More on Baby Books: Secrets of the Baby Whisperer

Okay so the previous post originated from my researching two new infant parenting books.  They aren't new, I guess just new to me.  I hadn't bought them yet, though I was familiar with their principles.  The first is, The Happiest Baby on The Block.  I decided against this one, as the subtext is: "The new way to calm crying and help your newborn baby sleep longer."  I am spoiled rotten and have an already happy and calm child who sleeps from 8:30 to 2:30 consistently.  So I skipped that book.

The other, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, was more appealing, as it discusses better ways to communicate with your baby and to decode baby cues so you're giving the baby what he needs.  This is the one I ended up getting.

Now ... this book is half horse hockey and half intelligent.  She advocates E.A.S.Y. (her own acronym): Eat, Activity, Sleep, You.  This is useful and yet, it seems to me, also impractical.  She doesn't think full babies should go straight to sleep.  Probably not, on paper.  But there's a reason people tell you to drink warm milk if you're having trouble sleeping.

Sidenote: all these books say, do what your baby wants.  Follow your babies cues.  EXCEPT, when it comes to sleep.  Then we have to teach them the right way to do things, because the way the baby wants to do it (after eating - in this case) is wrong.  I'm going to tell you what I told my doctor, I did NOTHING to make Grady sleep from 8:30 - 2:30.  Except let him eat what he wanted, when he wanted.  He did the sleep thing entirely on his own.

Okay back to the book.  The E.A.S.Y thing is reasonable, but often impractical.  But when I look at my day and what I do, that's pretty much it.

Now, the negatives ... Hogg does not advocate breast feeding.  Which I know is a personal choice, and for many women it's choosen for them because they are unable to breast feed.  Or, many start off breastfeeding and then quit within 3 months because of issues, or work schedules and impracticality.  All of this is great, normal, terrific.  Whatever.  But Hogg, in giving pros and cons for formula and breastfeeding, pretty much thinks that the AAP and Le Leche are in cohoots and that breastfeeding isn't that beneficial at all.

Tell that to all of the constipated babies out there who are learning to digest formula.  (Though, she is right, babies on formula do thrive.  I was a formula baby.  I think mom's in my mom's generation were still burning bras and thought breastfeeding enslaved them or something. So they didn't do it.)

Hogg also advocates not switching sides during feeds.  Which seems silly, and a good way to get lopsided.    She admits that you won't find anyone who says to feed this way, which makes me wonder why she thinks we all should ignore the doctors and lactation consultants who say to alternate, and to listen to her sole opinion of one side is best.

Note though - La Leche does say if your baby is particularly gassy to feed on one side for a while, and then alternate if you can.  I also think, that after 2-3 months of breast feeding, and milk is in and doing what it does, you can probably train, like she says, to feed off one side at a feeding.  But it's strange that EVERYONE else says to alternate, and she says to single side feed.

The other thing, she says not to let your baby run your life, because, "he's just a baby" but then all of her advice is about doing exactly what the baby wants when the baby wants it.

She is also opposed to on demand feeding, which I think is ludicruous.  If the baby is hungry, you should feed him, not force him to wait for some arbitrary schedule.  And it's quite possible, for a young breastfeed baby to need to eat every hour and a half to two hours.  Like she mentions, they burn through breastmilk like it's nothing.  And I also think it's important to on demand feed so that during growth spurts, your baby can tell your body to produce more to meet his needs.  And, it's what my pediatrician recommends.

So, my thoughts are this book is less strict then Babywise, but it's still kind of silly.  She makes some good points about understanding that your baby is a person, and to respect the baby as an individual.  Which is something that I'm putting forward right now too, and is probably the reason I bought the book (used).  To sort of vindicate instincts I was already having.

The next book I want to read is Home Alone America.  But I'm getting this one from the library, as it may be bat crazy.  Another one I'm interested in, 7 Myths of Working Mothers.  This is another one that may be bat crazy.  If you have any other recommendations, I'm all ears.  Not just on the above topics, any baby topics.  I have Babywise, and the one reviewed here, but any others that are intelligent on baby growth and learning, I'm all about.

I also am going to start Super Baby Food, a gift from a good friend, because solids are the next great adventure in the food department.  Here we come boring rice cereal!  Yum!