On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo with Robert Bucknam

(Definitely not in love with the cover, but the info inside made up for it.)

I just finished reading On Becoming Babywise and totally loved it!  I thought everything in it made perfect sense, and I intend to try it with my baby (due in April! next month!)  

Then I read the Goodreads reviews... scary stuff there!  Apparently the American Academy of Pediatricians has warned against this method?  

So here's my new plan: definitely still going to attempt this method (it's worked for other people I know), but keep an open mind.  If my little one has any special medical needs, or if I just can't stand to hear him cry one night and end up letting him sleep in my arms, I won't beat myself for deviating from the plan.

I feel like that's the biggest, loudest message I got from this book, actually:  use common sense.  The authors talk about demand feeding and scheduled feeding as comparison methods.  The message that I got from this book is that the "Babywise" method is in-between.  You should aim for a range of time between feedings (length dependent on the age of the baby), but if the baby is obviously hungry, you should obviously feed him/her.  Duh.  I also really feel like their proposed routine of baby wakes up-baby gets fed-baby has some awake time-baby goes down for the night/for a nap to make a lot of sense.  If I'm not nursing Baby to sleep every time he needs a nap, that means that he'll be more ready to go down for a nap for others if I'm at work or something.  He needs to become ok and comfortable in his own crib, or I'm going to end up with a young adult who won't move out.  Another thing that some other reviewers tend to forget about is that the authors say that for the first few weeks, you can and should love on your baby as much as possible.  There's room to develop a more set routine near the end of the first month.  This is my first, and I know that I'll want to hold him all the time!  We can start using the crib more regularly after that precious first week.  :)

There's also tons of charts in the Appendixes section to help you track your baby's growth and development, so that you can be assured he/she is getting enough food.  I imagine I'll be pretty tired during the first couple of months, and having a chart to make notes on will really help me notice any potential problems.

Overall, I thought this was a great book.  Very readable- while the authors are very knowledgeable about their topic, they never come across as talking down to the reader, and are easy to understand.  There is a slight bit of repetition in it, but not enough to bother me.  I liked the ideas so much that I added the book to my registry!  Next test will be whether or not Baby sleeps through the night by 10 weeks.  ;)

*I checked out my copy of On Becoming Babywise from my local library, and hope to be gifted/purchase my own copy before Baby arrives!