I tried to read this book, mainly so I could argue against it intelligently. I couldn't finish it. The first part of the book really wasn't that bad, but when I read the sentence that stated that babies *could not* be happy without using this method, I had to stop reading. Using absolute statements such as that tell me that the author is rigid and close-minded, and I won't read anything, no matter the subject or POV, with that kind of stance. My children were both raised using child-led timing, such as nursing on demand. My older son has Asperger's Syndrome, as well as other special needs that were not diagnosable at a young age, and forcing him to adhere to a rigid schedule and sleep alone while crying it out, would have been cruel and detrimental to his mental and emotional health. Frankly, I think leaving any baby to cry in a bed alone is cruel, but that's just me. ( )

We tried to utilize the principles in this book with our newborn, and it totally steered us in the wrong direction. If you're breastfeeding, this book doesn't apply. The book recommends feeding every 3 hours, and that's not enough. Our baby wasn't thriving until we started feeding him more often (every 2 hours, or so, basically every time he cried at all). Our doctor told us at about week 3 that he should be eating about 12 times a day. ( )

For the past two months, I have been observing an increasingly distressed mom enslaved to the implementation of this approach with her newborn (now 2.5 months old). After observing the infant silently staring blankly into space with a furrow on his brow and a pacifier in his mouth after a half hour of his mom's efforts to try to help him self-soothe, I finally read the book. It is now clear to me why the mother has been not only afraid, but resistant, to the suggestion that her baby might need another feeding, or perhaps it would be best just to put him in the baby wrap, i.e., to listen to her baby's needs and deviate from the routine. She does not want him to develop bad habits, and she knows he is not hungry (it has not yet been 2 1/2 hours!). While flexibility is "encouraged" in the implementation of this method, it should always be minimal and only temporary in order not to deviate from the recommended cycle for too long. After all, it is much harder to break a bad routine than to start a good one in the first place. It is only 70% of the way through the book that the authors finally say that if a baby will not sleep or is fussy when going to sleep, it may be because he is hungry and needs another feeding (albeit reminding the mother that it must only be an occasional exception). How many busy mothers are trying to implement the first 70% of the book and don't even get to those suggestions? The newborn in question was just recently diagnosed with tongue and lip tie. The recommendation for babies with tongue tie is to feed them at more frequent intervals, in fact on cue, as is the AAP recommendation for any baby for at least the first three to four months. Add to this the fact that the baby was premature, needed additional oxygen support, has only one kidney, and was recently diagnosed as sleep deprived (most likely as a result of trying to implement this method). The mother should never have been encouraged to sleep train. The book should have age-appropriate and wellness warnings from the outset to encourage moms who have special needs babies to find additional support and to be more responsive to their babies. That said, I wouldn't recommend it for a full-term healthy baby, either, having observed the damage that can be done. This book may be effective for individuals who apply the basic principles with a heavy dose of common sense. But the book's presentation is legalistic, and manipulative ("but the Babywise parent/baby", promising exceptional results and pitting Babywise against any other approach), and puts inexperienced, tired moms who want to do what is best for their child (or want to get a good night of sleep for themselves - it doesn't seem to care much about the child) at risk of harming their babies. This book does not demonstrate empathy or compassion toward the newborn child. It does not encourage parents to demonstrate sacrificial love and affection for their children by responding to their needs. It is a parent-centered approach concerned primarily with the comfort of the mom. And which new mom doesn't long for the comfort of a good night of sleep? It is a wooden and legalistic approach that squelches any instinctual, common-sense, parental nurture and responsiveness. While the authors make many valid, generally known, correct observations and suggestions, the authors' approach lacks the support of convincing, documented research. My impression is that it is a naturalistic and a behavioristic approach that only takes into account the physical and emotional needs of the infant as an exception. And when listening to the needs of the infant is encouraged, it is in a mechanical, programmed, unnatural, and limited way. ( )

This book has an interesting tone. It phases in and out of being slightly apologetic and slightly defensive about the crying it out mantra, which, currently, has a bad rap. His slight jabs at attachment theory were regularly spaced between updated sections on c-sections and how to weed out Lactation Consultants.

He also alternates between a tone of concern for the mother and concern for the child but, ultimately decides that being right is more important than either concern. Unfortunately, he has few stats to back up his claims and only some stories. There was some good information--He's definitely more interested in the whole picture instead of the "5 S's"

I suppose I'm slightly biased against it because the person who recommended it to me said that they once had a baby that they let cry for an hour before it went to sleep. An hour! Poor tortured thing. As it is, there has to be a better, more centered ground between hypothetical, old-fashioned tradtion(this), Story-centered research (Karp) and boring statistical papers on the subject. I'm just not sure where to find it.

Edit/Update around 7/2020:

Have you ever read the Wikipedia page on this book? Worth a look. ( )

Some good, some bad.

This was my first real "baby book" so it's hard to compare to others. Some of the information seemed obvious, but other bits were very informative. I'm interested to see this process actually done in real-life.

Overall, it seemed the message was develop a schedule for you and your baby and keep to it...but don't necessarily be rigid about it. ( )