Why is Ezzo (Babywise) so popular? It seems to me that there is nothing new
in this program, except perhaps the religious justification for all of it.
The scheduled feedings, minimal cuddling, and punishment of infants were all
promoted strongly a couple of generations ago by pediatricians. And I think
the remnants of that still linger. Many of us were parented in ways that at
least resembled Ezzo. Most of us, as children, didn't get the amount of
cuddling, holding, touching we needed - and that can make us uncomfortable
with having that intimacy with our own babies. Most of us were probably fed
to a schedule. We slept alone, after being put to bed at a set bedtime and
woken up to begin our daily routines.

So when new parents hear about Ezzo, it sounds familiar. It is similar to
what they experienced as babies themselves. It saves them from having to
overcome their own lack of comfort with closeness, their fear of life not
happening according to a schedule (and being "out of control"), and facing
some of their own grief and unhappiness about how they were parented.

Teresa Pitman
Guelph Ontario

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