Book Review

The Baby Whisperer, by Tracy Hogg, is a book that claims to help parents who are unsure how to care for their babies and read their cues. I was reading the book, looking for insights on normal infant sleep patterns. What I found was information on how to get your baby to sleep, eat and play on an adult's schedule. I was kinda disappointed, because I thought this would be a book that was more geared towards Attachment Parenting and would explain the needs of infants... I guess I was mistaken. While she does offer advice on all imaginable topics, and claims her solutions will work for every baby (I'm not a huge fan of the "one-size-fits-all" method) I just didn't feel she was qualified to be so aggressive in her opinions.

For instance, she down plays the benefits of breastfeeding, while suggesting that breastfeeding on demand is not only unnecessary, but creates a demanding, fussy child. I have found the opposite to be true, but regardless, she isn't an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), so I'd question her knowledge and understanding of successful breastfeeding and wouldn't follow her advice. Her suggestions had breastfeeding failure, written all over them. She also thought it was a good idea to wean babies at around 8 months, which isn't supported by WHO or the AAP... just not good advice.

I also didn't like how she demonized co-sleeping and co-bedding. She blamed these for SIDS and said cribs are where babies should be. What bothers me about that statement is that babies have been in bed with their parents for centuries before this book was written. Even today, nearly all other cultures practice bed-sharing with babies and don't have SIDS rates as high as we do here in the "modern world", in some "less civilized" cultures that practice bed-sharing, SIDS is almost unheard of... And nevermind the fact that SIDS was only recently changed from "Crib Death"....

Another inconsistency was that she recommends parents follow the AAP on their recommendation for when to start solids (6 months) but suggests that "bigger babies" and babies that suffer from GERD should be introduced at 4 months. Again, she really has no authority to be giving such recommendations and this goes against the AAP and other research I have read, so it bothers me that she gives such erroneous advice so willy-nilly.

I try to find the "good" in each thing I read, because I believe one can usually glean something beneficial. Something that I did find that I could agree with her on was her philosophy of not using the Cry-It-Out method (CIO).

I thought she made some good points:

"I don't believe in allowing infants to cry alone, not even for five minutes. Your baby doesn't know where you have gone or why he's suddenly abandoned. To use another analogy, its' as if you have a boyfriend, you set a date, and he doesn't show up for two nights in a row. You wouldn't trust his word. trust is the foundation on which any relationship is built. My hair stands on end when parents tell me they've allowed a baby to cry for an hour, two hours. Some infants get so upset and cry long and hard enough that they vomit. Others simply expend energy, become even more overstimulated, and eventually get hungry as well, leaving both of you confused and exhausted. Many babies who've been left to cry it out become chronically bad sleepers from that point on, putting up a battle whenever it's time for sleep, even becoming fearful of their own beds."

We don't see eye-to-eye on how to teach your baby to go to sleep... She suggests that allowing your baby to co-bed with you will result in a needy, clingy child and I just don't agree. The research doesn't show this to be true, in fact, many studies show the opposite, so we just don't see eye-to-eye on that point.

Another criticism I have with this book is that the Author's tone of voice is very antagonistic and arrogant. She speaks as though she is the best and only expert on babies and it just rubs me the wrong way. My philosophy on the topic of "who knows best?" is that parents usually know best, when they are sincerely seeking to do the best thing for their child. When their heart is in the right place, and they acknowledge and follow their baby's cues, I think the parents are the "experts" for all intents and purposes. And I believe each baby is unique and will march to the beat of a different drum, so I find it silly to be so rigid as to think that each baby should conform to one pattern of behavior.... I think consistency is important but flexibility is, too. She says she believes that but, I'm not convinced.

Well, that's my 2 cents. Hope it helps.