by Casey Rooney

Created on: July 06, 2009

There are a zillion books on babies and parenting out there. Most of these books are targeted to first-time, clueless moms who will believe anything they read. Unfortunately, the first "go to" book most moms read after having their baby is "What to Expect the First Year". After thoroughly being stressed out by "What to Expect When You're Expecting", moms somehow take another blow by using "What to Expect the First Year" as their mini-Bible for that precious first year.

HOGG-wash, I say! Tracy Hogg, that is. She is dubbed "The Baby Whisperer" and her book, "The Baby Whisperer Solves all of Your Problems" has been my go-to book for Baby #2. For those of you who are not familiar with Tracy Hogg, she's a very witty, non-nonsense, yet compassionate Brit who wrote several New York Times best-selling Baby Whisperer books before passing away from melanoma in 2004. Hogg advocates putting your baby on a structured, flexible routine from DAY ONE. Hogg states, "It is not a schedule because you cannot always fit a baby into a clock. A routine gives the day structure and makes family life consistent, which is important because all of us, children and adults, babies and toddlers, thrive on predictability. Everyone benefits." Essentially, Hogg is on the same page as Ezzo's philosophy in "Babywise", however, Hogg presents a kinder, gentler version of "Babywise".

The first bit of wisdom Hogg presents is her theory that often parents who are struggling with the three main "parenting problems" (sleeping, eating and behavior) have often fallen into "accidental parenting" - which is simply parents starting bad habits that they later have to break. I don't care what any of the "What to Expect" books tell you about not being able to "spoil" a baby under three months - it's definitely possible and I am living proof! My daughter came out of the womb feisty - unlike my son, she was not a baby who was born "knowing how to sleep." For three months my husband and I held, rocked and bounced her to sleep for nearly every nap and bedtime. For the first six weeks, I was okay with this. After all, wasn't I supposed to hold and comfort my baby whenever she needed me? Around six weeks I had a nervous breakdown because I was so tired of this "cajoling to sleep" routine and, by three months, my back hurt so much from carrying a 98th percentile baby that I could hardly get out of bed. But I guess she wasn't spoiled? HA! Perhaps "spoiled" is not the right word, but she had definitely gotten used to

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