The "Y" Family's Experience

In writing this testimony, we have seen arguments that people who fail with Ezzo's materials are unintelligent or inconsistent with the materials. My husband and I are well-educated people. My husband graduated from Emory University and had an additional four years of graduate school (total of eight years of education) to become a doctor of optometry. I have a degree in special education and had a few years of teaching experience under my belt when we encountered the Ezzo's materials. We are also Christians, wholly devoted to Christ and rearing our children in the knowledge of Him. However, neither one of us had much experience with small children. We were also away from our families and had little to no guidance in what to do with a new baby. So at the time, Babywise was a Godsend to us. It had a neatly laid out plan that we believed would give us a "good baby" and make us confident parents. By the time our daughter was born, I had the entire book marked up with notes and highlighting. I was determined to do the program correctly. I even had my daughter's routine written out before we came home from the hospital!

Katie was initially very sleepy. She was born almost a month early and had a bad case of jaundice. She was also smaller than most babies, having a birth weight of a little over five and a half pounds. I breastfed her according to the guidelines in Babywise, waking her up for each meal and making sure she stayed awake for each feeding. This was a difficult task since all Katie wanted to do was sleep! The feeding routine went well, however, and it wasn't long before she fell into a nice, predictable hunger pattern. So far we were enjoying the results of Babywise.

Once Katie's bout with jaundice ended and her first month of life was over, her constant sleepiness ended. This was when we began to have difficulties with her routine. We followed the advice in Babywise and laid her down awake without any sort of "sleep prop." Once we laid her down, she began crying. Sometimes she would cry for thirty or forty-five minutes before finally falling asleep. Each time, we never used any sleep props to help her fall asleep. We did check on her, but were very careful not to rock her or hold her for fear of creating what Gary Ezzo called a "sleep prop". I remember taking a shower just so I wouldn't have to listen to her crying. Katie would often wake mid-way through the nap, but I remembered the advice in Babywise about mom, not baby, determining when naptime begins and ends. Thus, I checked to make sure she was physically OK and then left her to cry herself back to sleep, which would often take as long as it had when we first laid her down.

As Katie got closer to three months of age, she was gaining plenty of weight and was well over the 50th percentile. Though we stuck to the eat/wake/sleep routine consistently, she was not sleeping through the night. We were totally frustrated at that point. We were following Ezzo's advice consistently and couldn't understand why it wasn't working. We decided Katie was, as Ezzo said, one of those few Babywise babies who had their clock "stuck." Following his advice, we did not get up to feed her when she woke for her 2 AM feed. Instead, we both crammed earplugs in our ears to drown out her screams. I remember pulling my earplugs out periodically that first night to see if she was still crying. Much to my dismay, each time I took the earplugs out, she was. Finally, just before her morning feed at 6 AM, the crying stopped. When I went to feed her, I found her curled on her side at the edge of her crib, drenched in sweat. When I picked her up, she was completely exhausted and too tired to nurse. I remember thinking, "What have I done? Am I really doing the right thing to her?" The crying didn't last as long the second night. The third night it lasted only ten minutes or so. After that, Katie was finally sleeping through the night.

As the remaining months of her first year went on, Katie finally began falling asleep without crying. She also no longer woke mid-way through her naps. The only exception to this was when she was teething or when she was ill. We patted ourselves on the back for finally achieving the goal of a baby who could fall asleep unaided. One problem we weren't prepared for, however, was that Katie would not fall asleep anywhere other than her crib. This gave the church nursery workers a very difficult time. Each time I would pick her up after church, they would tell me what a hard time she was having. Eventually, Chris and I just quit putting her in the nursery. Instead, I would sit in the church's foyer with her during services. Sometimes I simply would not go to church at all.

Another problem that we noticed was that Katie was easily frustrated much more so than any of her peers. She was behind in her physical development, which made it very difficult for her since she was mentally ready to do things before her body was able. She rarely smiled and people always referred to her as "serious" or "sad." Whenever we were out with her, I felt enormous pressure to make her behave. This was especially true whenever we were with our friends who were also using Babywise. When Katie would throw food off her highchair tray, I felt mortified. When she continued to reach for an object that was a "no touch", I felt like I had failed despite my efforts to train her at home. I kept wondering what are we doing wrong? Why isn't she a "good" baby? I would go back to the book quite often to make sure I was following the advice correctly. Each time I did so, I found that I was. Both my husband and I were becoming increasingly frustrated that Katie wasn't getting with the program, especially since we were implementing it exactly as the book said to! At that time, I began to have some doubts about Ezzo's program, but not enough to sway me from it. I believe my pride kept me from ditching it all together. I just kept thinking, if I stick with it, Katie will be the good baby Ezzo said I'd have if I followed his advice.

After Katie's first birthday, we moved to Indiana. Katie's babyhood was difficult, but her toddlerhood was even worse. We enrolled in a Growing Kids God's Way class at a church we were attending. After she turned a year old, we began training with "the rod" in the hope that it would help her behavior. We were very consistent with the spankings. Sometimes they would deter Katie, but many times they didn't keep her from disobeying. Katie also began to act very aggressively toward me. I remember one incident when she was in the bathtub. She was reaching for something she wasn't supposed to have (the soap, I think) and I told her no. She got very angry and screamed at me, then continued to reach for it. I had "the rod" nearby and used it on her bare bottom. She went into a rage, clawing me and biting me. I spanked her a second time (I remained calm throughout this incident), but she continued to scream, claw, bite, and reach for the object. I remember reading Ezzo's advice in GKGW that if a child returned to the act of disobedience, the parent wasn't spanking hard enough. So I spanked her again. And again. And again, each time she screamed, clawed, bit, and reached for the object. I was controlled when I spanked her. I wasn't angry. Finally, I noticed her skin beginning to welt up. I put the rod down and simply moved the soap out of the way. I was concerned the rod was going to leave permanent marks if I continued the spankings at that time.

One afternoon, not long after the tub incident, I picked Katie up from the nursery where she played during my workouts at our local gym. One of the workers there pulled me aside and told me Katie was having a really hard time with the other children, especially the crawling babies. She was purposefully stepping on them and kicking them. I apologized to the worker and promised I'd work with Katie on this at home. Later that week, the incident happened again, only this time it was much worse. When the nursery workers tried to correct her, Katie flew into a rage and began hitting them and throwing the kiddy chairs. When I got home and put her down for a nap, I sat on the couch and just cried. I knew at that point that the Ezzo's program was not for us, that I was hurting my little girl by using it, and that I had to do something quickly before my relationship with her was completely ruined. After Katie's nap, I drove to the bookstore and bought a couple of parenting books. One was "Relational Parenting" by Dr. Ross Campbell. The other was Dr. Sears' "The Discipline Book." That afternoon and evening, I poured over both of these books and decided my entire approach to parenting was screwed up. Katie wasn't yet two then.

Chris and I slowly re-worked the way we parented Katie. We began a more attached approach, focusing on demonstrating the kind of love Christ demonstrated: a sacrificial love that modeled righteous behavior. We poured ourselves into Katie, teaching and training her gently, focusing on our relationship with her. After she turned two, we began to notice her behavior begin to improve. She still had outbursts and fits, but she began to desire to please us rather than defy us. For the first time in her life, she began hugging and kissing me without having to be asked. The best part of it was when she began telling me she loved me.

At that time, I joined a mom's group and met some attachment parents. I had such a negative image of these parents in my mind because of everything Ezzo had said about their parenting philosophy. I expected their children to be holy terrors. What I found astounded me. Their children were so loving and thoughtful without even having to be prompted! They listened to their mothers and did everything that was asked of them. It wasn't a robotic obedience, either. I could tell these kids genuinely wanted to please their mothers. Moreover, their mothers seemed to enjoy them so much! I could tell that the relationship they had with their children was strong and based in trust and love. As I watched one of them rock her infant to sleep tenderly in a sling, I deeply regretted not having a single moment like that during Katie's infancy. I observed another mom singing to and cradling her son to sleep and I suddenly began to see what Ezzo described as "sleep props" as something beautiful. I promised myself to follow my heart with my next child.

Now Katie is 4. Things aren't perfect between us, but they are better. I have a son now, Ethan, who will soon be entering toddlerhood. How different his infancy has been from Katie's! Chris and I have fed him on demand, rocked him to sleep, and never placed any sort of routine on him. We simply followed his cues and parented him accordingly. Ethan is a happy baby and very social. He has earned a reputation in our church's nursery as a happy, easy baby. We're doing everything opposite of what Ezzo says to do; yet Ethan is turning out beautifully. Katie is so attentive to her little brother. She adores him and is so very tender toward him. I'm so thankful we did not diminish her ability to empathize with the feelings of others. I feel certain we would have if we had continued on the Ezzo's program. Sometimes Katie will ask me, "Mommy, did I like to be rocked like that?" or "Did you like to carry me around in a sling, too?" My heart aches when she asks these kinds of questions and I simply cannot bear to tell her the truth. How can I tell her, "No, honey, Mommy left you alone in your bed to cry for hours"?

Through all of this, I've learned one of the most vital parenting truths: Children learn what they live. Unfortunately, Katie had learned in her earlier years that her cries didn't matter to us. She learned that her parents were scary people that didn't consider her wants or needs to be very important. She learned that life revolved around making things convenient for mom and dad. These weren't the messages I intended on sending her, though that's exactly how she perceived my actions. I can't say whether a child with a different personality would have done fine on the Ezzo's program. All I know is that with Katie, the program was a disaster. Both my husband and I regret ever encountering the Ezzo's materials.


Summer 2002
Mrs. Y

Stories of Former Users and Supporters

  • On Becoming Wise to Ezzo's Information +

    Ezzo's book, Babywise, was suggested to me through some really great friends at church.  They had a picture perfect daughter who napped well, seemed to go with the flow, and seemed pretty independent.  I praised my friends for such great parenting and they told me to read this book and apply it as soon as possible. When we were pregnant, we read this book over and over.  I was thrilled my husband agreed to go through with this type of parenting.
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  • Follow Jesus, Not Methods +

    I read Babywise while pregnant with my first son.  At that time, I was a proud, over-achieving, controlling, perfectionist of a mother who was thrilled that I had stumbled upon the "perfect" and "godly" parenting method.  I felt that by having control over my baby's schedule, I was setting them up for a solid relationship with Jesus Christ because they would naturally bow to authority. Everything went according to plan with my son.  He was on the schedule and sleeping through the night at nine weeks.  I glowed beneath the
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  • Our un-Wise Baby Experience +

    Encouragement for Christian Parents Before having our first baby, I thought I had the whole ‘rearing children’ thing sorted.  I had watched my older siblings raise their children, done plenty of babysitting, and even helped mothers with post natal depression for a while.  I thought fussy babies were created by fussy mothers, and was convinced I would have an easy child who would sleep through the night by the six weeks.  I certainly wouldn’t be one of ‘those’ mothers still getting up during the night for their six month old!
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  • Naïve Young Parents in Chicago +

    My husband and I were newlyweds in the Chicago area, and about to have our first child. We wanted to learn more about parenting from a Christian perspective so we went to a GFI parenting class at church where we could get together with new parents-to-be. My frustration is that it seems the Ezzos never took into consideration the moms who suffer from PPD. My depression was pretty debilitating and when my son wasn't "following the program" so to speak, it created a lot of additional stress.
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  • Failure to Thrive +

    I was given Babywise (the 2001 edition) and being an uninformed, naive mother the book's goal sounded good to me. I was so thrilled when my daughter suddenly started sleeping 8-10, even 12 hours overnight! She never cried herself to sleep so I really thought everything was okay. She was responding just as the book had said she would. I had, by Ezzo's description, the "perfect" child: the one who easily fell into her feeding schedule and who was sleeping 10+ hours at night. It was picture perfect. She just
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  • Nourishing and Nurturing +

    I am a first time mom. My son is now 6 months old. Before he was born, I was referred to the Babywise books by Ezzo. I thought, "Wow, what a practical and perfectly logical way to manage feedings." So, I tried it. When my baby was 2 weeks old, I began the Babywise recommended feeding routine. It seemed to be working great. He was really rarely fussy. He was just a happy baby. But at around 3 months of age he was beginning to get a little fussier. I
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  • Baby Loves Routine +

    Before my son was born I really hadn't given much thought as to "how" to feed a baby; I knew that I wanted to breastfeed and all of the mainstream parenting books I had read made it seem so easy. I figured it would be as easy as Baby Cries, Baby Latches On, Baby Eats. I was in for a rude awakening once he was born. I had a very hard time getting the hang of breastfeeding, and had very little support. I only had one friend who breastfed, and
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  • Read the Baby, Not the Book +

    I'm thankful my Babywise experience was a short one. At the recommendation of friends, I was planning to use the Babywise method to get my baby on a schedule right away. It was especially attractive to me since I was recovering from a c-section and desperate for sleep and structure. I had a fairly long hospital stay because of the surgery, and it was a rough time both for me and for the baby. At first, it was easy to get him to eat or sleep when I wanted him
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  • Pediatric Nurse and ex-Ezzo Parent +

    My husband and I faithfully read this book and the full Growing Kids God's Way curriculum. We were excited to be presented with seemingly sound advice and felt prepared to face every part of parenting. We followed the advice on feeding and sleep schedules very closely, until my 5 week old son began failing to gain weight. Fortunately I am a pediatric nurse and noticed the early signs before his health was severely affected. I visited a lactation consultant and learned that my milk supply was almost gone (pumping only
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  • Our Journey to Freedom +

    I was only ten weeks pregnant when my husband and I signed up to take Prep for Parenting [now called "Along the Infant Way" and also known as Babywise in its secular form] at a reputable church. Family members and friends recommended the course. We wanted to be the best parents we could possibly be for our first child. My husband didn't really want to take the classes, not due to lack of interest in fatherhood, but rather, he thought the idea of taking a class to prepare you for
    Read More
  • GKGW Myths and Misconceptions +

    A former GFI Contact Mom and pastor's wife speaks from the heart I would first like to dispel some of the myths about people who speak out against Growing Kids God's Way. Myth: People who don't like GKGW have never read or used GKGW. I was a contact mom for 2 years, and not only followed the materials myself but counseled hundreds of other moms in their use. In fact, there are still ideas contained in GKGW (ideas which can also be found elsewhere) that I use today. Myth: People
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  • Just in Time +

    My son is 11 months old and is healthy and happy and still nursing like a pro. If I were still schedule feeding him, I think he would be formula fed, sad and distant. I read Baby Whisperer and Babywise before J. was born, but I didn't really come to any decision on whether to put him on a schedule or not. I knew that the AAP, the health unit and my doctor advocated feeding on demand, but the scheduling seemed to make more sense. I mean, after all, who
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  • A Pastor's Wife's Experience and Observations +

    When my first baby was about 6 weeks old I was exhausted and overwhelmed. I had no friends with babies and my family lived 5 hours away.  I was very isolated. I didn't know what was normal and what wasn't.  I got most of my support from my mom which was great except she never breastfed a baby.  I was very committed to breastfeeding for financial reasons: my husband was a pastor and we were on a very strict budget. Formula just wasn't an option. A young mother in my
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  • Frazzled and Uptight No More +

    I was totally convinced that Ezzo was the way to go. In fact, before my daughter was born, nobody could convince me that Ezzo was bad. I was very determined to have a "good" kid. However, I was an extremely uptight, frazzled Babywiser. I was always aware of what time it was, when the last feeding was, when the next one was due. I had a huge notebook and I took tons of notes, trying to figure out what worked to minimize the crying.
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  • Learning to Trust my Instincts +

    I'm a mom of 5, including a pair of twins. We took the Prep for Parenting class while pregnant with my oldest. I knew absolutely nothing about kids or babies, so I believed everything they told me--except I had a nagging uneasiness in the back of my mind because I felt they misused the Bible. I did not enjoy my first daughter's babyhood. I was miserable when she was crying alone in her room, yet felt that she would be 'spoiled' if I went in to her, and she would
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  • It's One or the Other +

    [and other Babywise myths that hooked us.] "Of COURSE you can rock your baby to sleep! Just don't make it a habit." Before I had my baby, this actually made sense. After I had her, I remember thinking: "How much is a habit? I did it once yesterday ... can I do it again today? What if I did it twice in one day?" Not to mention that if a newborn baby is crying and you comfort it by rocking or nursing, it will almost surely fall asleep. So, basically, "Don't
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  • Mothering with Babywise: My Secret Pain +

    It started innocently enough. I was visiting a friend who recently gave birth to a baby girl. Sitting on her couch, sipping tea, I asked her, "So…how often do you feed your daughter?" It was then that I was introduced to the principles of Babywise. Being pregnant myself for the first time, I was intrigued. A couple of days later, I bought the book. I read it within days, and knew it was for me. Being an organized person, I feared chaos in my home once a baby was born.
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  • From Babywise to Enjoying my Baby +

    From hearing my friends talk, I thought Babywise was the only way to raise your baby, so there was no question that I would use it too. I read the book before my daughter was born and re-read it again after she was born. I felt like I had to really work hard to get her on a schedule or she would be a brat and never sleep through the night. So, the first week I immediately tried getting her on a three hour schedule. I always felt guilty when
    Read More
  • Less Stressed Without Babywise +

    I would have said that we were happy following Ezzo, but I can honestly say that we are much happier now. I am so much less stressed out! I didn't realize how much stress Babywising put on me until I quit. So many people had told me how wonderful a program Babywise was to get babies to sleep through the night and get order into your day. I think that was a large part of the appeal, not so much the sleeping through the night, but the orderly day. I
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  • 10 Years of GKGW +

    I want to share our story in the hope that it may perhaps help to warn others who are heading down the Growing Kids God's Way path. We still ask ourselves, how could we have been deceived for so long? In 1992, dear friends of ours, who had found Preparation For Parenting [PFP] the previous year, recommended Growing Kids God's Way [GKGW] to my husband and me. Our eldest son was 2 ½ years old. We had come from a cue feeding/attachment parenting background, but we were very young, immature Christians,
    Read More
  • Deep Regrets, New Mercies +

    Our family was involved with Gary Ezzo’s teachings from the winter of 1991 when I was pregnant with our first child until almost two years ago. When we were first exposed to his teachings, I was only two years out of university where I had completed a broad social sciences degree. If you had asked me about infant feeding routines I would have said they were NOT the way to go - that is, before I listened to the Preparation for Parenting tapes with my husband and another couple we were
    Read More
  • Relaxing into a Routine +

    More and more since we've distanced ourselves from the GFI materials, I realize how deeply influenced we were. I didn't have some of the discipline or milk supply problems that I've heard about, but we've had other problems--mainly a deep misunderstanding of what is child-appropriate behavior, and consequently, we stressed out over things that we never should have been upset about (from the infant stage to now at the primary aged child). I've had to re-learn how to relax about certain things, and create an atmosphere of trust and understanding
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  • If I Could Turn Back the Clock +

    I would give anything in the world to be able to turn back the clock and learn about the concerns and controversy surrounding Ezzo's methods before my dear daughter was born. I was not aware of any of the problems with his teachings; I had only heard positive things about his books and knew friends who were using or had used his books when I started following Babywise with my own daughter (when she was about 2 weeks old). I am a very by-the-book, black-and-white type person. I'm also a
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  • Coping with Attachment Disorder +

    We were introduced to Ezzo materials in 1995 through our church group of young adults. By the time we were pregnant (Sept 95) many families had been through the course. Everyone kept telling us how we HAD to do the program--it's the best, it works, it's incredible, you won't be sorry, you'll feel so much better about being a parent. The positive statements never ended. We took it early in 96, and finished a few weeks before I was due. My son was born, and had a very traumatic birth.
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  • The "Y" Family's Experience +

    In writing this testimony, we have seen arguments that people who fail with Ezzo's materials are unintelligent or inconsistent with the materials. My husband and I are well-educated people. My husband graduated from Emory University and had an additional four years of graduate school (total of eight years of education) to become a doctor of optometry. I have a degree in special education and had a few years of teaching experience under my belt when we encountered the Ezzo's materials. We are also Christians, wholly devoted to Christ and rearing
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  • The "H" Family's Experience +

    An In-depth Case History My husband and I were introduced to the Growing Kids God's Way (GKGW) programs through a pastor friend after we discovered we were expecting our first child, and our son was one month old when we began using Preparation for Parenting. This was the first book we had ever read about baby care that seemed to come from a decidedly Christian perspective, with scripture all over the place, and it pointed out that basically all the typical feeding, baby care, and parenting information being taught today
    Read More
  • Open Letter about Failure to Thrive +

    The purpose of this letter is to generate public awareness about yet another child who has surely suffered due to following a Christian parenting program entitled Preparation for Parent-ing/Preparation for the Toddler Years (secular versions marketed in stores as On Becoming BabyWise 1 & 2) by Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo . We hope that knowledge of his case can be used to promote existing and future efforts to inform communities of the extremely serious dangers associated with following the Ezzos' program, even in its newest editions [1998 at the time
    Read More
  • Confessions of a Failed Babywiser +

    This essay is written both as catharsis and restitution. I regret that I encouraged many parents to use the Ezzo materials and feel compelled to warn against it. I also want to share how level-headed parents can be allured by this program. There are many other resources online that outline the medical, Biblical and character problems associated with Gary Ezzo and his parenting programs. With this, I hope to offer a personal view of how these materials can negatively effect a family. I cradled my six month old son in
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  • Failed Babywiser - Russian Version +

    Confessions of a Failed Babywiser - Russian Translation
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  • An Ex-Contact Mom Speaks Out +

    While I was a contact mom for GFI (for a year and a half), I never once met a mom who breastfed long-term (at least a year or longer) without modifying the materials. I did see babies who appeared listless and in a depressed state, who were smaller than average or scrawny. I met scores of moms who struggled with milk supply to a point that it completely removed the enjoyment of nursing their babies. I met babies who went one or two months without gaining any weight at all
    Read More
  • Thoughts from a Former Contact Mom +

    I used Ezzo stuff because it really fit my personality. I'm very structured and don't handle lots of chaos very well. I started with Preparation for Parenting when my youngest was a newborn. He is 12-1/2 now. My other kids are 11, 8, 5, and 7 months. I was also a "contact mom" for GFI for several years. We used Preparation for the Toddler Years (back before it was even an "official" program), and GKGW, also. We read through Reflections of Moral Innocence and ended up not using that. Having
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  • Former GFI Leadership Couple, Eric and Julie Abel +

    The Abels helped found GFI and were featured on GKGW curriculum video tapes resigned over ethical concerns. Here they share their thoughts on how some aspects of the GKGW principles were detrimental to their family.   This is the Internet archive of that FAQ
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  • A Group of Case Studies +

    This group of case histories was compiled by Laurie Moody, an ex-contact mom with GFI. Unlike most contact moms, this one was a certified lactation counselor. http://www.angelfire.com/md2/moodyfamily/casestudies.html
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  • More Stories from around the Web +

    7/20/1997 Link to post "...the church's youth pastor invited me into his office and told me about the Ezzo's programs and how important they were to effective Christian and biblical parenting. ...I took the book right home and read it straight through. I immediately felt immensly guilty that I had been demand-feeding my baby and sat down to scratch out a schedule for him. But even as I was doing it I had a very uneasy feeling in my gut, so I prayed and asked God for wisdom regarding accepting
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  • Babywise Stole Precious Weeks +

    BabyWise stole many precious weeks from me in the beginning of my son's life. I wish I could have just loved on him without all the fear that Ezzo put into me about creating a spoiled baby. When I found out I was pregnant with my son, I sought the advice out of women that I knew and respected who had children. My own mom died when I was 19, and I felt truly lost as I searched for the "right" way to be a mom. One of the friends
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  • Ezzo Lived in My Brain +

    I heard a lot about how awesome GKGW and Babywise are so naturally I bought Babywise when I was pregnant with my first. But my baby was teeny (6.5) and jaundiced, so the lactation consultant adamantly emphasized feeding on cue and even suggested co-sleeping.  My husband brought her in our bedroom the first night home from the hospital and said, "we can't just put her away". He can't stand to hear a baby cry. We did not end up actively using Babywise.  Even so, having read the book, Ezzo lived
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  • Young, Naive, Pregnant with First Child +

    The year was 2008. A young, naive woman is pregnant with her first child. She is unsure, lacks confidence and wants to be certain she does the best job for her unborn child. Yet there are a great deal of books, resources and information - which ones to start with? Which ones to trust? So she turns to older, more experienced mothers who all but thrust this book into her hands and begin making the promises.
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  • A note of appreciation from an older parent +

    Let me start by saying that 14 or 15 years ago, I was in the unhappy position of having to do everything in my power to force two sets of new parents to drive their babies to the emergency room because, after following the Ezzo’s advice, these babies were severely dehydrated and lethargic.  The parents were not bad parents.  In fact, they were trying really hard to be good parents, according to guidelines which had been sanctioned by their church.  The fact that both contacted me for a home visit,
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  • Confessions of a Former Babywise Advocate +

    This story comes via the blog "Banned from Baby Showers".   The blog owner shares a mother's account of how she used Babywise successfully -- as far as she knew -- until her baby was 7 months old, and then her milk supply began to peter out.  Confessions of a Former Babywise Advocate
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  • A Forgiven Mama +

    Our first child was born in the summer of 09, and I promptly began trying to apply the Babywise method. The book had been highly recommended by a distant relative, and promised structure and sanity amidst the exhaustion and upheaval I felt as a new mother. However, our baby did not respond the way the book promised he would if we followed the schedule. All my attempts to adhere to the book led to deep frustration, arguments with my husband (who knew better than to let a book dictate our newborn's schedule), feeling like a
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