The Next Step Babywise II: Parenting Your Pretoddler (5 to 15 Months) [Paperback]

Gary Ezzo (Author), Robert Bucknam (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 134 pages
• Publisher: Growing Families International (1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883035988
• ISBN-13: 978-1883035983
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (91 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars panning for gold, February 13, 2003

By 

MM "jaded urbanite" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Next Step Babywise II: Parenting Your Pretoddler (5 to 15 Months) (Paperback)

You have to read the entire book cover to cover to glean the excellent information contained within. My son is thriving, delightful, happy, and yes--he sleeps through the night. The number one rule is USE YOUR JUDGMENT!! if you're making your kid miserable with the rules, well duh, it's bad parenting! That same parent is going to fail with the opposite method...! Might as well get some sleep while you're at it. This book is brilliant with advice, but needs to be read carefully. There are many contradictions contained within and it isn't very well organized--but once you sift out the confusions, the GOLD IS THERE.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It Really Works, August 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Next Step Babywise II: Parenting Your Pretoddler (5 to 15 Months) (Paperback)

Being fully aware of the controversy surrounding this book, I took the advice of a friend who has a wonderful, happy baby and read it before the birth of my first daughter. For the most part, it seemed logical and healthy, so I tried it from day one. It's not easy and let me ease your stress that my baby never did it perfect, . She had a hard time with the sleep/feed/wake cycle for the first couple months, but I did it the best I could...at 6 weeks she slept from 10pm to 6am...it really works! Even if your baby doesn't do it perfect, I think it's the establishing the metabolism with the regular feedings, but she is now a happy, healthy, THRIVING (in 95%ile in height and weight)baby girl who sleeps 12 hours a night since she was 10 weeks old!

(The only thing I was a little shocked by is how long he suggested letting them cry. Now that I have a baby, I understand the difference between different types of cries and know that sometimes she needs to fuss it out while other cries mean business and I'm there in a flash! However, he doesn't say this, but I firmly beleive, you should never let newborns "cry it out". They need to have that establishment of trust first...get to know your baby and then decide when it's okay to let them just cry - that's why the 4 stars, not 5).

Anyway, it's great - just be a thinking human being and make it work for you. I also highly recommend "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". I pretty much use both of them and do what works best for my baby.

Read this and believe it...it really works!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best parenting books out there, March 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Next Step Babywise II: Parenting Your Pretoddler (5 to 15 Months) (Paperback)

As a breastfeeding mother of two toddlers and former schoolteacher, I have read a lot of info (books and articles) on parenting over the past three years and have talked personally with over 100 parents trying to find out what works and what doesn't, etc. The Ezzo's practical advice is some of the best I've encountered. No, their advice is not for the fainthearted, nor is it for anyone wanting easy, quick, "warm-fuzzy" parenting tips that will make them feel better about not disciplining their child. As the authors emphasize in this hard-line but very rewarding approach, you want to make your child know that the world does not revolve around him or her (starting from day one, not when they are out-of-control three year olds), but that they are a MUCH LOVED, welcomed addition to your family. I have spent time working with literally hundreds of children and young adults (from infants to college students), and have had the opportunity to speak with many parents. In asking parents who had well-adjusted, well-behaved, mature, and caring children how their kids turned out so well, EVERY one of them mentioned that they consistently used disciplining principles, the same kind of principles discussed in Babywise (many younger parents actually said they used the Ezzo's Growing Families program and the Babywise books). I even know some people who have tried several child-rearing philosophies (including Sears') who said that the Babywise principles were by far the best. As for critics of the feeding program, many don't read the entire book or they get defensive and think, "How can these people be telling me what to do?" The authors give very specific guidelines (much more specific than La Leche) for discerning if your baby is being fed enough--use them!! A baby can be underfed no matter what feeding philosophy you use. I've known Sears' and La Leche babies who were severely underfed, and the mothers were so worn out from sleep deprivation they could barely concentrate on the needs of their child. Read the book, but realize you can still be flexible; they address this issue as well. As the book points out (hard as this is for us to realize or admit), babies can learn to manipulate after only a few days in this world--talk to neonatal nurses if you don't believe it! You can spoil your child--the question is, do you want to? I believe parents owe it to their children and their families' state of mind (and their future teachers!)to at least read the advice in the book given and look into implementing some of it, if not all. Happy parenting!