Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Ezzospeak Dictionary


Upon reading the book "On Becoming Babywise" you see that author Gary Ezzo portrays his program as a reasonable voice in the often contradictory recommendations of parenting.
Upon closer examination, however, we see that he often applies different meanings to words and phrases than that which is generally accepted. This is very misleading for those discussing what the book actually teaches. For example, though Ezzo claims his Parent-Directed Feeding program is flexible, his definition of flexibilty is too rigid to comply with the recommendations of both Pediatricians and Lactation Constultants.

Therefore, I have arranged The Ezzospeak Dictionary to help you understand Ezzo's book.

These terms and examples come from the 1998 version.

Term
Usual meaning
Babywise Usage
Block
To hinder or obstruct
To soothe 
as in “Is it a good idea to block crying?” p.139 
Guidance
Direction, leadership
Ignore    
(45 minutes of crying is called “parental guidance” on pg 123)
Training
Educate, teach
Ignore 
("training" a child to sleep by leaving him to cry himself to sleep)
Help
Assist, aid
Ignore 
(Same as above)
Prop
Something to support an object in position
Nursing or rocking a baby to sleep, sleeping with baby. (P.56)
Flexible
Bendable, adaptable, willing to yield
 Inconsistency (pg 109)
A temporary alteration. (P.110)
A “broken” routine (pg 181)
Heightened gratification
A feeling of satisfaction or pleasure. ward for parenting
A "pitfall" of child-centered parenting
(p.26)
Attachment  Parenting
Sensitive and emotionally available parenting which helps build strong emotional bonds and fosters a healthy socio-emotional development in the childd
Emotional bondage (p 97)
A" new name for the outdated birth trauma theory developed by a neoprimitivistic school of thought in the 1940’s."
(Note: birth WAS traumatic for babies in the 1940's due to the standardized use of drugs and forceps for every birth!)
Lactation counselors
Certified healthcare providers recognized as experts in human lactation and breastfeeding support
An “industry” that is “heavily biased against any type of routine,” and lacking “a working understanding of routine breast-feeding dynamics.  (p.100)
Attached child
Baby/child who has a close emotional bond with caregiver.
“Relational security” 
based on "proximity, not independence" (p.140)



Parental guidance
Teaching, mentoring, overseeing
Routine feedings (p. 21)
Baby wise
A deep understanding of babies and their needs.
An Infant Management System (p.17)
Demand feeding
Nursing when baby indicates hunger
Erratic and emotive response to crying
Natural
That which occurs in Nature or without interference
That which occurs as a result of disciplined effort 
– as in “trained to sleep the natural way” (book's subtitle)
Term
Usual meaning
Babywise Usage
Schedule
a series of things to be done or events to occur at or during a particular time or period; a timetable
Routine
Routine
typical or everyday activity;
regular, unvarying, habitual, unimaginative, customary procedure
Following 6 guidelines (page 111), calculated time between feedings;
Timetable (as on page118)
Connectedness
United, joined, or linked; linked coherently
When Mother cooperates with baby’s needs and baby learns to cooperate with mother’s guidance. (p.38)
Advantage
a benefit or gain; eg. breastfed children have better overall health than formula fed children…
Disadvantage
 as in “formula fed babies have “less of an advantage”
[Over what? Unfed babies?]
Metabolic Chaos
A result of chronic illness or alcoholism which has ultimately thrown the body chemistry out of balance.
The condition in which all health babies are born that must be remedied by its parents.