You may (or may not) be familiar with the book "On Becoming Babywise", which promotes their "Babywise method".
Babywise is a harmful sleep training method that promotes feeding your baby on a rigid schedule beginning around 6 weeks. Your baby is kept on an "eat-play-sleep" routine, as nursing to sleep is seen as creating a "bad habit".
They lure vulnerable parents in by promising that your baby will begin to sleep through the night; treating this milestone as if it were a parenting "grand prize". Using Behaviorism (a harmful method of controlling your baby's behaviors, rather than working WITH them), Babywise tells parents that they can shape their baby's behaviors to fit into their lives; rather than understanding that feeding on-demand and night wakings are biologically NORMAL and HEALTHY.
Unfortunately, this all feeds into the American culture of fear; including a fear of the changes that a baby brings into your life, fear that your child will never learn to become independent, and fear that you will never get a good night's sleep again.
A physician with the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a statement warning against Babywise; pediatricians and lactation consultants have noted that Babywise babies have often shown failure to thrive (FTT), poor milk supply in the mothers (due to not feeding on-demand), and involuntary early weaning. It has also been associated with dehydration, delayed development, colic/crying, neurological impairment, and infant stress (which can lead to anxiety & depression in adulthood).
A North Carolina Hospital Review Committee has listed 11 areas in which this program is NOT adequately supported by conventional medical practice.
A California council on the prevention of child abuse has issued a statement as well, after receiving calls from concerned physicians.
The truth is - babies do NOT need to be "trained" to sleep! There is a better way - where you can support their biological needs, brain development, and their mental health. That's why I created Holistic Sleep Strategies!
Holistic Sleep Strategies is not a "one-size-fits-all" method, but an educational approach to support you in making well-informed decisions while SUPPORTING (not controlling) your baby's sleep.
To learn more about infant sleep education & private consultations: www.EMdoula.com/infant-sleep
OR to enroll in my self-paced online course: https://courses.emdoula.com/courses/holistic-sleep-strategies