On Becoming Baby Wise Book Two: Parenting Your Pre Toddler 5-12 Month Old Through the Babyhood Transition [Paperback]

Gary Ezzo (Author), Robert Bucknam (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2001

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

Product Details

• Paperback: 135 pages
• Publisher: Parent-Wise Solutions (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971453217
• ISBN-13: 978-0971453210
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (197 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Parenting & Families > Parenting > Babies & Toddlers > General
  • #4 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Parenting & Families > Parenting > General
  • #9 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Parenting & Families > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

341 of 384 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take it with a grain of salt., May 8, 2002

By 

Meghann (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Becoming Baby Wise Book Two: Parenting Your Pre Toddler 5-12 Month Old Through the Babyhood Transition (Paperback)

The negative reviews written on this board making claims of malnutirition, breastfeeding problems, and attachment disorders are almost comical! As with any parenting book (or most informative books in general for that matter), Ezzo's "On Becoming Baby Wise" should be taken with a grain of salt. Most sensible readers should have the ability to pick up on the idea that this book is simply a GUIDELINE for new parents on real issues such as creating feeding and sleeping habits, communication, potty training, discipline etc. The book has a very good grasp on parent-centered vs. child-centered parenting and offers solutions that really work to the problems facing most new parents. Before reading this book, I fed my daughter on demand, she slept when she wanted, and seemed to cry all of the time. She was eating for 2 minutes, falling asleep for 10, and waking up hungry again. I was exhausted. At four weeks, when I transitioned her onto the Baby Wise schedule, not only did she develope a managable (and healthier) feeding schedule, she was sleeping through the night in two weeks, and was a much happier baby overall.

Now, three years later, I am reading and following the advice from "Child Wise" (the third book of the series) and my daughter is an absolute joy to be around. She is healthy, developmentally advanced, well-mannered, obedient and happy. I don't agonize over taking her to public places for fear of embarassment, my friends and family call ME to babysit her, and I regularly receive compliments on how well-behaved and enjoyable she is.

Did I follow everything in Ezzo's book to a T? No. But do I give it as a gift with confidence to every new mother as a practical guide for child care and management? ABSOLUTELY!!

Again, taking ANYTHING to an extreme can be dangerous. But taking this book for what it's worth without nit-picking the verbiage to pieces will probably save most new parents from a lot of sleepless nights and headaches.

164 of 196 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Babywise II ~ Not So Wise!, August 18, 2003

By 

History_of_Art_Geek (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Becoming Baby Wise Book Two: Parenting Your Pre Toddler 5-12 Month Old Through the Babyhood Transition (Paperback)

On Becoming Babywise, Mr. Ezzo's first book, was an invaluable resource to me when my son was an infant. William thrived on the Babywise method, and was sleeping eight hours a night, at eight-weeks to the day. I believe he is a happy, healthy little boy in part, because I followed Ezzo's advice. Naturally, I picked up Babywise II when he progressed to the next stage. Short and easy to read, this book is also affordable.

On Becoming Babywise II was written with the intent of guiding parents through the pre-toddler phase, 5 to 15 months of age. Best received by advocates of the first book, as the foundation for routine is already established. The text of this book concentrates on behavioral training and feeding.

Pros:
Chapter 3 - Mealtime Activities
This section focuses on the essentials of feeding a pre-toddler. There are complete instructions on introducing solids, making your own baby food, finger foods, snacks, and weaning. I found this chapter to be extremely helpful.

Chapter 4 - Highchair Manners
Mr. Ezzo concentrates on mealtime training in this chapter, since children spend hours a week in their highchair, and the self-control learned to properly handle food, is the same self-control needed for life outside the kitchen. I quickly realized baby hands were an issue when my son began solid foods. Following Ezzo's advice, I held his hands underneath the highchair tray with one hand, and fed him with the other. In a few short weeks, he understood, his hands went on his lap when eating, and when they strayed, a simple reminder was all it took. This is an example of the practical advice presented in this chapter!

Cons:
Chapter 4 - Highchair Manners
I strongly disagree with the author's recommendation when correcting undesirable behavior. Page 63, "First correct the child verbally. Next, provide an attention-getting squeeze or swat to the hand, if necessary." As one who followed this advice when my son turned one, I can demonstrate why it does not work, and more importantly, why it should not be an acceptable form of instruction. In my case, giving a light-squeeze to the hand, worked initially, then a week went by, and I discovered it required more than a light-squeeze to get my son's attention. Another week went by, a firm-squeeze turned into a light-swat to the hand, and then he started hitting back. According to the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), physical punishment teaches children it is okay to hit, and suggests it does far more harm than good, page 285 in "Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, Bantam", 1998.

Straight away, I sought the pediatrician's advice. She offered time-out as an alternative, which my son responded to immediately and positively. By applying the author's technique, I failed to teach my son self-control, and additional problems emerged as a result. In addition, at what age does THIS style of disciplining begin? Ezzo does not specify. This book is intended for parents of pre-toddlers, 5 to 15 months old, does the author seriously expect parents to reprimand a 5-month old in the manner mentioned above? I certainly hope not! Immediate and consistent response to misbehavior speeds the learning process. It took months to teach my son hitting was wrong, conversely, he learned the stereo was off limits in just weeks by employing the time-out method.

Final Thoughts:
Firstly, I CAUTIOUSLY recommend this book. I believe, some of the advice is disrespectful to children, and could cause behavior problems, such as illustrated with my son. Secondly, Mr. Ezzo suggests in the introduction that graduates of his first book are best served in this book, because the foundation for routine is already established. I agree with this, and propose that this edition may be beneficial to readers if the method promoted in the original book was helpful. Also, if you are a person who is capable of reading beyond some of the authoritarian tendencies, some of the advice is worthy. On Becoming Babywise II is more Christian based than the 1998 edition of On Becoming Babywise. As a Catholic, this did not insult me, but some may find the authors writing to be too preachy. I would have rated this book 2 ½ stars if it were available. Due to some of the practical advice offered, I decided to error on the positive side, rather than the negative.

34 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Read Other Books First, September 23, 2006

By 

K. Uddu (Oslo, Norway) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Becoming Baby Wise Book Two: Parenting Your Pre Toddler 5-12 Month Old Through the Babyhood Transition (Paperback)

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.