Customer Reviews

The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems (by Teaching You How to Ask the Right Questions): Sleeping, Feeding, and Behavior--Beyond the Basics from Infancy Through Toddlerhood

5 star:		(100)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

GENERAL COMMENT: Like every baby book I read, I try to keep an open mind. You will NOT find a book that will work for ALL babies but this book worked for mine, who I think is a text book baby.

SITUATION: I was going back to work and my baby was super needy at 6 weeks-- wanted to be helded all the time. He won't nap if I wasn't holding him. And at night, I would rock him to sleep and put him into his crib very very gently when he has fallen into DEEP sleep. Otherwise, he would CRY. But that was my fault because I HELD him alot. This would be fine if I was a stay at home mom...but if even I was, I think it would have taken it's toll on me at some point.

LIKE: I like this book because it helped with getting my baby on a good routine, nap longer, sleep on his own, and sleep longer through the night. I made my own version of the EASY plan, customize it to my baby and what worked for me...this book afterall is not the BIBLE.

RESULTS: By about 8-10 weeks, he was sleeping from 7:30-8 pm to about 4:30 am (with 1 dream feed). Now at 5 months, he sleeps from 8pm to about 7am (with 1 dream feed). He use to nap about 30 minutes at a time. After the plan, he started napping for 2 hours (slightly shorter now since he is older). He LIKES his crib and falls to sleep in about 20-30 minutes of laying down...without ANY fuss. And he is a happy healthy little boy who is 50% for weight and 80% for height.

TRANSITION PERIOD: This didn't happen overnight. I would try for a week or two and revisit the book about a thousand time to make sure I wasn't doing it wrong. He would progess and go back to his old self and progress some more. After about 2 weeks, I customize the plan. You WILL be glad to get some time for yourself and hubby when the baby goes down to sleep in the evening instead of at night. He sleeping pattern gradually falls into place. I don't believe in cry it out so the SHH/PAT worked for me. It was hard and I gave up several times. But it worked before you know it. Just give it your best try and be PATIENT AND CONSISTENT. Even now when he takes a little longer to get to sleep, I still PAT/SHH and he is out.

DON'T LIKE: The tone of the author can be a bit annoying (KNOW IT ALL) but after all, she is a super nanny and have worked with THOUSANDS of babies. This book made me PARANOID as a parent--thinking that I would just ruin my child if I made any wrong moves. But we all turned out okay and our parents didn't have this book.

CONCLUSION: Your instinct as a mom is truly the best guide but sometimes, it does get you into situations that are difficult to overcome. This book helped me better manage my baby's sleep/eating which are the biggest parts of his life. Life is so much less HECTIC for MOM, BABY and DAD.

Most baby parenting books fall into one of two categories: the old-school, "get the baby on a schedule" philosophy or the pro-co-sleeping, child-led "attachment parenting" philosophy.

This book is clearly in the former category, and I think it's the best of its kind. Tracy Hogg is a big believer in getting your baby on a schedule as soon as possible, but she clearly loves babies and advocates for doing so gently, paying attention to your baby's needs and cues.

Her tone can be bit unforgiving (e.g. you kind of feel like a failure if you don't have your five-month-old in a consistent routine) and I disagree with some of her suggestions (e.g. her "Pick Up/Put Down" soothing method just upset my baby further) but, overall, I found the book to be full of helpful suggestions and information.

In particular, the detailed charts of what quantity and types of foods babies should eat at various stages and sample routines and schedules were invaluable. (A few women I know bought the book just to have those charts!) Even though I didn't follow them exactly, it helped to have detailed, specific examples rather than the vague suggestions that most baby books offer.

Bottom line: if you are opposed to the idea of getting your baby on a schedule and directing her routine (as many of the people who gave it a low rating seem to be), you will not enjoy this book. If, however, you're open to that philosophy, this book is a must-have.

I purchased this book before my baby was born (based on reviews I'd read on this site). So only fair I post my own review for everyone else.

I found this book really really helpful. My daughter is nearly 11 months and I'm still reading sections on eating etc.

There is a brilliant page entitled 'an average day for a 4 week old baby'. I copied this page and put it on my fridge! If you're a first time mum (or dad) and want some no nonsense advice then get this book.

I also found her Eat-Activity-Sleep-Time for You (EASY) routine good.

I found the advice on sleeping really good. My baby was sleeping through the night by about 3 months.

I did her recommended 'dream feed' (the last feed at between 10-11pm) until around 6 or 7 months old.

She talks about different personality types and I think I have an 'angel' baby ... but I have to take some credit and certainly thank this book for giving me the confidence to relax and be a great mum.

Just one word of warning ... if you're the sort of person that likes the idea of co-sleeping, demand feeding, cuddling your baby off to sleep etc then don't buy this book.

I began reading this book shortly after my first child was born. I was horribly tired (as most parents are) and deperate to find information that advocated a middle-of-the-road approach. I do believe this book lived up to that expectation. Is this book perfect...absolutely not. But it is a good starting place for someone who needs to regain his or her sanity. I do agree that her opinions are quite strong, and it can be disconcerting at first if your child doesn't react as she expects. But, her expectations do not have to be yours, even if she wrote the book and you didn't. You are the one raising the baby, so go with what you feel is ultimately best.

Essentially, this book provides a good starting place for new parents if they are willing to accept the advice that works for them, and forget the advice that doesn't.

I bought this book after doing MUCH research and reading. At the time my daughter was 9 months old and I had managed to get in the habit of nursing her to sleep. She had to nurse to sleep for every nap and bedtime and every night waking and if, God forbid, she woke up as I lowered her into the crib, we would have to start all over again. She was up every 1.5 hours EVERY night for months, and finally I just had it. I had read books that reccommend cry it out, or controlled crying but even the ones where you went in every 5 to 10 minutes and soothed the baby seemed so cruel to me, and she would get soooo upset. I have even heard of babies vomiting from this. Plus I had more than one person who did "cry it out" tell me that 1. There baby became more clingy during the day and feared/hated his/her crib and bedtime and 2. When they went on vacation or the baby got sick they would have to start CIO all over again when they got home or the baby was well again. There was no way I was going to do that more than once! So I looked for other options, one is the "No-cry sleep solution" I loved the idea, but I didn't like how long it was going to take. I tried it for a while, but I wasn't seeing improvement quick enough (for me), I needed something that worked faster, since I was a walking zombie!! I found this book and thought I would give it a shot, I decided to give it a week and if I didn't see improvement I probably would have given up. The first night was hard (but way easier than the first night of cry it out would have been). The second night my daughter who had never slept more than 2 hours at a time at night, went 4 hours without waking to eat. On the third night she put herself to sleep all by herself with NO crying (just a little fussing) and slept for 4 hours again each stretch. In less that a week she was putting herself to sleep for every nap and bedtime with NO CRYING at all!! She would babble and play and then fall asleep! And she was only getting up once or twice a night (a vast improvement from 7-8!) Within 3 weeks she slept through the night for the first time and has been ever since (with the exception of when she gets sick, however she gets right back to sleeping after she is better, no crying! yay!

We are now using this book with my son. I started right away with him and at 2 weeks old he put himself to sleep all on his own for naps and bedtimes and at 8 weeks he slept through the night. Then he was diagnosed with severe reflux at 3 months and he would wake up in pain at night and the only thing that would soothe him was to feed him. So now at 8 months we are using the book to get him to sleep through the night again now that his meds for reflux are finally right. He had been getting up ever 2 hours at night because of the pain and then it just became a habit once his meds starting working. I started the book 2 days ago. Last night he only got up ONCE to eat. He slept from 7pm-1:20 and then 1:20 till 7 AM! 3 days ago he got up 7 times in one night.

This book WORKS! If you follow it for two days you will see VAST improvement. Your baby most likely won't be sleeping through the night on the 2nd day but usually by 2 weeks they will be. And after the 2nd night you will see such improvement that I guarantee you will be encouraged to continue and it feels so good too because you have saved your baby (AND YOU!) the emotional stress of crying it out!

Basically you get your baby on a routine, NOT A STRICT SCHEDULE. You CAN fluxuate from it, I did with both my kids and it still works/worked for them. You basically just want the baby to get to the point where he/she knows what's coming next. Eat, activity (awake time), sleep.

The only con I found with this book is that she does sound condescending at times, she calls you Luv, and sometimes makes it sound like you are a little kid who doesn't know what you are doing. But, honestly, WHO CARES? So long as it's working I don't care what she calls me! lol

Some people claim she sounds like she is against breastfeeding, but I did not get that impression at all.I think she is just trying to say, breastfeeding or formula, whatever you decide is right for you is best. I BF my daughter for 13 months and this book worked perfectly for me and I plan to do the same with my son.

To the people who are considering doing cry it out but looking for an alternative. Give this book 3 days, just 3 days, if you are not convinced that it is the better choice than crying it out, then go ahead and do cry it out. I pass no judgement on people who do choose to do CIO, it is better to do that and have a happy parent than to have a sleepless unhappy parent IMO. But if you are on the fence and feel guilty about having or deciding to do CIO, just try this first! It's just 3 days, and if it doesn't work, you can always do CIO afterwards. I have reccommended this book to 4 people already and ALL FOUR of them said it worked for them, and 2 of them give it as a shower gift they loved it so much.

I am a pediatric nurse and a brand new mommy. With my clinical back ground, I could advise many parents on how to care for their newborns; however, when I became a mom I was thrown in the reality that you really truly can't parent " by the book"...I spent a lot of my baby's first months struggling with the " do's" and "don't's" I'd pushed on parents as a nurse because it's " what is recommended". I felt like a complete idiot because I couldn't respond to my baby and get the results I thought I should yield. I needed some gentle guidelines. I headed to the library and started grabbing parenting books. This was the last one I picked up and the first one I read. I simply cannot tell you the relief I felt as I read this book. While I do not agree with every last detail of the book, It was just what I needed to calm my fears .

Now you must know that NO author, nanny, pediatrician or nurse can give generic guidelines that will work for every baby! So if you go about buying parenting books expecting them to fix your every problem, you will be disappointed with ANY book. However, if you can read the book and allow it to give you a little background information, encouragement and lay down some basic guidelines all while using your common sense, I think you'll get a lot from this book. Obviously, if you read the book and think " this will never work for my child", put the book down and keep searching! All babies are different.

I was having a hard time keeping my baby on a routine and at 3 months I knew she needed some sort of consistency. After reading the book, I changed my expectations and went at the plans detailed in with an open mind. In the first day my daughter went from being fussy, hard to put down for a nap and very difficult to feed, to a happy, playful little girl. I didn't realize that my baby was beyond tired and over stimulated. This book teaches that a baby's eating, playing and sleeping are all interrelated and if one area is struggling, all will be effected.

I am sorry that others have been disappointed by the book. I am very thankful to Tracy Hogg for sharing her expertise.

Ok, it is true that you need to ignore the condescending term, "accidental parenting." You also may need to ignore her hokey acronyms, especially if you are a snarky New Yorker like myself. However, once you've done the above, get reading and planning.

We did not want to let our baby "cry it out." We were also not into the idea of having him sleep in our bed until he decided to stop-- perhaps at the age of thirteen. If you did either of the above, that's fine. Do what works for you. But if you are like us, this book will work for you. The first night was terrible. The second night was his normal wake up twice. The third night he slept from 7 pm to 7 am and woke up happy. Now he goes to sleep when it is time for his naps and at bedtime. We no longer have to dance around the room to Nora Jones for 40 minutes. We love Tracy Hogg.

To the reviewer who said that Tracy Hogg did not have children... is Ms. Hogg's son aware of that? He might be shocked.

If you've read Tracy's first book and thought, "how different could this one be?" IT IS. The techniques such as pick up/put down are described in more detail and divided into age groups with case studies for each. Defining problems with the technique and why it won't work and changes to it so it will. My 9 month old has NEVER slept through the night, until last night.(almost 11 hours) We have been strictly doing her schedule for the last 1 1/2 weeks for bedtime and naps. Stick with it. Where the first book leaves you guessing as to what to do if....... this one fills in the blanks. It also includes helpful information on development and how it relates to sleeping,eating and prop problems. We had it all and it really seems to be getting better.
The only disappointment was no acknowledgement of the passing of Tracy Hogg. This was a woman who dedicated herself to helping parents everywhere ( we have friends in Brazil who swear by her methods) and you can't find a word about it even on the bookjacket. Publishers should be more sensitive and readers should be informed.

I am deeply saddened by Tracy's untimely death just a few months ago. It is comforting to keep in mind that her knowledge and advice in her books and videos will continue to guide parents in a positive direction.

Tracy had the "know-how" of calming even the most challenging infant, because she really seemed to understand their language. Because she offered strategies based on the personality of the parents as well as the temperament and personality of the baby, she offers quizes in this book to help parents identify which intervention plan would work best. Believing that babies need to become part of the family - rather than dominate it - Tracy has developed a practical program that parents can begin using at one day old.

My only criticism of this book is that there was not enough information relating to specific challenging behaviors of my 3- year-old. The title implies that this book covers issues through age 3. I found the majority of the book addresses a variety of issues focusing on babies under 2.

If you have a 2, 3, 4, or 5-year-old, I wish to recommend an A-Z pocket-sized guide I discovered in my pediatrician's office called "The Pocket Parent." This book is written entirely for parents with 2-6 year olds and offers hundreds of suggestions that focus on stopping toddler/preschooler behaviors that can drive you close to your wit's end such as bad words, biting, tantrums, sibling fights, the gimmes, morning crazies, power struggles, lying and whining. Both books address what to do in the heat of the moment as well as how to make a plan to prevent the same behavior from happening again; I found that insight very helpful. Both "THE BABY WHISPERER SOLVES ALL YOUR PROBLEMS" and "THE POCKET PARENT" are excellent additions to your home reference library.

COMPLIMENTARY RECOMMENDATION for the next age group (2- to 5-year-olds)

THE POCKET PARENT: Hundreds of fast answers

This book has a lot of wonderful advice for a first time parent. We have been using many of the techniques with success. I recommend the book, however, I do not recommend purchasing the book on the Kindle. I made that mistake and regret it. There are charts and guides that do not format well and cannot be followed. Also, there are many references to page numbers for quick flipping to refresh your memory on certain concepts. You cannot easily follow this on the kindle. If you are going to spend the money, buy the paperback book.