Babywise

[Anonymous]

Have any of you read and implemented Babywise? If so, what are your thoughts? Good, bad or ugly!

[Anonymous]

I suggest a google search of the archives, OP.

[Anonymous]

I've read media accounts of it, and they are ugly.

[Anonymous]

I read it and have implemented some of the ideas, but I'm not necessarily an advocate, by any means.

I think the wisest thing the book emphasized is full-feedings. As in, dont let your baby snack - from Day 1. And from Day 1, if it was all I was going to do, I was going to keep my DD awake and get her to have a full meal. And sometimes it took an hour for her to eat, but I didnt let her fall asleep until then. And I think that has really helped us (now 3mo) get on a reasonable schedule. Also helps with STTN because she gets her calories during the day and doesnt just snack. It also keeps me sane, because we really can easily go 3 hours at this point between meals. Also gives me more confidence knowing when she's hungry vs crying for another reason.

Another suggestion I implemented was the Sleep then Eat then Play (as opposed to Sleep then Play then Eat). This way they dont associate sleeping with eating. This book isnt the only one that recommends that - Baby Whisperer does too (that's what I've been following more than Babywise)

For me the 3 hour schedule AT FIRST didnt really work and ended up stressing me out. For the first 4 weeks I was consistently waking her up at 3 hours to eat and then for the next 4 weeks when she went through her growth spurts there was no way she'd make it to the 3 hour mark (we were lucky to hit 2). So, the general idea of schedules was good but for my DD, as a newborn, it wasnt quite going to fly.

I also an not a big fan of CIO which this book implies doing. Another reason I like Baby Whisperer better.

[Anonymous]

Here you go, lots to read:
http://www.google.com/search?q=babywise+%26+site%3Adcurbanmom.com&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

I'm with 17:38 above; I found the same tips useful that she did, but I found the emphasis on scheduling not helpful and I think it also negatively impacted BFing and my milk supply. That said, I don't think it's as evil or terrible as many of the threads you might read would suggest.

[Anonymous]

Everyone I know who liked that book and thought it was helpful did not breastfeed.

I remember reading it because someone recommended it and I threw it in the trash because I didn't want it to go to Goodwill where somebody dumb enough to follow it strictly would buy it. I don't remember specifically what I found so offensive, but it wasn't for me.

[Anonymous]

I read the book while pregnant and felt that it really fit my philosophy of parenting (or what I thought it would be). I brought it to the hospital. I tried to live by it for the first few weeks and it is my biggest, biggest regret. I was so concerned on doing things by the book that I didn't just enjoy my baby. I tear up thinking about how stupid I was, arguing with my husband 2 hours and 15 minutes after my baby ate and was crying, hungry, and me saying we needed to wait 15 more minutes.

[Anonymous]

i was just with my cousin this weekend who is following it. she is not BFing... she pumps 3x a day and formula feeds. i have a 3 yo DC and i thought her routine was overly regimented. it felt like she was pushing the baby to finish relatively big bottles (for a 8 week old) and it seemed cruel to make the baby cry for 15 minutes while waiting to get its bottle. she told me she was doing "babywise." i made a mental note not to bother looking at that book when #2 comes.

[Anonymous]

I dont understand the posts above that say people were waiting to feed their DC. The book doesnt say to do that, so I guess they weren't really reading it. It says if your DC is hungry to FEED them, even if it's not time.

I'm the 17:38 post above, so again, I'm not it's biggest fan, but I have a really big problem with people quoting false information.

And I do EBF and though I didnt follow the book verbatim, I didnt have any problems with supply because of it.

[Anonymous]

I'd suggest reading this article abstract from the American Academy of Pediatrics, entitled "'Babywise' Advice Linked to Dehydration, Failure to Thrive".

http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/14/4/21

[Anonymous]

No I read it, very carefully. I does say to feed them if you really think they are hungry but twists it in a way to say that if you think they are hungry before 2.5 hours you are probably wrong, and if you are wrong and feed them anyway, you are failing. The whole book just makes you doubt your instincts and common sense. That is my take anyway.

[Anonymous]

It has some good ideas, but as 20:38 said, the AAP warned against it. So inform yourself, the authors aren't experts (pediatricians or whatever) in the field at all, in fact they have strong religious affiliations, so keep that in mind.

[Anonymous]

The author is an evangelical minister who is really into dominance and control. An earlier version had you disciplining 18 mo olds with a leather paddle and teaching them to sign "thank you" and "i love you" so they could literally be seen and not heard. The authors have no credentials re: childcare/health whatsoever. The book was revised when the AAP really came out against it after several babies were in bad shape due to the advice. A few babies may even have died. Lots of good books out there, including one by the AAP or The Baby Book by Sears. Think about the psychological damage done to kids in Eastern European orphanages and think about whether or not you want to spend your time reading that book. It's especially harmful to a successful bfeeding relationship.

[Anonymous]

Yikes! The authors of babywise are right wing, religious extremists. My pediatrician actually mentioned the book by name and said it was a "dangerous" and misleading. No worries, I wouldn't have read it anyway, and I was a bit annoyed that my pediatrician would jump to conclusions. But later on, a friend later recommended the book to me. At first, she was celebrating the fact that her 11 week old was sleeping 12 hours straight through, no feeds or wakings. But then her doctor made her start waking the baby up again as he lost weight instead of gained between checkups. Sadly, my friend later said it was the nail in the coffin for her breastfeeding. I wish her pediatrician had warned her.

Google babywise and you'll see what experts are saying (stay away!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read the book while pregnant and felt that it really fit my philosophy of parenting (or what I thought it would be). I brought it to the hospital. I tried to live by it for the first few weeks and it is my biggest, biggest regret. I was so concerned on doing things by the book that I didn't just enjoy my baby. I tear up thinking about how stupid I was, arguing with my husband 2 hours and 15 minutes after my baby ate and was crying, hungry, and me saying we needed to wait 15 more minutes.

TOTALLY agree with this. By my third baby, I threw the watch out and fed on demand. Worked out to about every 2-3 hours anyway.

The take home message of BAbywise is to make sure you're not interpreting every cry as a hunger cry.