On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep (On Becoming. . .)

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.

I have read so many things about this book being dangerous. The only DANGEROUS thing is a parent not using their god given brains to make a decision on the health of their own child. Like anything....it works for some and not others. My son has been on a schedule since he was 2 weeks old and still sleeps great. Slept from 11:00 to 8:00 AM at 8 weeks old. Now he's almost two and still sleeps from 7:30 PM to 8:00 AM EVERY NIGHT!! Even if I hear him wake up he puts himself back to sleep. My friends all envy me and ask me what my secret was. This is the secret. Although having a schedule really isn't new...some mothers think that letting a 3 week old run the show is the way to go. These are the same kids who are completely out of control at 3. So you make that decision. My son is very well rested and also naps well. His temperment is very consistent and I credit his getting a good night's sleep with that too. Don't listen to the crazy people out there....TRY IT!!!!

I know this book may be a bit controversial, but I personally highly recommend this book. When my daughter was a little over a month old, she would finally fall asleep for the "night" around 4am, in my arms. She was also demand-fed/nursed, fell asleep mid-feeding, wanted to nurse all the time, and threw up once a night. I was sleeping through the day and awake at night- I couldn't even go out during the day! I thought nursing and being a mom was a natural thing, but my natural instincts/lifestyle was making me go insane! That was when my dentist recommended "Babywise". I basically "reprogramed" myself with Ezzo's philosophy- which worked GREAT! I followed his simple "Eat-Play-Sleep" method immediately, which took out the guessing as to why my daughter was crying. (Before, I always thought she was hungry when she cried, but with a full feeding each time, she didn't cry for hunger so soon- less nursing!- and since she didn't overeat, she wasn't throwing up!)He also had a sample schedule that served as a great template for me to build upon for my daughter. With a strict Eat-Play-Sleep schedule, my daughter soon was sleeping earlier and earlier for the night! I used to hold my daughter until she fell asleep (going against Ezzo's method) for awhile even after reading this book, but when my daughter got too heavy and woke up/cried when I put her in her crib, I knew I had to follow Ezzo's method of teaching her to self-sleep. It was hard to hear and see her cry...but I had to remind myself that she'll be able to sleep better and feel better (who likes being sleep deprived?) in the long run. But in the morning, she was happy and didn't seem to hold a grudge on me. Now as a one year old, she sleeps by 7:30pm and wakes up around 8:30am, with two naps during the day. Most of the time she barely makes a sound before going to sleep! Looking back, I realize I never did follow everything Babywise said from the beginning. I took what I wanted and left the rest. But when I had a new problem with my daughter, I always went to Babywise and took some more advice. Now that I think about it, it may have taken almost a year to fully implement most all of the Babywise philosophy! So my advice is to take what you want from this book, use some common sense, and try it out! It's worked for me and others so something must be right about this book!

This book receives such controversial review. I've spent some time on the internet reading the negative criticisms. It seems that those who are so negative towards these techniques arrived at their conclusion because of other situations with their baby that affected the effectiveness of the methods.

I have used the methods in this book with all three of my children. All three of my children were sleeping through the night by 9 weeks, were not crying to be fed, and gained confidence that their needs would be met. All three of my children today (ages 8, 5 and 2) have no issues with bedtime and have not had issues with bedtime. They all three sleep in their own beds and have since birth. I will also add that two of my babies had severe reflux.

I loved the freedom that I felt in the teachings of Ezzo. I knew what to expect every day in regards to my daily schedule with feedings and naptimes. I also encourage you to note Ezzo's explanations of being flexible with your baby. It is not a strict regiment, but a framework that is established. Flexibility is allowed when baby is sick, has reflux, has growth spurts, etc.

I know some moms who had difficulty with Ezzo's methods and the reasons were due to allergies and repiratory issues. Once these issues were addressed, the methods were succesful.

I highly recommend the teachings in this book. Along with your wisdom as a parent and the guidelines in the book, you will benefit your baby and you will enjoy the freedom and success you will experience.

A colleague of mine recommended this book to me - she used it with her children, and both slept 9-10 months a night at 12 weeks of age. My husband and I followed the tips in this book and our six-month-old baby goes down easily for naps, and sleeps at least 9 hours per night (and has done so for about three months now). We have an extremely happy, well-rested baby. There have been set-backs and a few bumps and starts, but the overall approach has worked extremely well with our child. What I appreciated about this book was its suggestion from the outset that parents take charge and do what is best for THEIR child. I liked the idea that this book be taken as a guideline. As such, it has been very very useful. I mailed it to a friend, and they have found it equally useful.