Babywise

ummary

"Babywise" is the popular name for the book "On Becoming Babywise," authored by Gary Ezzo and Dr. Robert Bucknam and self-published through Ezzo's own publishing company, Parentwise Solutions. "Babywise" presents an infant care program which the authors say will cause babies to sleep through the night between seven and nine weeks.

"Babywise" originally appeared in 1993 as the secular counterpart to Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo's church-marketed infant care curriculum, "Preparation for Parenting". "Babywise" closely mirrors the content of "Preparation for Parenting", which Dr. Bucknam did not co-author. Revisions of "Babywise" have appeared in 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2006.

"Babywise" describes an infant management plan built around feed/wake/sleep cycles. The authors term their approach to feeding, "Parent-Directed Feeding." The book includes instructions for the care of babies from birth through 6 months.

Criticism

"Babywise" has been criticized by some experts in infant growth, feeding, sleep and development, including Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, MD, FAAP, Professor Emeritas, Harvard Medical School, and developer of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale [Kranz, Cindy, [http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1999/11/05/loc_dr_brazelton_answers.html "Brazelton Answers: Our Parents' Panel of Questions for Child Development Expert"] Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 5, 1999] , Richard Ferber, MD, Director, Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Children's Hospital in Boston [Granju, Katie Allison, [http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1998/08/cov_06feature.html "Getting Wise to Babywise,"] SALON, August 6 1998] , and Arnold Tanis, MD, FAAP, Past President, Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics [La Mendola, Bob, "Feeding schedule for babies causes debate," ORLANDO SENTINAL, June 28, 1997] . In 1997, the American Academy of Pediatrics responded to a flurry of press reports about "Babywise" by issuing a Media Alert stating that feeding schedules designed by parents may put infants at risk for poor weight gain and dehydration. [cite web |url = http://www.ezzo.info/Aney/aapmediaalert.pdf |publisher= AAP|title = AAP Media Alert: AAP Addresses Scheduled Feedings Vs. Demand Feedings |accessdate= 2008-04-04] However, other health care professionals support "Babywise". [cite web |url = http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/14/7/30-b|publisher= AAP News|title = On Parenting Styles |accessdate= 2008-04-29] and the book itself lists endorsements from several physicians (Babywise, 2006).

External links

* [http://www.gfi.org/ Gary Ezzo's official site, Growing Families International]
* [http://www.ezzo.info/ Collection of press reports and critiques]

References