Sunday, 3 August 2014

Information Regarding On Becoming Babywise

By Annabelle Holman


It is not easy to raise a child. In fact it is a process that takes some trial and error and not everyone is expected to know what they are doing, especially when it comes to first-time parents. The fact is that every child will be different and might require his or her own needs when it comes to sleeping, playing and eating. Robert Bucknam and Gary Ezzo and the two authors of the book On Becoming Babywise. This controversial work was meant to help parents.

The book was first published by Multnomah Books, later it become self-published by Parent-Wise Solutions, which is the publishing company owned by Ezzo. Thousands of copies have been purchased of this book. Ezzo is known for his role as an evangelical Christian advisor and Bucknam is a professional pediatrician. This was originally used as a resource for those in the church needing information on how to rear babies.

In the book, the writers suggest an infant care program. With this, the authors say, the baby will sleep through the night from the age of 7-9 weeks and beyond that. As many are aware, infants tend to wake up several times throughout the night and morning to get fed. With the program, emphasis is placed on parental control of a baby's play, feeding and sleep schedule instead of allowing the child to decide when it want to eat, play and sleep.

This concept is what brought a lot of criticism to the parenting book. This came from professionals, such as pediatricians, as well as parents. Their concern was that teaching people to rear an infant based on the advice of the book could lead to a higher risk of the child having emotional disorders, malnutrition and overall, failure to thrive.

Ezzo called on Bucknam to help make the work more secular. The new edition that featured both authors was released during the early 1990s. From there, four other editions were published between 1995 and 2007. The book talks about infant management plans that are built around the play, feed and sleeping cycles of infants. PDF, or parent-directed feeding, is the name of such plans.

The book shares how to care for infants from birth to six months of age. It mostly covers infant sleeping and feeding habits. There is much emphasis on the parental control when it comes to infant training. This work states that a baby should not define the household, but act as a welcome addition that complies with the current order. These ideas are not necessarily new or radical; they often echo sentiments of Evangelical parents, and even secular ones.

Ezzo and Bucknam have said their stance is in the middle when it comes to assigning a schedule for feeding and following a schedule based on the baby's demands. They also make it clear that they are not in support of co-sleeping. Advice found in this book is also seen in other similar publications.

Most of the criticism comes from professionals in the medical industry. These individuals say this is filled with incorrect information related to the feeding, growth, development and sleep pattern of infants. Still, there are people who might find this work resourceful. Everyone has his or her own opinion about how a child should be raised. It is worth noting that all children are different and will respond in their own way to various forms of rearing.




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