I eagerly dove into this book expecting some magical answers to my tedious toddler troubles. How do I keep my son from: throwing food on the floor, running away when I call him, banging on the TV cabinet, playing with the computer keyboard, darting towards the street when I’ve just told him to stay by mommy. . . You get the idea. Apparently there are no easy magical solutions to these problems. Apparently I just have to stay consistent and stay persistent (my summary of Ezzo’s philosophy.) Speaking of tedious! Of course, I know there aren’t usually magical shortcuts to parenting, but I can still dream, right?

On Becoming Babywise still remains the most important book that I read to prepare me for the practical side of parenting a newborn. While I didn’t follow the book religiously, it was the only book that gave me a step-by-step plan to deal with this new creature called a baby. I’m the type of person that feels much better with a step-by-step plan. (A word of warning about Babywise though. Don’t read it too early into your pregnancy. The amount of work involved in caring for a newborn will just freak you out. Wait til the 8th month when you are just ready to get that baby out, no matter how much work it will be.) Toddlerwise, while giving some good advice on scheduling and discipline, wasn’t as earth-shattering for me. It’s probably because I’ve adopted many of the Babywise principles and have automatically been using them already. In summary, while Toddlerwise has some good things to say about caring for your toddler, I wouldn’t consider it a must-read. Does anyone have a great toddler-parenting book to recommend?

3 Comments »

1. 

   I don’t know anything about raising kids, but have been trying to do some reading to find out. I just read Parenting with Love and Logic, which both a doctor and a psychologist have told me is a good one. It seems to make sense, though I don’t think I could follow some of the more extreme suggestions. It’s mostly for somewhat older kids, but there is one chapter specifically about younger ones, and another book by one of the same authors (Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood) for birth to six years, which I haven’t read.

   The other one I was recommended is called 1-2-3 Magic, for ages 2-12 (t says), and I’m planning to read it soon.

   Comment by michele — September 26, 2007 @ 11:37 am

2. 

   Thanks for the recommendations. I’ve heard of the Love and Logic and 1-2-3 Magic, but haven’t read either. I’m glad to hear about the Love and Logic early childhood book too. I think I’ll start with that one.

   My pediatrician actually gave me some discipline advice that has been the most effective so far. When my little guy is chasing the dog or doing something else equally dangerous (whipping the floor lamp around in circles, etc.) I give him a warning with eye contact. If/when he doesn’t stop, I hold him in a 90 second time out (since he’s a bit young to be staying in time out by himself.) We just sit in a chair and face the wall and he HATES it. Before and after the time out, I remind him very simply why he’s there (“Don’t chase the dog.”) But it works, because after that, he listens!

   Yesterday he was starting to chase the dog around and I gave him a warning. He toddled right over to the chair we’ve used for time out and started pulling it out for me. Too cute.

   Comment by rpikk — September 27, 2007 @ 6:34 am

3. 

   I’ve read about half of Love and Logic for Early Childhood…let me know what you think of it, I’d like some inside info on whether this stuff really works!

   The time-out idea sounds like it’s working well. He must be pretty athletic, chasing dogs and menacing lamps!

   Comment by michele — October 3, 2007 @ 12:13 pm

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