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On Becoming Babywise  By  cover art

On Becoming Babywise

By: Gary Ezzo, Robert Bucknam M.D.
Narrated by: Anne Marie Ezzo
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Publisher's summary

Distinguished pediatrician Dr. Robert Bucknam, MD, and coauthor Gary Ezzo are two of the world's leading experts on infant management concepts. In this revised fifth edition, they have updated their groundbreaking approach, which has found favor with over six million parents in all 50 states and has been translated into 16 languages around the world. For over 20 years, On Becoming Babywise has been the de facto newborn parenting manual for naturally synchronizing your baby's feeding time, wake time, and nighttime sleep cycles, so the whole family can sleep through the night.

In his 26th year as a licensed pediatrician, Dr. Robert Bucknam, MD, along with coauthor Gary Ezzo, demonstrates how order and stability are mutual allies of every newborn's metabolism and how parents can take advantage of these biological propensities. In particular, they note how an infant's body responds to the influences of parental routine or the lack thereof. Early chapters start with explorations of everyday aspects of infant management, such as the three basic elements of daytime activities for newborns: feeding time, wake time, and naptime.

Practical discussions then focus on broad and niche topics including feeding philosophies, baby sleep problems, baby scheduling challenges, nap routines, sleep training multiples, baby sleeping props, colic and reflux and many other dimensions that impact breast feeding schedules, bottle feeding tips, and baby sleep training. Five resource appendices provide additional reference material:

  • Taking Care of Baby and Mom
  • A Timeline of What to Expect and When
  • Baby Sleep Training Problems and Solutions
  • Monitoring Your Baby's Growth
  • Healthy Baby Growth Charts

On Becoming Babywise is more than an infant-management concept. It is a mind-set for successful parenthood. It can help any parent develop a plan that meets the needs of both a new baby and the entire family. These principles have worked for millions of parents and, when applied with common sense to your unique situation, can work wonderfully for you, too! Recommended by doctors across the country.

©2017 Hawksflight & Associates, Inc (P)2017 Hawksflight & Associates, Inc

Critic reviews

"As a mom, I parented both ways. As a certified lactation educator, I know how discouraging it is to feed a baby around the clock with no apparent advantage and how fatigue will affect her milk supply. I also know how discouraging the first eighteen months of parenting can be without a plan. I know, because with my first child, I did everything the opposite of what is taught in this book. Before my second baby was born, I was introduced to the Babywise concepts. Applying these principles revolutionized my thinking. Instead of being in baby bondage, I was liberated to be the mother God wanted me to be. I have consistently used this series with the women I counsel. These mothers have met with tremendous success, whether bottle or breastfeeding." (Barbara Philips, RN, CLE, Los Angeles, California)

What listeners say about On Becoming Babywise

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Why am I pretending my baby is in an orphanage?

I listened to this book a few weeks before returning to work. My baby didn't wake up too often at night, but he was not sleeping 'through the night.' I implemented the teachings for about a day and a half. It worked. He slept longer than he ever had slept before, a 6 1/2 hour stretch. However, it felt so unnatural and stressful to have a strict schedule and to always put him down for nap in his bassinet. Listening to him cry made me cry. I was confused. I thought to myself "Am I never supposed to hold my baby again?" I love snuggling with him. I decided I could not give that up and went back to what feels natural. After all, he is a baby, not a dog that I am trying to train. It is supposed to be a bit of a burden. He is happier. I am happier. Could I get an hour or so more of sleep if I had kept at it? Probably, but I was afraid that it was going to break the special bond that he and I share. Also, he wakes up so happy, so I have to figure he is getting enough sleep. I am so happy that I went with my gut as a mother.

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  • 05-16-17

A single viewpoint on how to raise a baby

The book starts off and you hear about a PDF plan, but it took nearly the entire book to understand what they heck she was talking about. How exactly is if different? It was hard to explain to a person that didn't read the book. I plan to listen to the book again to fully comprehend the PDF plan, mostly the first few chapters. Reading the book would be better, but that is hard to do while driving, so I will just listen another time.

The book is based on setting up a specific order to a required daily routine, eat, wake time, and then sleep, repeated on the feeding schedule based on age. The concepts in this book are unproven by me, but seem to be how I approach life in general anyway, routine. With a baby coming due soon I am learning the ways, this will give a great perspective to keep in mind. I do know that a relative has been raising their baby going against the concepts in this book and they struggle daily with sleeping/routine.

Negatives:
1 - I may have missed it, but the PDF plan is not clearly described anywhere in the book, it is referenced, but not defined. It takes the entire book to figure out what she is talking about, but by then your brain is confused and you missed numerous parts of the book.
2 - There were numerous points made throughout the book with only a few having data to back them.

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Not impressed

I am not a baby expert
I'm a first time mom in fact
But, I am not impressed with this book - it just doesn't work for us but maybe for you it could? I'm going to try others since I've learned the baby really made his own schedule and I'm happy with it - I'm also happy with the term "4th trimester" and feeding on demand and comforting my baby when he needs it

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dangerous advice

check the review on Wikipedia before following the advice in this book. also, it s narrated by a woman and written by a man. It s a bit misleading as it makes it sound like the writer is a mother

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Great advice, and so reassuring it works!

Love this book, and this method! looking forward to using this for our little one!

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not for single parents

the author is quick to inform you you're doing it wrong if you're not with a partner.

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Good advice! Poor sound quality.

This book offers straightforward advice that is truly helpful. However the voice recording volume is inconsistent and hard to understand at times. The woman's voice will start out loud at every sentence and then drop down to a whisper as she finishes the sentence or thought. I drive in my car and listen so I have to turn it up pretty loud in order to hear. But it gets annoying that the voice volume is all over the place.

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Changed our lives in less than 3 days

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I have recommended this book to every new parent I know

What was one of the most memorable moments of On Becoming Babywise?

The way it changed our lives so quickly. The entire book was eye opening, seems like "common sense" and well-researched.

What did you learn from On Becoming Babywise that you would use in your daily life?

This book gave me so much more confidence as a new mother, and very specific instructions on how to implement these techniques when I was past the brink of exhaustion.
This was the miracle we needed and I'm so blown away this isn't handed out as a manual to every parent. It changed our family life so quickly. It's improved the lives of myself, my husband and most especially our baby, who is so much more well-rested and contented - as long as she's on schedule:) There's a lot less "figuring out" and guess work, it's helped us really get to know her and her needs better.

Any additional comments?

I could go on and on. I can't rave about this book enough. I highly recommend it (understatement).

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Great book!

Very well written book about how to care for your baby. Also includes insight on twins. Re-caps at the end of each chapter helps. Highly recommend this book.

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Doesn’t follow along

I was wanting to follow along with the written book but as I listen to the audio book nothing matches up. I don’t really understand why the audiobook is completely different from the written book.

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