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 | On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep (On Becoming. . .)
Author: Gary Ezzo, Robert Bucknam
Publisher: Parent-Wise Solutions, Inc.
Binding: Paperback
Released: 2006-09-25
Sales Rank: 255
ISBN: 1932740082
Edition: 4
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 2008-08-17 - Most useful sleep book
Every day that my child did not sleep through the night after reaching 12-13 pounds, I bought another book with sleep advice. This is the fifth and final book that I bought. Every friend I recommend it to is incredibly grateful and I am forever grateful to the friend who recommended it to me.
2008-08-14 - The happiest baby and parents around!
My wife and I are were very skeptical about this book, especially after reading all of the negative stuff on the net. But after hearing some rebuttals by people who actually read and used the book, we decided it couldn't hurt to read it.
After reading it, we decided to give it a try, with our radar on full alert to anything that might rub us the wrong way. Long story short: we don't know what we would have done without this book. True, we had to slightly modify the method for our baby (something the author encourages), but by 4 months our son was sleeping through the night (from 8pm to 8am), taking nice naps in the day, and eating (breast feeding)... all more or less on schedule. It was like a miracle.
We happen to have a bunch of friends who had babies around the same time, give or take a year. Most of them are what you'd consider "hippies" (heck you might consider US hippies too), and all of them are followers of the "attachment baby" method of parenting. For those of you that don't know what this is, do a Google search. Since they tend to be very judgmental about other methods of raising children -especially of the "BabyWise system- we largely kept kept the details of many aspects of our parenting from them. They eventually found out that we weren't co-sleeping or "wearing" the baby 24/7, but that's about all they knew. They certainly were wondering why our baby was sleeping through the night at 4 months, while their much older babies were waking up many times throughout the night. Maybe they also noticed behavior differences in our son, but we never really talked about it.
Suffice to say that my wife and I are soooo happy we went this direction.
People always comment about how happy and personable our son is. He's full of love, and positive energy; and he seems to be just well-balanced and strong for his age. And my wife and I couldn't be happier or more well-rested. :)
2008-08-07 - Don't be freaked out
I absolutely disagree with the comments telling you to throw BabyWise in the trash and that feeding on demand is the only way to stimulate an adequate milk supply, limiting and scheduling feedings is a sure path to a lowered milk supply, early weaning, and even failure-to-thrive in your baby.
Schedule feeding will not diminish your milk supply and schedule feeding is not the ONLY way to stimulate an adequate milk supply, the entire time you breastfeed. I do believe that it helps establish your milk supply, but you do not have to do it to maintain your milk supply. And if you read the book you would note that in the beginning they recommend feeding your baby whenever the baby wants in order to get your milk supply started and stimulate the baby's growth (for the first few weeks). Then you can, with your established milk supply happily set up a routine for you and your child. You have long consistent feedings that let your child take in what they need.
I cherished feeding times cause it was such a time of bonding and closeness. My children never failed to thrive, and never weaned early. I did use schedule feeding with my children and I had a more than adequate milk supply. I breastfed all for a full year, with scheduled feedings and never once had a problem with my milk supply. My doctor was even surprised at the amount of milk I produced. My children were happy, healthy and well-fed. Their bodies were able to regulate and their little digestive systems were not all out of whack from inconsistent meal times or meal sizes.
This is such a great point in this book that people seem to miss. If you feed your child at erratic times throughout the day, or just give them a nibble here and there then a full meal later...how in the world will their little bodies get regulated? It helps give their bodies a rhythm, and helps the child know what to expect. Once they wake up they know moms here and its time to eat, then they get to play and have fun and bond some more, then they get to take a good rest and mom can rest too, read a book, do some laundry, work, whatever she needs. Then the child can wake up again, knowing what's coming next. How does this not help establish closeness, dependency and love. The child will eventually sleep through the night because its body is in a rhythm all of ours falls into. Day and night, eat and sleep cycles. Do you not eat, sleep, and work, pretty close to the same time each day? Its human nature, we all do it and doctors tell us its good for us (try to go to bed around the same time every night...) This book is just giving you tools to help your baby establish the same kind of cycle.
And I loved the freedom it gave me when going out or planning activities. I would have a pretty good idea of when the children would wake up and what was going to happen throughout the day and I could plan accordingly. Instead of not knowing when they'd wake up or when I'd have to feed. I knew they were getting fed well, sleeping well and playing well. And yes, there were times this got knocked completely out of whack and my baby was hungry and crying 30 minutes after she just finished...nothing else was wrong, but she still showed signs of hunger so I fed her. Or she slept a little less/more, whatever. She is a little human, we are all not perfect and we all have good days, bad days, growth spurts, etc. Life happens and you have to be able to go with the flow. But these instances were few and far between, and they were not a big deal when they did happen.
You have to use good judgement. The book and author are not the parents and no one knows your child better than you. Don't get freaked out by people saying this book is DANGEROUS. Have a little bit of common sense and let your heart tell you what is best for you.
I can honestly say that the guidelines in this book worked wonders for me. My children are great sleepers and they wake up happy and content. Not all the time though, they still have their rough mornings...but who doesn't. This book will not make your child the perfect error free child...who wants that? But it helps you to establish routine, consistency and some peace of mind.
I have had atleast 15 families that are close to me use this book. Some followed the guidelines rigidly, some (like me) used what made sense and felt good for them and I do not know anyone in any of those families who does not emphatically recommend this book to other friends and family. Breastfeed or bottle feed, schedule feed or demand feed...whatever is best for you. But this book is not dangerous and if you are looking for some help or guidelines its a great option.
2008-08-07 - Love this book, only wish I had it 10 years ago!
Love, love, love this book!! This is my 4th baby and I wish I had this book years ago! My freind told me about baby wise and I am so happy I got the book. They should send you home from the hospital with it!
At first I was a little lazy with the schedule (stuck in old ways). Once I read the whole book and followed the guild lines she was sleeping 8 hours a night at 6 weeks, and 10 hours at 9 weeks. Its so wonderful to have schedule to follow.
I was a little put off by the bad reviews at first but if you read the book and stick to the main idea of the schedule its fool proff.
I passed on the book to a friend and she loves it as well! Of the 5 familys I know personaly that have done Baby Wise, they all have wonderful things to say about it and would do it again!
It is nice to have someone you know that has done it to ask questions, because some things you do have to figure out yourself as all babys are not the same.
My baby is so happy and sweet, people alway tell me how lucky I am to have such a happy alert wide eyed baby. She is never fussy unless its nap time :) Now I know why my now 3 year old was such a fussy baby... he was always sleepy because I never knew when to give him naps.
 2008-08-06 - Not that big of a deal
I completely do not understand the controversy over this book. It merely advocates putting your child on a three-hour feeding schedule.
We did this with our baby (without reading the book first) because, as new parents, we had no idea what we were doing and wanted to try and establish a bit of routine. In the beginning, you don't know if your baby is crying because he/she is hungry, wet, tired, or gassy--you just have to figure it out as you go along.
What I did find quite unrealistic in the book was the expectation that the baby would nap on schedule. It seems like most babies take a while to establish regular naps.
Anyway--I am convinced the main reason this book is controversial is because the author is a strict Christian. The methods demonstrated aren't that unusual nor I would think particularly harmful for most healthy infants.
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