnant with my first son. I read it and thought "that sounds great !" The book basically takes a your the boss and you shouldn't have to change your life to fit your childs needs stand. Once I got home with my baby that all changed. Putting him on a schedule was one thing but following the advice of letting him cry for hours on end until he figured it out was heart breaking. I think that what everyone loses sight of is that each child is an individual. What works for one baby won't for another. The danger in this book falls in making a new parent feel like a failure if there heart won't allow them to follow the advice of not picking up your crying child. Babies are thrown into this world not by there choice but by yours which means it is your responsiblity to give them love and care. Not only does this book talk about letting your child scream for hours; but about not picking them up when they are awake(don't want to spoil them or make them feel wanted), not wearing them in any kind of carrier etc.. but you can play with them during "awake" times. No rocking your sweet baby to sleep while nursing. If I had followed this advice I would have missed out on SO many wonderful moments with my son even if some of them were at three in the morning. I instead picked up a Dr.sears book after feeling like a failure for following my heart and knowing I couldn't do that to my son. Dr.Sears made me feel so much better and not only had medical experience he has 6 children of his own. Babywise makes you think his way is the only way. In all reality it is not you caqn give your baby all the rocking ,holding, cuddling, and yes even sleeping with you in the same bed!! And your child will sleep through the night on his own as did my son only after following Dr. Sears knider gentler methods. To me this book just gave the "ok" to people who want to not listen to what there baby is asking for which may be more than what they thought parenthood would be. I think that is were all the occurences of neglect and malnutrition come from, people who say "hey this guy says I can just throw the baby in the crib and come back every three hours or so" of course that is not what he says directly but that is what they hear, as do I.
One more thing. Trying to get your baby on a schedule is of course the ultimate goal in parenthood for many. My issue was with the many other statements made against parents who do end up co-sleeping, baby carrying, rocking, demand feeding, and just plain loving on there child. He states that these children aren't as independent as are baby-wise babies. I am happy to report that as completely untrue. My son was sitting up at 4 months crawling by 5 and walking by 9. He is the happiest toddler I know. My sister followed this book without waiver and yes her children were sleeping through the night by 6 weeks but neither of them were even able to sit up at nine months the oldest didn't walk until 15 months and the youngest not until 18. I have to think this has something to do with not be held of comforted or a part of the world around them. But hey they defiantely aren't "spoiled". Your child may sleep all night early by following this book but think about what the long term effects may be because I am sure that when a child has a problem at 4 years old with behavior the parent will not remember how they treated their child as an infant and the effect it may have had.
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Summary: the best
Review: Use this book with their on-line support.... They will email you back quickly and walk you through whatever problems you are encountering. We couldn't have survived colic without this wisdom! Psalm 127:2....God wants us to have sleep; Babywise makes that possible.
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Summary: Great book
Review: I don't quite understand all of the negative reviews on this book. This book was recommended to me by numerous friends who have had success with this program. Their children range from 6 months old to 5 years old and all are healthy and happy. We read this book, and many others with a critical eye and decided to use Ezzo's philosophy. Contrary to what many have written, his ideas are not rigid or unloving, they are just the opposite. He teaches structure WITH flexibility, and above all, love your child!! Our girl is 11 weeks old, VERY healthy, and yes, she only eats 6 -8 times a day. The doctors have said that she is thriving!! She is very happy and eats and sleeps well with VERY minimal crying. Some have said that this book teaches you to ignore your babies cues and just let them cry. Not true, the book teaches you to listen to your babies cries FOR the cues. We have done this and yes, sometimes we do not pick her up when she cries...why...because she is tired. When we hear her "tired" cry we put her down and wham, she is asleep in two minutes. But when it is two in the morning and I hear "I'm hungry" or "I want to be held" cry, then thats what I do. What I don't do is stuff food in her mouth everytime she cries. The book teaches flexibility and we USE it, yes, the goal is to go 2.5 - 3.0 hours between feeding. But that doesn't mean you let your child starve...many times we fed her when she was crying at two hours or less. But we kept using the ideas in the book and now she goes for three hours minimum during the day, and 7-9 hours at night, and no, we didn't starve her. One of the greatest parts about getting our baby on a schedule is that she knows and we know when certain events happen. We know that as soon as she wakes up, she eats, then there is play time, then nap time. We don't spend a lot of time trying to figure out what our daughter wants because we know at what point in the schedule we are at. Does this mean she is perfect and follows it to a tee, no, but for the most part we know what to expect and so does she. To give you an example, during the day when she wakes up from her naps she generally does NOT cry, she quielty talks to herself, we go pick her up and she SMILES, yes she is hungry but she doesn't cry, why, she knows she is about to be fed,she is used to this schedule and she patiently waits until I warm her bottle of breast milk or until mom is ready. She eats well and then we laugh together for about an hour until it's naptime again. This book has been a blessing to us. We don't use it as a law book, just a reference. But I can tell you we have been VERY happy with the results, and so has our daughter.
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Summary: If you only read one book, read this one!!
Review: I am a new mom, not just of one baby, but of twins! And this book worked wonders for us. Our babies were on a schedule, the same schedule, and sleeping through the night by 3 1/2 months. Follow the advice in this book, and you will be much less frustrated and much more well-rested, and have a happy baby to boot! Dr. Bucknam is my pediatrician, and he is wonderful. This book is just what the doctor ordered!!
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Summary: This book makes bold promises and it delivers - Excellent!
Review: This book brought common sense to our home after having twins in 1999. It gave us the confidence we needed as new parents. As a result of following this book our children were happy, content, well adjusted infants. People commented time and again about how easy our children were, just exactly the way the book said they would. Our girls slept through the nights at 9 and 9 1/2 weeks and so did we. We also found that this book put our kids on the same schedule that the maternity ward used. It also was completely acceptable to our pediatrician. Our neighbors recommended this book to us and since people actually ask us (just like the book said) how we did it, we recommend it to every one.
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Summary: Babywise Helped Give My Twins a Great Start!
Review: I am downright confused and baffled by all of the hysteria about this book, and feel obliged to give the other side equal time! Our fifteen month-old twins have been happily and easily sleeping through the night since they were nine weeks old, thanks to Ezzo's suggestions. I believe this healthy routine is fundamental to their emotional and neurological development. (Don't we all thrive on schedules?) Ezzo doesn't recommend strict adherence to schedules at all costs--just that the parent ease the infant toward a three-hour or whatever schedule, then sleeping through the night when the child is physically able and ready to do so, all the while paying attention to and meeting his needs. Ezzo gave me the confidence to create healthy structure for my twins (born in September 2000) and we are all thriving! Bottom line: this book is a tool, and a confident, mature parent possessing simple common sense can use its principles to great advantage!
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Summary: Dangerous and heartless advice
Review: Strictly concontrolled schedules; recommendation to use physical punishment for toddlers; and no research to support their methods. The author has no professional background in child development or medicine, although he implies that he does. The infant-feeding advice is inconsistent with standard medical recommendations, including that of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and when followed for newborns can be downright life-threatening. There are plenty of baby books out there, this is not one I would recommend.
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Summary: A dangerous and misleading book
Review: If you love your child, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! This author's publishing contract has been revoked after numerous reports of malnutrition in babies whose well-meaning parents followed the methods advised in this book. Some babies under two have been seen DEPRESSED as a result of this book. The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly warns against employing the practices outlined in Babywise. Mr. Ezzo holds no degrees in child development or pediatric medicine. He advocates physical punishment, leaving babies alone to cry in playpens and cribs for extended periods of time, and strict feeding schedules. If you want a good book about baby care and parenting, buy "The Baby Book" by William Sears, M.D., who, by the way, calls "Babywise" "the most dangerous book I've seen in 25 years of pediatric practice."
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