Babywise Success Stories Week

This coming weekend is the GFI National Leadership & Alumni Conference in Oklahoma. Each year when this happens, someone out there (no need to name names, some of you will know though) spearheads a week of blogging about her extreme dislike of all things Ezzo.

This year, I thought I would do some spearheading of my own and do a week of blogging about my extreme like of all things Ezzo. I dub this week Babywise Success Stories Week!

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about Babywise. These rumors get started somewhere, and then people pass them on without even so much as touching a Babywise book. We Babywise moms have been pretty quiet in the past–some are even scared to tell people they do Babywise because of the backlash they might receive. I do think this is definitely a lot better than it was back when I started this blog. Before I started this blog, if you Googled Babywise, you only found negative information. Now you find this blog right at the top.

I don’t want to start a war or anything. Not at all. But I think it would do potential Babywise moms some good to have positive stories out there. I think it would do current Babywise moms some good to have positive stories out there.

This is the reason I asked you for your stories. All week long, I will be publishing positive stories that you have sent me. If you feel so inclined, you can blog on your own blogs about your success with Babywise and why you have liked doing it.

If you don’t yet feel comfortable doing that, don’t feel bad. Only do it if you feel comfortable doing so because I know some Babywise bashers can be very forceful and there is no need for you to deal with that if you don’t want to.

But if you do blog about it, and would like to, come back here and post a comment with a link to your positive story! Let’s get some positive buzz going around the Internet!

17 thoughts on “Babywise Success Stories Week”

  1. Speaking of success stories (I already sent mine in), I'm looking for some success in the discipline department with my 13-month old son. He's started getting into things that I don't want him to (ie, pulling all the folded towels out of the bathroom cabinet or – less safe – playing with his dad's bike, which can't really be moved more out of the way right now). When I call his name sternly and say 'that's a no', he always will look at me and stop what he's doing. Then about 5 seconds later he starts it again. So I go over to him and hold his hands and elaborate on the 'no'… then often, when I let go, he'll go right back to what he was doing. I then take one of his hands and squeeze it hard to get his attention, while re-iterating the no, but he usually just LAUGHS at this! It's like he thinks it's a game. (FYI, If it's something truly dangerous, I do usually remove him from the situation and distract him, so that technique always works but I feel like I should be able to get his attention and a response to my 'no' without having to always move him to something else.) Am I expecting too much from him at this age? What do I do about the laughter and how can I better get his attention?

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  2. I would be lost without the principles that were taught in Babywise. We actually read "Preparation to Parenting", which is nearly the same thing. When my daughter was born 9 weeks early it was quite a surprise! She came home a month after she was born, and luckily the hospital did all the hard work. She was already on a schedule of eating every three hours and slept great. She started sleeping through the night at about 16 weeks old. It has been such a great guide as how to approach feeding, napping, and awake time. We use our brain along with the guidelines outlined in the book. Our child seems very happy, sleeps great, and is gaining weight great! Most premies need to have their milk supplemented until 9 months. But our little babe has been gaining great without it! I Recommend BabyWise to all my friends who have become pregnant. Having a baby is a fun crazy time. But thanks to BW, It doesn't have to just be a crazy time!

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  3. Thank you for the acknowledgment of the efforts we put into our annual blogging of Ezzo Week at tulipgirl.com! I do appreciate it!But just to clarify, I am not "extreme" in any way, and I do not "bash" parents at all. Hey! I was a Babywise mom, too! Thrilled and sharing my success stories! Until I looked closer at the real consequences of what we were doing. . .Grace and hope,TulipGirl

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  4. My daughter is now 10 weeks old, and I have been trying Babywise from the start. When she was 4 days old and I was frustrated (going through many of the things I saw on anti-Ezzo stories just now when I looked), I found this blog. When I get frustrated and confused and don't know what to do, I look at this blog and there is almost always an answer! When there isn't one, I remember that the first principle of Ezzo that some parents seem to forget is that it is the parent's job to THINK. Think about the baby's cry, then react to it. Don't follow Ezzo blindly without thought, but also don't just feed baby every time it cries without thought.So far it has worked for me and I KNOW I'm not perfect (I suffer from 45 minute intruder like crazy right now and am working on it), but I tell my pregnant friends that BW is well worth a try. I also tell them that the book is not complete in itself–you need this blog to understand it all!

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  5. I have loved babywise and I can honestly say my 13 month old is not only a happy baby but sleeps like a champ and our marriage benefits so much from the schedule! We love our little girl more than anything and this parenting style has worked incredible for us. Ironically enough a couple weeks ago I stumbled upon that website and a couple others and wrote a blog entry on parenting and how much I really do love babywise. See below 🙂 http://groverandmelissabrown.blogspot.com/2010/06/parenting.html

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  6. Of all the anti-babywise stuff I've found, usually the person either has not read Babywise, has mis-read Babywise, has misinterpreted Babywise, has taken statements out of context, and/or has misapplied Babywise. I think Babywise has been great for my baby. He's a very happy, healthy, well-rested, breastfed baby.

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  7. When we were expecting our first child one of my good friends gave me a gift bag with the two items that she found most helpful during her first pregnancy: stretch mark cream, and a copy of “Baby Wise.” It was early in our pregnancy and we hadn’t done much thinking about different strategies, but we were open to exploring options. Before reading the book I did some research and of course encountered mixed views on the internet, but decided to give it a go due to her glowing recommendation as well as a feeling of general agreement with the premise of the book.My husband and I made it a goal to read the book to each other, a chapter ever few nights, during our pregnancy. We were immediately hooked by the first chapter, putting your relationship first for the sake of the baby. Having come from a family where we as the children were the center of the universe, I saw how a marriage could suffer due to that focus.And that focus on the parental partnership is at the heart of what made our first three months with our baby girl easy – yes, easy! I could count a total of three times when I actually felt tired during that stretch, and one was due to a case of mastitis. The support that I received from my husband and the understanding of the goals of “Baby Wise” gave us something to aim for as we were feeling through those early times. I was skeptical that our daughter, Sylvie, would be sleeping for such long stretches as soon as the book suggested – but sure enough she was sleeping through the night occasionally by six weeks and consistently by eight weeks. Not only that – she has slept through the night ever single night since then (knock on wood!) – and we’re coming up on her first birthday! Much of the criticism that I read online was that “Baby Wise” could be harmful to breastfeeding – NOT SO! We’re also coming up on one full year of exclusive breastfeeding/pumping, and I’m not sure we would have gotten this far without the book. The arguments make so much sense – if you follow the advice it is natural that your supply will thrive with your baby. I have friends who chose to “let their babies figure it out” and not one of them continued to breastfeed past a few months due to doubts about their supply and sheer exhaustion on their part. I set small goals with breastfeeding – 1) to start! 2) to make it to a month… and to go from there. I truly believe that the fact that we set such a great routine with Sylvie early on gave me the energy and the momentum to continue for as long as we did.I couldn’t be more thankful that my friend gifted us with this book – she had the same great experience as we did with both of her kiddos, even with very different circumstances (c-section vs. vaginal birth, formula vs. breastfeeding). When I learn of friends’ pregnancies I am proud to gift them with those very same tools that got us so smoothly to where we are – “Baby Wise” and the ubiquitous stretch mark cream. We’re working through Pre-Toddler Wise now and enjoying every moment of our time with our kiddo!

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  8. Sum, I would tell him that's a no, then if he doesn't stop, I would physically move him. At that age, you need to distract and remove. Don't let it turn into a battle of wills between the two of you. When you remove him, you will show him it is not okay for him to continue doing what he is doing.

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  9. TulipGirl, you might not aggressively bash BW parents (though I think I could make a strong passive aggressive argument), but there are plenty who do. There is even one particular person who likes to show up on this blog to tell me I am "dumb" each day. If that isn't bashing, I don't know what is.

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  10. Thank you Janice! Very well said. I think the "think" part is often left out by parents who end up hating Babywise. They fail to use common sense and look to a book to answer everything (which the book itself says it cannot do).

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