"Becoming Babywise" The Book

I keep hearing a lot about this book "On Becoming Babywise". So I decided to look it up on Amazon.com to see what it was all about. Here is what I found

"The infant management concepts presented in this book have found favor with over two million parents and twice as many contented babies. On Becoming Babywise brings hope to the tired and bewildered parents looking for an alternative to sleepless nights and fussy babies. The Babywise Parent Directed Feeding concept has enough structure to bring security and order to your baby's world, yet enough flexibility to give mom freedom to respond to any need at any time. It teaches parents how to lovingly guide their baby's day rather than be guided or enslaved to the infant's unknown needs. The information contained within On Becoming Babywise is loaded with success. Comprehensive breast-feeding follow-up surveys spanning three countries, of mothers using the PDF method verify that as a result of the PDF concepts, 88% breast-feed, compared to the national average of only 54% (from the National Center for Health Statistics). Of these breast-feeding mothers, 80% of them breast-feed exclusively without a formula complement. And while 70% of our mothers are still breast-feeding after six months, the national average encourage to follow demand feeding without any guidelines is only 20%. The mean average time of breast-feeding for PDF moms is 33 1/2 weeks, well above the national average. Over 50% of PDF mothers extend their breast-feeding toward and well into the first year. Added to these statistics is another critical factor. The average breast-fed PDF baby sleeps continuously through night seven to eight hours between weeks seven and nine. Healthy sleep in infants is analogous to healthy growth and development. Find out for yourself why a world of parents and pediatricians utilize the concepts found in On Becoming Babywise."

But then I started looking at the reviews for the book. It looked as though this "babywise" book and parenting style had some issues with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and of course I wanted to know why.

Matthew Aney M.D with the AAP stated that this could lead to failure to thrive, dehydration, poor milk supply failure, and slow growth and development. A Forsyth Medical Hospital Review Committee, in Winston-Salem N.C., has listed 11 areas in which the program is inadequately supported by conventional medical practice.

When I done a search on "Attached Parenting" with the keyword warning, here is what came back.

• Misuse of Slings Can Cause Death
• A Warning Against Co-Sleeping (which we are not doing anyway)
• Strenuous and Demanding on Parents

However there were no articles written solely against this style of parenting.

Here are some passage from The Baby Book by Dr. Sears

Should Baby Be Left to Cry it Out?

New parents often say to us, "I saw a technique on television that advised parts to let their baby cry longer each night until he learned to fall asleep on his own. This approach doesn't feel right to me. Does it work?"...We have written articles about the cry-it-out controversy, debated it on national television, and for the benefit of tired but vulnerable parents, we have thoroughly researched what is at the top of our hit list of bad baby advice. Here is what we found.

Doesn't Feel Right

To learn how parents feel about this question we surveyed three hundred mothers. one of the questions was: What advice do you get from friends and relatives about what to do when your baby awakens at night? The most common advice was "Let baby cry it out." We also asked mothers how they felt about this advice. Ninety-five percent of mothers replied. "This advice doesn't feel right." Our conclusions: 95 percent of mothers can't be wrong, and there is real confusion created by the advice a mother hears and what she feels.

It Sells

We interviewed publishers and TV producers who print and air this approach. Their defense: "It Sells. Parents want quick recipes and quick results." Moms and dads, there are no quick fixes, no crash courses on baby calming and baby sleeping...

Missing the Real Cause of Night Waking

...The cry-it-out advice often covers up medical causes of night waking. In our pediatric practice, we frequently see infants who wake up at night because they are hurt, often from a medical condition such as gastroesophageal reflux.

I think that parents should be aware of this "Babywise" book and sleep trainers, I don't think they are as beneficial as they were intended to be. Also, it goes against every mothering cell in your body when you let your baby just "cry it out".

Just my two cents.