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 parenthood seemed silly. Oh, how I wish I had agreed with him! Even more, how we both wish we had researched the Ezzos and their program. At the time, we felt there was no reason to do so.

The teachers told us this program would work and we believed them. Since this was taught at a reputable church, we accepted what we have since learned is ungodly teaching. We both experienced a few hesitations throughout the classes, but for each question our instructors had reassuring answers as to why this was the best way for a child.

I think our biggest concern was the rigidity of the program and the lack of comforting, nurturing and simply enjoying our baby. It just seemed like our baby would be in his crib, whether asleep or crying, an awful lot. We had visited a family who was using the Prep methods and they let their two week old cry for at least a half hour. I remember leaving there and my husband said "We will never do that when we have children."

But, the Ezzo videos, book and instructors convinced us to go against our God-given instincts. We even ignored the warnings we heard in our labor and delivery class taught at a University Hospital. Without being asked, our instructor, who is a certified lactation specialist and labor and delivery assistant, warned against Gary Ezzo and his teachings. However, at the time my husband and I smugly smiled at each other, "We know better because we're going to raise our baby according to what the Ezzo's taught was God's way." Boy, were we mistaken. God definitely has a way for parents to rear their children, but it is NOT Gary Ezzo's ways.

The story we are about to tell you goes back to our son's first three weeks of life, although the emotional damage caused by Babywise has lasted far longer than three weeks. It took us a while to begin telling our story because it was too painful to discuss. While I, my husband, our son and other family members are still being healed from the pain and distress, we feel it is necessary to tell as many people as possible about our story in hopes of making people aware of something very dangerous and even life-threatening. Let us begin.

In late 2003, our son entered the world at a healthy 7 lbs, 5 oz. He was an alert baby who took to nursing right away. He would cry a lot in the afternoons but we thought that was just his fussy time of day. I never even tried nursing him during that time to see if he was hungry because it wasn't the "correct time" according to Babywise.

My husband and I are reasonable, informed and well educated people, however, the Ezzos tell parents to accept the fact that babies have fussy times and parents shouldn't be anxious about it. Though the book does contain cautions to feed a baby when hungry, Ezzo undermines the thought of feeding the baby off schedule by pointing out that going off the schedule will cause fussiness and that feeding too often can cause "colic-like symptoms."

Had I simply nursed our baby to bring him comfort, I would have realized that he wasn't a fussy baby, but a hungry baby. "The baby cries, and mom offers the breast" is part of Ezzo's teachings on what the wrong approach to fussing is. Looking back, we were so deceived by the PDF (parent directed feeding) plan taught by the Ezzos and their disciples that we ignored our son's needs so that our baby would be a "prep baby".

The internal anguish I was feeling about letting our son cry it out in his crib literally made me nauseous. If I had only listened to that still, small voice that was prompting me to pick up my baby, nurse him and get rid of the "Ezzo rules", I wouldn't be writing this now. But the book predicted I would have these feelings in response to my baby's cries, and advised setting them aside and "thinking" and then reacting. It trained you to ignore the emotions, instincts and DESIRES to comfort your baby by holding and nursing them, and instead view the situation through Ezzo's lens.

In the midst of this inner battle, I consulted with our Prep instructors several times. I was instructed to "stick with it", "don't feel horrible, it will get easier to hear him cry", "You ARE doing the right thing for your baby", etc.

From the time I was a little girl, my biggest desire was to grow up and be a wife and mom. All the nurturing and tenderness I envisioned could not be a part of my relationship with my son as I tried to implement the Ezzo program. All of this was leading to more than disappointment, it was leading to disaster!

At his one week check up, our son had lost more than the normal amount of weight and our doctor just said to bring him back the following week. When we did, we were alarmed! He was still losing weight and at a fast pace. Unfortunately our pediatrician at that time didn't recognize the symptoms for what they were. He had us begin collecting wet and soiled diapers and he immediately sent us to the hospital for extensive blood work. I remember calling my parents with the horrifying news that things weren't going well.

While waiting for the results, God was busy at work in my heart, nudging me that we needed to go in a different direction with a different doctor. Through a series of God-ordained events we switched to a pediatrician who played a vital role in saving our son's life. We called her on Wednesday morning and she had us in her office that afternoon.

Our son had to endure more painful pricks for blood work and examinations so that a correct diagnosis could be made. Later I found out that this new doctor suspected that we were using Babywise.

I saw my husband's heart break for the first time as he left the room crying because he couldn't endure watching our son suffer for another second. When both the nurse and doctor tried to collect urine via catheter (4x's), there was no urine to be collected (later we realized it was because he was so dehydrated).

Over the next twenty-four hours, my faithful Abba Father who is so full of grace, opened my eyes to the fact that I was not making enough milk because I was not nursing our baby often enough. The Ezzo's teachings ignore the principle of supply and demand as it applies to breastfeeding.

When we returned that Thursday to the doctor, I told her that I knew in my heart that our son was not getting enough to eat. Yes, I was nursing him according to the Ezzo's specified times, but because of the lack of stimulation my body was not making enough milk for our baby to thrive. The Ezzos' program leaves no room for the differences in women's milk storage capacity, milk production and babies' stomach sizes.

We had no idea at the time that we were starving our son. Again, because of the teachings we really thought he was getting a full feeding and was just fussy. Prep for Parenthood gave us no precautionary warnings other than to make sure your baby has a certain number of wet and soiled diapers. Well, as first time parents, what we thought was wet and dirty was not nearly wet and dirty enough! We had no reason to question Prep's teachings.

Thank God our pediatrician listened to my instincts and immediately offered him a bottle of formula. Our tiny three week old son sucked down over four ounces within five minutes. Right then we realized he was starving.

He was admitted to the hospital after being diagnosed with FTT (failure to thrive) and severe dehydration. As I was frantically gathering things for the hospital, I collapsed from grief and cried aloud asking "Am I going to lose my baby?" The torment I was feeling at that moment, allowed me to begin questioning what we had been doing.

After being admitted to the hospital, it took several specialists nearly 2 hours to insert an IV because his veins collapsed every time they inserted the needle due to his critical state of dehydration.

God's grace and mercy directed my husband and me to cling to each other outside of the room while my mom attempted to comfort her grandson during this ordeal. We didn't feel like we could handle the haunting images of our baby as he was stuck so many times.

Our helpless son passed out from crying several times and then he'd come to again screaming. We were told they were going to attempt to insert the IV one more time and if it didn't work they were going to have to bring in a surgeon to insert it into his scalp. Thankfully the Lord heard our cries for our son and the IV worked that final time. The only thing that got us through it was the understanding that he had to get hydrated in order to survive.

We can honestly say this was the hardest moment of our lives, knowing that our son was suffering and had been suffering for nearly three weeks because he had not been fed enough due to our foolish implementation of a feeding program taught by Prep.

Even in the midst of this horrible situation, God's love for us abounded. He provided us with a wonderful nurse who gave our baby special attention, a lactation specialist who is a Christian and a concerned pediatrician who was there to answer our questions and bring much comfort.

From that point, we began demand feeding our son per our pediatrician's instructions, but the Ezzo's teachings continued to plague our thoughts. After five very long days, we brought our baby boy home for a new start with our Heavenly Father guiding us.

Although we recognized some of the problems regarding Prep, we didn't immediately understand the deceptions and danger associated with the Ezzos and their programs. My mom happened to research Ezzo on the Internet and was shocked by her findings.

Because our Prep instructors told us that many people wouldn't understand why we were following this program and to politely tell them, "We are raising our kids God's way, according to the Ezzos, and to please support us in this," my mom was hesitant now about how to inform us of her findings. Thankfully she followed her heart and gut and pleaded with us to look on the Internet. What we found made us sick to our stomachs and made us cry for our son and for so many who have suffered at the hand of the Ezzos and their programs.

It was difficult to immediately expel the cult-like ideologies that were so ingrained in our thinking. Day by day, the Lord removed the scales from our eyes and we really began to enjoy and cherish our precious gift from God.

I can recall an e-mail I received from our Prep instructors expressing some sympathy for what they heard our son had endured but still encouraging us to return to the Prep teachings, as they were "best for our son." They never made the connection between our son's FTT, dehydration, etc. and Prep. It was interesting to us how after we contacted our Prep instructors (via e-mail) telling details of our experience, many other families experiences and so many warnings against the Ezzos dealing with their integrity, backgrounds and character, we never heard from them again.

After much prayer, tears and a mixture of so many emotions, I displayed my new decision to parent from a heart of love rather than a program and I threw the Prep book away. The instant freedom I felt was indescribable!

I immediately began pumping to try to build up my milk supply but it was too late. Apparently, because I had limited the stimulation in the first three weeks, I never could sustain our baby on my milk alone. One of my greatest desires as a mother was demolished because of Prep. Our baby started on formula and began gaining weight. It was a slow process involving daily weight checks for a month and weekly weight checks after that.

As we prepare to celebrate our son's first birthday, we rejoice daily that God intervened just in time and that He allowed us to see the truth so that the truth could set us free! That freedom is only available from one source and that source is the best Father figure we could ever follow-our Heavenly Father. Through His leading, our home is filled with grace. Our son is on a wonderful routine that allows him to be the person God designed him to be and for us to be the parents God called us to be for him. He knows how to put himself to sleep, he sleeps twelve hours each night, takes good naps and most of all enjoys life!

We're still going through healing from the guilt and remorse over the losses of those first few weeks and the horrific things our son endured, but we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him.

Our hope in sharing our testimony is that other babies, parents and future families will not have to go through what our family went through as a result of Prep.

We urge you to research this program. For more information about the cult-like aspects of the Ezzos' teachings, lactation concerns, and other issues raised in this story, search "Ezzo" on the Internet. One very organized website is ezzo.info.

Yes, we understand there is controversy over many programs but I guarantee you will be shocked and saddened by your findings. We encourage you to do as we have done and begin reading material truly researched, written and supported by experienced medical personnel with infant/child developmental backgrounds.

We strongly agree with Dr. Sears when he states, "A need that is filled in early infancy goes away; a need that is not filled never completely goes away but recurs later in detachment -- aggression, anger, distancing or withdrawal, and discipline problems. During the first year, an infant's wants and needs are usually one and the same."

Through this experience, we've learned that parenting from your heart allows you to meet your baby's needs and many times those needs include simply being held, cuddled and nurtured with lots of hugs, kisses, songs, smiles, and laughs!

We realized that our son is an individual, created by God and as unique as a single snowflake. Just as our Heavenly Father meets us right where we are, we meet our son's needs right where he is.

To God be the glory for the great things He has done!


by Jeremy, Lori & son
submitted 8/04

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.
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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!
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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.
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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.
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • Failed Babywiser - Russian Version +

    Confessions of a Failed Babywiser - Russian Translation
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
  • 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,
    Read More
  • 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
    Read More
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