WHEN METH MEET MESSIAH!!!

While Babywise seems to “work” for some baby/mom dyads, it doesn’t “work” for many babies. The upsetting thing is that sometimes parents don’t realize how much it isn’t working until after their baby is having serious problems.

What is so very concerning is that much of the information in Babywise is presented as fact, when in actuality is contrary to what is known about infant growth, development and breastfeeding. So loving parents can be making decisions for their babies that are based on misinformation–and those misinformed decisions can lead to real harm.

I encourage all parents who are thinking about using Babywise or want to incorporate some of the ideas to read through the Voices of Experience stories. At the least, it will help prepare parents to catch the early signs of Babywise not “working” before serious harm is done.

Voices of Experience:
http://www.ezzo.info/voices.htm

Jodie, if you happen to read this, do not do Baby Wise. It goes against your God-given instinct to nurture your child. Dr. Sears has WONDERFUL information that keeps the bond between mama and baby fully intact. Also, if it doesn’t feel right, then don’t do it. If allowing your baby to cry doesn’t feel right, then it isn’t. Neither of my children cried to sleep and they go to bed just fine. I woke up with my youngest many times a night as she needed a lot of nightime parenting. She doesn’t need that now. Be there for your baby. You will not spoil her. You will not harm her by holding her too much or loving on her too much (I’m saying her, ’cause that’s all I’ve got! lol) Enjoy every single second. Even those middle of the night wakings that drive you crazy. No one else gets that time…it’s just you and baby gazing intimately into each others eyes as you care for her, etc. Don’t miss out on that. Please…run…far from any information that schedules your baby or tells you to ignore your instinct. Run fast and far.

Ummm, OMG, WTF is wrong with her? Babywise is a NO NO book!

I don’t really read a lot of parenting books, but I have checked out books by Dr. Sears and these are most similar to what I would look for in a book. We cosleep, though, so most sleep books don’t address that situation anyways.

It should also be noted that until his mouthpiece was going to cut the pursestrings, Gary Ezzo consistently extolled the virtues of putting a baby to sleep on its tummy, saying that it helped create a more “passive, agreeable” infant.

My heart hurts when I think of the parents, the possibly large number of parents whose babies fell victims to SIDS. If you look at the earlier editions of “Babywise” from the mid 90s or so, it still has the info about how putting your baby to sleep on its back will only cause “more problems for you”.

Ezzo is ALL about convenience for the parent and NADA about health and wellness for the baby. It ought to be subtitled “Babywise: roll the dice with your baby’s very life!”

I feel like I can offer somewhat of a unique perspective on Babywise and the Ezzos. I don’t have children myself, so I’m not just proposing or denying something that worked for me. I read Babywise out of interest because a pediatrician friend of mine said she had recently diagnosed numerous babies with “failure to thrive” and it turns out all but one of them were following the “Babywise” method.

First off, anyone writing a “how to” book should have some experience with the “HOW” in the equation. Gary Ezzo has no experience, or at least had none when he wrote the book. However, I still went into it with an open mind.

I was and remaind well and truly HORRIFIED.

Do you people who have read the books somehow gloss over the fact that Ezzo says your parenting style leans toward “lazy” if you don’t SPANK YOUR 4-6 month old for not “FOCUSING” on meals enough??? I mean come ON, people. This sounds like something Mengele would have come up with!

I could not believe anyone actually felt this way and I attended a lecture given by the Ezzos and sponsored by Focus On The Family. I literally had to sit on my hands when he started talking about making your newborn go hungry, and I DID have to stand up and say something when he began to speak in gentle, “fatherly” tones about ‘switching’ a 4-6 month old who is an “unfocused” eater. I asked him why he expected young babies to focus on things so forcefully when everything was still new to them and they were OWED some time to “not focus” on things. He talked over me instantly and said “what we have here friends is someone who was not DISCIPLINED enough for using Babywise in its intended fashion”. I said that no, I don’t have kids…and Ezzo quipped “lucky for THEM! they’d be overweight and hyperactive!” I said “I’d rather them have a little baby fat and thrive than follow the Ezzo ‘diet’ and be under their birthweight at a month old” and I walked out. I cannot BELIEVE that out of more than four hundred people there, I was the only one to be outraged.

So just to recap- Ezzo thinks your babies will grow up to be “overweight and hyperactive” if you DON’T starve or swtich them. And we are not talking about little hellcat toddlers, here- we’re talking about a sixteen WEEK old infant being “switched” about the legs and bottom for taking too long to eat.

I’m sorry, but no matter what “works” for anyone, I cannot advocate this book, nor any parenting ‘advice’ or strategy from this delieriously self-important, uneducated jacka**.

There are a ton of comments here, but I just had to add something:
Human breast milk is low in fat compared to other mammals who feed their babies every few hours during the day. Human breast milk is designed to be eaten continuously throughout the day by the baby.
The fat in breast milk will also be reabsorbed back into the body if it sits in the breast for too long, thus being less nutritious and less satisfying for baby.
Please feed your baby when they are hungry.

I am a conservative Christian and would never practice the Baby Wise method. I do not feel it is a “Christian method.” There are very prominent Christian leaders who’ve spoken out against the method.

Actually, the only parenting book I’ve read is part of The Happiest Baby on the Block, which I did like and I do feel the techniques can be useful for all infants.

I believe there is a difference between SCHEDULE and ROUTINE. Children need routines, not schedules.

I have two children and I treated them both the same and they are completely different. I fed both on demand. I in no way feel it is appropriate to withold food from a baby. I also have no allowed my children to cry.

My first was still eating once in the middle of the night until 15 months. He was hungry. I wasn’t going to make him try to sleep with a hungry belly. My second…who I fed exactly the same…was sleeping 8 hours by 8 weeks old. Twelve hours not long after. The thing that is similar with both of my children is they are very adaptable. They do not have problems if their routine is disturbed.

I feel each baby is an individual and there is no one size fits all approach to parenting. I think the biggest danger is in thinking there is.