Anyone have(read) any of Dr. Sears pregnancy/baby/children books??

[emh1129]

Have you checked out paperbackswap.com ? You can trade some books you're finished with and look for some of the parenting books you're interested in. I found one of the Sears books that way

 

[Maggimus]

I hadnt ever heard of that-- thanks for leading me there.

 

[Maggimus]

Oh yes, and by the way-- i am not pregnant nor do I have kids. I am just ready to start reading up on this whole parenting thing before I actually get pregnant (Id rather be somewhat prepared I guess you can say!)

 

[Tiger926]

Oh yes, and by the way-- i am not pregnant nor do I have kids. I am just ready to start reading up on this whole parenting thing before I actually get pregnant (Id rather be somewhat prepared I guess you can say!)

Good for you, and best of luck! Tiger

 

[Maggimus]

I want to say that you all have been super helpful with this!! What a great community we have here on the budget board

 

[Liltx]

Babywise is completly safe if you use common sense. The dehydration issues were from moms who bf on a schedule from the beginning and let their babies scream instead of feeding them their supply dropped. They tell you to not put your baby on a schedule until after 6 weeks when your milk is established.

Every parenting style can cause harm if parents do not use common sense. AP parents who do not practice safe co-sleeping have smothered their child. This is not Dr. Sear's fault either.

I just hate when people bash a style because of the extremists. All of the articles that were quoted are quite old and the book has been revised just as Dr. Sears has revised his. Alot changes in 8-10 years. Just look at the back to sleep issue.

Do not buy old books just used current versions.

Monica

 

[Maggimus]

Thank you very much for that Liltx!!

I agree that there seem to be people who take every type of view to an extreme.

I am going to go tomorrow and get some of these books you all are talking about!! How do I tell if its the new revised one, or the old one? I dont really knwo the dates these were revised?

 

[Liltx]

I would search for them on amazon.com to find out when the latest edition date.

I am sure your parenting style will fall somewhere in the middle.

Best of luck!

Monica

 

[Liltx]

Also, I would read "Happiest Baby on the Block". I never needed it but I have heard from others that it did wonders for their fussy babies. Actually one of the suggestions that Dr. sears' wife had on the show was something he reccomends to bounce your baby.
Monica

 

[Bird-Mom]

Babywise is completly safe if you use common sense. The dehydration issues were from moms who bf on a schedule from the beginning and let their babies scream instead of feeding them their supply dropped. They tell you to not put your baby on a schedule until after 6 weeks when your milk is established.

I just want to comment on the milk being established at 6 weeks...nursing works on supply and demand. What your supply is at 6 weeks is not what your supply needs to be at 12 weeks, at 5 months, one year, etc. If you feed on a tight schedule, you do not give baby the opportunity to increase the demand, and you can have dehydration or faliure to thrive at a later age. Or I have seen parents who schedule feed and when baby wants to eat more frequently, the mama thinks "my supply isn't sufficient, my milk isn't good enough, I need to supplement." Supplementing begins the downward spiral to ending nursing earlier than desired or anticipated. Another way of "supplementing" is to feed solids even though baby is too young because mom thinks her milk isn't sufficient. Of course, moms who feed on demand might think this way too, but I have seen the pattern mostly in schedule fed babies.

The thing I dislike most about Babywise is his premise that babies are manipulative and they need to be broken of it. Tiny babies can only communicate by fussing or crying.

Anyways...my 2 cents...

Another great read is The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. I highly recommend reading it before you are suffering sleep deprivation because you will have some ideas that you can implement from early on.

If you are interested in in co-sleeping but nervous about having baby in bed, check out the Arms Reach Co-sleeper. It is like a 3 sided crib which attaches to the side of your bed. This way baby can have his own space, but you can easily nurse and get extra snuggles in the middle of the night. This is a particularly great invention if your dh is nervous about it or if you have a queen size or smaller bed.

I agree that reading ahead of time will give you a great foundation. Good luck when you decide to take the leap and grow your family!

 

[Bird-Mom]

Also, I would read "Happiest Baby on the Block". I never needed it but I have heard from others that it did wonders for their fussy babies. Actually one of the suggestions that Dr. sears' wife had on the show was something he reccomends to bounce your baby.
Monica

Yes, this is a good one too. He recommends making a loud shhhhh sound which is similar to the sounds baby hears in utero. My first dd was very fussy and this book was not out when she was born. One day my dh started making that noise, and it was great! Calmed her down very quickly. Lots of babies love the vacuum cleaner, blow dryer, and white noise machine too.

 

[MinnieGi]

I just wanted to say to those that have the Sears as pediatricians I am soooo jealous!!! I can just tell from the books how great it must be to be one of their patients.

"The Baby Book" was well-worn is my house with my two kids and then I passed it onto a cousin. I have other Sears books too and have found them all great and very helpful, always picking and choosing recommendations to our children and family.

 

[becca011906]

Yes, this is a good one too. He recommends making a loud shhhhh sound which is similar to the sounds baby hears in utero. My first dd was very fussy and this book was not out when she was born. One day my dh started making that noise, and it was great! Calmed her down very quickly. Lots of babies love the vacuum cleaner, blow dryer, and white noise machine too.

LOL me and my dh still make that sound to our dd when she wakes up and she's 2.5 years old and been sleeping through the night for about 8 months now LOL, we have never read the book but it works great, a hand on her and 'shhhhh, shhhhh ssshhhhh' she'll go right back out!

 

[Maggimus]

If anyone has any of these books and wants to trade something let me know... you all have really peaked my interests!!

What is this arms reach co-sleeper?? I thought someone mentioned that it was something Sears promoted-- but couldnt find it on his website.

Also-- his the baby sling normally always associated with AP? Ive noticed a lot of people with these before, and just figured they liked carrying their baby like this-- seemed easier .

Im really trying to learn here-- although I may look a little dumb-- im totally new to this. Thanks

 

[glass slipper girl]

I'd recommend the Happiest Baby on the Block book too (or the DVD). I also have really liked the Dunston Baby Language DVD by Patricia Dunston. It's a brand new one. She was on Oprah not long ago and basically her thing is that all babies have 5 "words" that they say for different things. Like "neh" means I'm hungry. It's a reflex with sound added...for hunger their tongue is at the roof of the mouth so with bringing it down and adding sound you get "neh." You hear these "words" at the start of their cry. When they are just starting to fuss but not fully cry yet. When my Mom told me about this I thought it sounded ridiculous. I have an almost 3 month old now and he is baby #3 so I figured this was not something I would need. Mom bought me the DVD and I can honestly say her theory works! The babies have words for hunger, sleepy, discomfort, need to burp and lower intestinal gas. It's really amazing how right on these things seem to be! There was a little video clip of her on Oprah's web site for a while.

on Dr. Sears. I have the Breastfeeding Book, the Baby Book and the Discipline Book. Love them all! I wouldn't say I follow everything 100% but I do like his approach!

With Babywise...this book is based on Ezzo's original course called "Growing Kids God's Way." He is not a pediatrician or a child psychologist or anything like that. He is a Minister and this theory is based on things he found in scripture. I have a good friend who took the course on this at her church. The theory presented there had such explanations as that one of the reasons for feeding on a schedule rather than on demand is that the child must learn delayed gratification. If they do not learn this at a young age they become promiscuous. I couldn't believe it when she explained this to me! I'm all for having kids not be promiscuous but I don't think that feeding baby when they are hungry breeds promiscuity later on, kwim? Also things like that if a child disobeys, they are sinning. They are not given warnings or "second chances;" You tell them once and if they don't obey they are sinning and need punishment (for older kids, not babies). Babywise is this same theory, he just doesn't present it with the scripture basis but it's the same teaching. I am not familiar with what changes have been made to it so I can't comment on that, I just found it interesting what the basis was for this parenting theory. The example I gave was just one part of it. You can learn more by Googling Growing Kids God's Way.

It's great to read up now but just remember that you have to find the parenting style that works for you, your husband, your child and your individual situation. I am a stay at home Mom and the whole scheduled thing just didn't fit with me. All 3 of my kids have had a routine but not a schedule. We always did things the same way each day but not at the same time. If they slept in one day, fine. If they napped longer or less, fine. That worked for me. The same thing made life miserable for my best friend. She works so she had to have a schedule because her kids HAVE to be at daycare by this time so she can be at work by that time. They HAVE to have schedule or it's chaos. She had no choice but to schedule things more. You just have to find what works best for you. What I thought would be my style before I had kids just didn't feel right once the kids were born. You'll fall into what feels right and works for you and your baby. Just remember that no matter how many parenting books YOU read, your baby hasn't read any of them so don't be surprised if he or she has their own way of doing things not according to the books!

 

[JunieJay]

Just saw this post and have to put in a plug for Dr. Sears. When my oldest was born and so colicky Dr. Sears and his wife settled all my fears. I'm so glad to know he is still giving such good, sound, and caring advice to young parents.

 

[emh1129]

Babywise is completly safe if you use common sense. The dehydration issues were from moms who bf on a schedule from the beginning and let their babies scream instead of feeding them their supply dropped. They tell you to not put your baby on a schedule until after 6 weeks when your milk is established.

"Completely safe" is truly a matter of opinion. I wouldn't say that Babywise is even remotely safe, but then again, that's my opinion.
And like a pp mentioned, breastfeeding works on supply and demand, so that's why it's always recommended (from experts, that is, not from people like the author of this Babywise book who is simply a minister, but then again I guess anyone can write a book these days.) like lactation consultants, pediatricians, etc. to feed the baby on demand, not on a schedule.
The article I posted may not be the most up-to-date, to be honest it was the first one I saw in a Google search. There were hundreds (if not more) of them, though, so I'm sure there is a more current one. But hopefully if a person was actually considering this method, they would read all of the information out there to contradict what this book says (and there is a ton of it).

 

[Tiger926]

"Completely safe" is truly a matter of opinion. I wouldn't say that Babywise is even remotely safe, but then again, that's my opinion.
And like a pp mentioned, breastfeeding works on supply and demand, so that's why it's always recommended (from experts, that is, not from people like the author of this Babywise book who is simply a minister, but then again I guess anyone can write a book these days.) like lactation consultants, pediatricians, etc. to feed the baby on demand, not on a schedule.
The article I posted may not be the most up-to-date, to be honest it was the first one I saw in a Google search. There were hundreds (if not more) of them, though, so I'm sure there is a more current one. But hopefully if a person was actually considering this method, they would read all of the information out there to contradict what this book says.

Totally agree! Not sure why people think taking breasfeeding advice from a minister is acceptable - dehydration is a very serious issue. It's amazing to me how people will trust non-experts (he isn't a medical doctor), but they question the Sears' who are very qualified, because co-sleeping is too much work, or, feeding on the baby's schedule is too much work.

It's sad to me how much 'selective' parenting goes on these days. Bottom line, babies need to be in charge as they and only they know exactly what they need. Until such time that some person is able to process the cries of a baby into a recognized language, then I am going to let my baby tell me when she is hungry.

Happy reading, Tiger

 

[jennilouwho]

I agree that the earlier Babywise books are not very good. I definately don't think babies are born with any ill will that needs to be tamed. I didn't find the newer version I read to be dangerous, but maybe I misunderstood it. I just did where you try to keep them awake for a bit before they go to sleep after they eat so they are not dependant on food to go to sleep. He seems happy having a routine (not a schedule) and it's worked for our family. I fed on demand for 2 months and then went to more of an every two and a half to three hours schedule based on my baby's needs. He's in the 95th percentile on height and weight, so he's certainly not whithering away and now he sleeps straight through the night. You just have to use common sense with all theories. More than anything, as a parent, you just have to listen to your gut and do what works for you.

 

[Maggimus]

Today i went to the local used bookstore (its huge) and they had some of the older Sears books for sale for $11.00. In my opinion, thats way too much-- thats almost the price of the book new!!