Customer Reviews

My First 300 Babies

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This book definately goes against popular parenting trends, but remember that "trends" is the key word. Even in Ms. Hendrick's time there were parenting trends, and those are things that are easy to ignore in this book. Please consider the message behind what she is saying in these pages. "Babies are unpredictable" that is very true, what I have learned in raising my 8 children is that a newborn does not always know what is best for him/her. I have run the gamut in parenting styles, from strict attachment parenting to 300 Babies. The babies that I raised ala Hendricks were by far the most content. My last baby was sleeping through the night age 6 weeks of age plump and happy on exact feeding schedule stated in the book, compare that to my underweight,cranky, fed on demand baby who slept in my bed until she was two. I loved both babies, but I was a well-rested, happier mother with the scheduled baby.

Always use common sense, put babies to sleep on their backs (of course that has changed since I was told to put my now 15 year-old on her tummy), add in an extra breastfeeding or two in the early months, and if you feel your baby is sick or in pain offer comfort. But, keep the spirit of this book. I think as a culture we are creating overtired, overstimulated children that could all use a big dose of quiet and the method in this book teaches a baby to calm himself and enjoy playing alone. Far from creating distance between a mother and child a mother that has not had a cranky baby to deal with all day will run to play with her pleasant, contented baby when he/she wakes. I also feel that my husband and I enjoyed eachother and our baby more when the stress was taken away.

My most dramatic experiance was with my 5th child. He was several weeks premature, and very sensitive to noise and sound. Living in a houshold with four other children was NOT suiting him. Each evening my husband was coming home to a screaming baby, a frazzled wife, and 4 other young children who were running amok all day. I found the 300 babies book and started right away. He was four months-old at that time. Within three days (that were very difficult) he was a new baby. Calm, sleeping and eating well, even gained weight. Our household went under a change too, my husband looked forward to coming home at night! I applied these techniques to the following two babies with very good success and would do it again if I could, but my baby days are over. I am a young mom, age 32 and know how confusing it is to sort through all that is out there. As someone with experiance in counseling breastfeeding mothers I am also positive that you can exclusively breastfeed with this program. You can do this and be a happy loving mother. There even several good recipes in the back!

I had this book with both of my boys, and what a difference having them on a schedule made. I saw the difference with other mothers who didn't have their babies on a schedule. As far as I am concerned, the schedule concept was a must for my children as well as for my husband and myself. I think babies are much happier and secure if kept on a schedule. They know what to expect and when to expect it. I am planning on one or two more children and will use the book religiously with them as well. I thank God for "My First 300 Babies."

Excellent! In 1972 I had an original book from Gladys Hendrick. I knew almost nothing about babies and this book gave me the answers I needed. I followed her schedule, had sleepless nights, and my son was a happy and continent baby. He's 28 and along with his wife they are having their first child and I only hope that they follow Gladys Hendrick's adivse. My son slept through the night from the second night he was home. He still sleeps soundly to this day. Thanks so much Gladys for an enjoyable schedule that really works!

A friend of my mother-in-law gave me this book when our son was first born. She wrote in the inside cover, "this is tough love, but I've seen it work"! This was the truth. If you are desperate to get your baby sleeping through the night (some mom's actually like getting up two or three times in the middle of the night) you must "do the schedule". Our son slept through the night when he was six weeks old and has continued to be a sound sleeper - he is now four years old. BUT, you must be willing to let the baby "cry it out"....and I remember sitting outside his room while he was wailing, crying myself - because I felt like a wicked mommy! My husband did not let me give in and we made it through the miserable transition. (Remember the episode of "Mad About You" when Jaime and Paul try the Ferber Method?? - it is exactly like that!) I have to say that, although "the schedule" works - much of the advice Mrs. Hendrick provides is completely outdated. So, I suggest following the daily schedule she outlines but ignore the rest. Mrs. Hendrick's style of child-rearing is completely authoritarian - children must be "managed", they should leave the room when you have visitors, play in their rooms for hours alone, never enter the kitchen while you are cooking (because it is the mother's domain)....completely crazy and contrary to real life these days. Shouldn't having kids be FUN - at least sometimes - where is the JOY? Mrs. Hendricks is a bit too "old school" for me.

My wife and I used this book with our three children 20 years ago and could not be happier with the results. This book suggests putting your child on a tight schedule that keeps them from getting hungry or tired. They sleep better and cry less (which helps you sleep better and cry less too!) Our children were sleeping through the entire night by 7 to 10 weeks. They woke in the morning smiling and happy, not crying like the children of our friends.

Because they did not learn to cry in order to get what they wanted we found we could take our children to restaurants and public functions and they were as happy and well behaved as they were at home. As only one example, At nine months old, our first child sat in his stroller though a 2 hour graduation ceremony without a peep and then sat in a highchair at the celebration dinner afterward for 2 more hours as contented as a lark. In restaurants or on airplane rides we were constantly complemented by strangers on our happy well behaved babies.

I strongly recommend this book for any young couple if you want to see how naturally happy babies really are once they are given the comfort of a steady routine.

some might find this book "controversial" so it's not for the faint-hearted, you have to really want to stick with it and trust that it'll work (and read all the reviews from everyone else that show this is a tried and true method). we wanted to try it because my friend who has 4 kids recommended it, and it was a serious lifesaver for us. we adopted our baby girl at 5 weeks old and were in another country for 2 weeks before coming home. while there, we were in survival mode and fed on demand, which was every 2-4 hours. we had to do shifts at night in order to get any sleep. i was exhausted and frustrated, and knew once my husband went back to work, there was no way we could continue that way - so we knew we'd be putting her on a schedule when we got home.

i read "happy sleep habits, happy child" and although it has a few good tips, did nothing for us. they tell you to never wake a sleeping baby. all it did was let my baby dictate her own sleep schedule, which meant that she had her days and nights completely switched because of jet lag. once we stopped that method and went to this book a couple days after getting home, it was completely different.

i also read "baby wise" - and i didn't like having to calculate all the time what time she should be eating, sleeping etc. since you base the day's schedule on when baby wakes up that morning. in fact, once i completely missed a feeding because i miscalculated and couldn't figure out why my poor baby was so cranky! this schedule is awesome because you'll have it memorized in a day and you won't constantly have to wonder what's next (and your baby will get used to and thrive on knowing what to expect next).

the first couple of days were REALLY hard hearing her cry, but once the baby cries it out and gets on schedule, it's such a blessing!!! she has been sleeping through the night since 3 months old and is very happy and content. the author is right - your baby WILL learn, it's amazing!

you don't have to follow this to a "T" - if you want to spend more time with your baby during wake times, then do it, it's not a big deal. the most important parts of this are following the feeding and sleeping schedules. people are amazed that she takes such a huge nap in the afternoon and she is such a happy camper during her wake times. it's such a joy to parent because she wakes up smiling and rested. she is also VERY healthy and gets plenty to eat on this schedule. i wouldn't have been able to imagine having more kids if she wasn't on this schedule, and now i can't wait (and our little one is just 4 months old). people have commented that i'm such a calm first-time mom, which is honestly nothing i can attribute to myself, but to this book, and a lot of grace. i'm calm because i'm getting sleep and my baby's happy. i've had people tell me their 2 year olds still wake up in the middle of the night - i don't know how they do it!

I first purchased My First 300 Babies in 2000, when I had the first of my three children-my thoughts when I read it were that it was way to strict & regimented for me, and that I would instinctively know better then the author; after all, I'm the mom & every child must be different.

After a grueling year & a half without sleep, I revisited her book in 2001 when my second child was born, followed the schedule from the day I got home from the hospital, and have never had a problem. I am actually the envy of everyone I know, because my second & third babies sleep without any difficulty even with a party going on downstairs.

I think I learned that a little strictness early on could make parenting much easier in the long run. I must say I do allow flexibility with the schedule, but it is always my guideline when possible, & my first attitude did change from "no way" to "there is a lot of wisdom in this" once I became more experienced with the whole parenting thing.

I wish I hadn't been so stubborn in 2000, because I still have difficulty getting my 4 yr old to bed, but I am thankful that I did it right with the other two from the beginning.

Four years after writing this review, I'm a first time grandmother. My 5 month old grandson slept through the night by 8 weeks but he won't take naps unless someone holds him. I have been encouraging my son to read and apply this book but so far he and my grandson's mother are flying by the seat of their pants. The schedule works and it's hard for me to watch as they struggle and that little sweetheart doesn't get enough sleep. I will say it again re this book, it's very good for babies. Parents are the ones who struggle being put on baby's schedule but it makes a baby's life so simple and predictable.

I was 41 and a single adoptive mom when I found this wonderful book weeks before my son was born. Although I'm a Christian and I bought this book in a Christian bookstore, I don't remember this as a Christian book, it's the content and overall plan I remember and it's incredible usefulness. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

I'm from the hippie generation and initially had a negative response to the author's rather rigid dictums. In my own mind I called her a Nazi nurse, which I later realized was completely unfair. However, as a full time counselor and a single first time mother, I knew I had to have my precious little boy on a schedule if I was going to accomplish anything. I didn't apply everything she suggested rigidly but followed the schedule when it came to naps and eating. I also gave him play time especially when I needed a break.

I vacillated back and forth, schedule -which was common in the 50's- no schedule, let the child's needs dictate more common in th 70's and up. As soon as I got over my initial response to the book,I put him on a schedule with pie chart for family and friends. It took awhile for me to train myself to the schedule, maybe 2 weeks. My mother was his caregiver when I was working and she was so great sticking to the plan. We'd actually have conversations like, "oh, I can't do such and such with Joe now because it's nap time."

I had to let him cry through on the night he turned 8 weeks so that I wouldn't hallucinate from exhaustion (only partially a joke!) I sat in the living room, my stomach full of butterflies as I let him cry. He slept through the night from that night on.

Structure gives a child peace and predictability, and that is a great gift in this world. He had such a sense of security, knowing instinctively when things were going to happen. The long term fruit of this book is that I have a very secure, very calm, very happy young man of 17 now and he was very easy to raise. He has never had behavior problems other than what I call the young lion phase of the teenage years which he's coming out of now as he starts college. He never fought me re sleep and I always made sure he had plenty.

This book is a great gift for a clueless new parent. I was 41 and well educated but no matter how old you are when you're a first time parent, you don't have a clue. Get it for someone who has had problems raising a happy child.

Bottom line, it works.

And more than that it is an example of the sacrificial love we give our blessings from God. You might think letting a child's natural needs rule the roost is the best way to go and that schedules are made by selfish and anally retentive parents. The opposite is true. A parent who really loves their child will take their own life and structure it around what is best for the child based on the parent's hard won wisdom. Read Anna B Mow if you want to know more about love.

When I first had my daughter, I had borrowed this book. After 2 months, I had to return it. I then tried to order this book online, after 2 1/2 months of waiting, I finally got my own copy. It was the best investment in my life. The day the book was delivered, I read it during my daughter's nap. By the time she woke up, I felt more confident, and in control, because I had a plan. She started behaving better, INSTANTANEOUSLY. She could tell that her mom had things in control once again, and that she didn't have to worry about anything any longer. I can't express how much I truly love this book. Being a parent has been a breeze with this book. Everywhere I go, perfect strangers are telling me how well behaved my daughter is. I know it's from the use of this book. I even had a son when my daughter wasn't even a year and a half old yet, and it was such an easy transition. And he's just as wonderfully well-behaved as she is. Anyone who doesn't recommend this book, isn't self disciplined. People who like their life chaotic, can't agree with this book. As well as people who don't believe in telling their children no. I still get my nap during the day, and time to myself at night. This book makes parenting easy!!

New parents are faced with a mountain of information and opinion on every facet of child raising. Ms. Hendrick's book takes a logical, sensible look at how to deal with the change an infant makes on a family.

Complete with detailed schedules and sage advice, My First 300 Babies takes the mystery, but not the thrill, out of parenting.

Utilizing Ms. Hendrick's time managment schedules, our children (now 29 months and 10 months) slept through the night at 4 and 5 weeks old respectively.

My only wish is for an updated version, as some of the language and references were current in the 60's, when the book was written. Nevertheless, this should be The Bible for all new parents!