On Becoming Baby Wise: Parenting Your Pre Toddler 5-15 Months (On Becoming. . .) 
asked by nexus on November 16, 2006 2:17 PM
It's reality-check time! You are at least five months into your tour of parenting duty by now. The complexity of child-training has begun to come into focus. You have learned that as your baby matures both constant and variable factors continually influence his or her development. What behaviors can and should you expect from your pretoddler? Feeding time for your pretoddler, for example, is now more than a response controlled by a sucking reflex. For the pretoddler, mealtime is part of a very complex, conscious interaction between what the child does and what his parents expect him to do. Right and wrong conduct will be encouraged, discouraged, and guided when necessary. In fact, right and wrong patterns of behavior will now be part of your baby's entire day. That's why feeding time, waketime and sleeptime provide wonderful opportunities for training and Babywise Book II will guide you all the way, from the high chair to playpen, from the living room to the back yard. This series teaches the practical side of introducing solids food, managing mealtimes, nap transitions, traveling with your infant, setting reasonable limits while encourage healthy exploration and much more. You will learn how to teach your child to use sign language for basic needs, a tool proven to help stimulate cognitive growth and advance communication. Apply the principles and your friends and relatives will be amazed at the alertness, contentedness and happy disposition of your baby
Reviews
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Hi I am the mother of twin baby boys and I have shared my review in all the books that these authors have written.
This book has taught my babies to be so WELL mannered and even in their highchairs.
Typically, when you feed any young baby solids you get food thrown at you, on the floor, spitting up food hands in their hair and mostly all the jar food has gone to waste. My baby boys do none of the above!!! When we go out and I feed them, people are just amazed that they keep their hands to their side. I can place a plate on their tray and they don't even touch it. My boys were doing this starting at 4 months old. Yes, that young. This book teaches you highchair ediquette. How to get your baby to eat anything you give them etc. My babies don't have tantrums and they are so happy this book is another winner. Consistency is the key and you will be so impressed!
This book has taught my babies to be so WELL mannered and even in their highchairs.
Typically, when you feed any young baby solids you get food thrown at you, on the floor, spitting up food hands in their hair and mostly all the jar food has gone to waste. My baby boys do none of the above!!! When we go out and I feed them, people are just amazed that they keep their hands to their side. I can place a plate on their tray and they don't even touch it. My boys were doing this starting at 4 months old. Yes, that young. This book teaches you highchair ediquette. How to get your baby to eat anything you give them etc. My babies don't have tantrums and they are so happy this book is another winner. Consistency is the key and you will be so impressed!
reviewed by glenn11 on November 20, 2006 1:05 AM
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I have recently completed reading BabyWise II. I consider myself a Christian and this book is extremely popular in my church. Throughout the entire book, I had moments of complete confusion and disagreement accompanied by moments of complete agreement and lucidity regarding how to implement these methods. However, by the end, I realized that I should not be confused by or passionately against any section of a book that would truly benefit my child.
While I believe there are some helpful and necessary methods in the book, I had already found much of that advice in other sources. For example, feeding schedules are advocated by many resources, but those other sources are very clear when it comes to making sure babies' basic needs are met before implementing such routines. With my knowledge from other resources, I attempted to read BabyWise with a bit of grace, but at the same time I felt guilt and coercement at many points; for instance, when I realized that my child was having one more meal a day than what is 'recommended' by Mr. Ezzo for a child her age. For the record, my pediatrician generally recommends one more meal than she is receiving for a child her age.
This concern and my confusion on other subjects in the book prompted me to speak to my husband about the book and I asked him to read it. He read only the forward and immediately became suspicious. He asked me if there were any references and I instantly realized there were none. It then became clear that the pediatrician listed as an author indeed had no authorship save the foreword, and that Mr. Ezzo has had no formal education regarding child development. A very quick search on the internet confirmed our deductions, and we found many articles against Mr. Ezzo's methods, including a well documented student's masters thesis. Out of curiosity and still trying to find a way to defend this popular book, I performed internet searches on all of the other resources on child development we own (four books; all of which document research for their claims and advice) and found absolutely no negative press for any.
Based on how unclear I found the teachings in the book and how much bad advice I had to sort out, I strongly urge anybody who reads this book to read other books first. As I said, I don't disagree with all of the methods and advice, but it should be seen as advice from a person who has raised obedient (not a bad thing) children and has no other qualifications beyond that. You could do just as well asking advice from a friend or acquaintence with children who possess qualities you admire. As we all know every child is different and reacts to different discipline methods differently. Please make sure you go to many resources to find the option best suited to your child.
Just an end note: As popular as this book is among my friends, I have not known anybody to follow the BabyWise book beyond feeding schedules and sleeping issues, and there is a good reason for that: Not all of it is good advice.
While I believe there are some helpful and necessary methods in the book, I had already found much of that advice in other sources. For example, feeding schedules are advocated by many resources, but those other sources are very clear when it comes to making sure babies' basic needs are met before implementing such routines. With my knowledge from other resources, I attempted to read BabyWise with a bit of grace, but at the same time I felt guilt and coercement at many points; for instance, when I realized that my child was having one more meal a day than what is 'recommended' by Mr. Ezzo for a child her age. For the record, my pediatrician generally recommends one more meal than she is receiving for a child her age.
This concern and my confusion on other subjects in the book prompted me to speak to my husband about the book and I asked him to read it. He read only the forward and immediately became suspicious. He asked me if there were any references and I instantly realized there were none. It then became clear that the pediatrician listed as an author indeed had no authorship save the foreword, and that Mr. Ezzo has had no formal education regarding child development. A very quick search on the internet confirmed our deductions, and we found many articles against Mr. Ezzo's methods, including a well documented student's masters thesis. Out of curiosity and still trying to find a way to defend this popular book, I performed internet searches on all of the other resources on child development we own (four books; all of which document research for their claims and advice) and found absolutely no negative press for any.
Based on how unclear I found the teachings in the book and how much bad advice I had to sort out, I strongly urge anybody who reads this book to read other books first. As I said, I don't disagree with all of the methods and advice, but it should be seen as advice from a person who has raised obedient (not a bad thing) children and has no other qualifications beyond that. You could do just as well asking advice from a friend or acquaintence with children who possess qualities you admire. As we all know every child is different and reacts to different discipline methods differently. Please make sure you go to many resources to find the option best suited to your child.
Just an end note: As popular as this book is among my friends, I have not known anybody to follow the BabyWise book beyond feeding schedules and sleeping issues, and there is a good reason for that: Not all of it is good advice.
reviewed by rafit on November 20, 2006 1:25 PM